DARC: DARC Responds to Racist Article Published in Absynthe Magazine and Calls for Accountability

Saturday, September 27, 2008

DARC Responds to Racist Article Published in Absynthe Magazine and Calls for Accountability

***DARC Response to Racist Article Published in Absynthe***

The Decolonization & Anti-Racism Coalition (DARC), a group devoted to naming, challenging and reacting to systemic and everyday racism in Peterborough, are outraged by the overtly racist article published in Absynthe Magazine, September 2008 issue, entitled “Stephen Harper Doesn’t Care About White People”. To write and publish such a hateful article illustrates the fact that we live in a society that privileges white bodies and white voices. The article’s use of the language of ‘tolerance’, speaks to a power dynamic between White identity and racialized identities; wherein, those who are White have the power to choose whether or not to be tolerant. Further, the article speaks from a position of privilege that negates the oppression marginalized communities continue to face by appropriating the language of victimization and exclusion.

This article is also clearly violent; it essentializes and targets specific groups, shifts blame, and deflects attention away from white privilege and the fact that we live in a racist society. In so doing, this article acts as a rallying point for other racist students to express their hatred for racialized and Indigenous peoples.

What is more alarming than the article itself is the general lack of response; other than the problematic request for the Editor in Chief’s resignation. This approach closes avenues for dialogue and fails to address the underlying context, which gives people the impression that it is okay to make such hateful statements. As a means of fostering such dialogue, DARC will be holding an open discussion, A Call for Accountability: A Forum on the Racist Climate at Trent, Thursday October 2nd in the Lady Eaton College Pit at 5pm to 7pm. We have invited the members of Absynthe Magazines Board of Directors as well as Trent University’s administration to attend this discussion on the racist climate currently being fostered at Trent University.

***DARC also demands that the following actions be taken:***

1) Accountability of Absynthe Magazine Board members- Provide a statement explaining how and why racist content was published.
2) Abynthe Magazine adopt an anti-oppressive and ant-racist mandate
3) Any group affiliated with the Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) adopt an anti-racist and anti-oppressive mandate
4) Abynthe Magazine Board members and staff as well as all groups affiliated with the TCSA attend anti-oppression and anti-racism workshops
5) An official response from the Trent University administration by President Patterson condemning the racist attitudes perpetuated in the article
6) Absynthe Magazine Board and staff as well as the Trent University administration attend the October 2nd forum
7) That Trent students write letters to Absynthe expressing their opposition to such articles, demanding that their letters be published.
8) That Trent students stand in solidarity against racism- do not financially support organizations that foster racism or refuse to be accountable for racism.

*** Public Forum ***

Due to the outrageously racist article published in Absynthe Magazine, September 2008 issue, entitled “Stephen Harper doesn’t care about white people,” the Decolonization & Anti-Racism Coalition (DARC) has organized A Call for Accountability: A Forum on the Racist Climate at Trent, which is scheduled for Thursday, October 2nd, in the Lady Eaton College Pit from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The forum will be moderated by Dr. Winston Husbands.

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About DARC

Decolonization and Anti-Racism Circle (DARC) is an organization made up of Peterborough community members that work with the goal of building solidarity across differences for social change. We use a broad range of tactics including public education, social support, advocacy, and direct action to address historical and ongoing injustices that affect racialized and Indigenous peoples. We recognize that structures of oppression including patriarchy, ecocide, capitalism, imperialism, colonialism and racism are interconnected, mutually reinforcing and embodied in institutions. We believe decolonization 'at home' is an integral part of the struggle for global justice and self-determination. Decolonization is only effective by taking action through consensual efforts and building solidarity across intersecting identities and communities that are affected by structures of oppression.

DARC can be reached by email at darcpeterborough@riseup.net

Basis of Unity

As people who identify as Indigenous, as people of colour and/or as mixed-race persons, we come together with the recognition that there is a need for a network of support and advocacy in order to address covert, everyday racism and the climate of exclusion that does exists within Peterborough. By aligning ourselves with other social justice organizations we are better able to address intersecting concerns such as gender, culture, poverty, immigration, sexual identity, status, difability ('differently' abled), age, and life experiences (e.g., class, HIV serostatus, physical and mental health status etc.). By maintaining an organizing unit comprised of people who identify as Indigenous, as people of colour and/or as mixed-race persons we hope to encourage leadership among racialized and Indigenous people and to help nurture the mental space necessary to be able to recognize, criticize and address experiences of racism. In these ways we can work towards community wellness, anti-racism and decolonization!

Guiding Principles

By using a non-hierarchical structure and consensus decision making practices, DARC strives to serve racialized and Indigenous communities by first addressing their lived experiences rather than focusing on White guilt and White privilege. DARC will do this by:

- Recognizing the need to unite and actively fight for mutual self-determination through a movement led by racialized and Indigenous peoples.
- Understanding that services and effort to organize are most successful when they involve the communities served, DARC seeks to support and promote the active participation, leadership and experiential knowledge of racialized and Indigenous peoples throughout its structure and work.
- Understanding and addressing everyday covert racism, and how it creates a climate of exclusion.
-Fostering a deeper analysis of the ways in which colonialism, imperialism, ecocide, patriarchy and other structures of oppression continue to impact the lives of racialized and Indigenous people in different ways.
- Appreciating the collective histories of struggle against racial and ethnic discrimination as well as other forms of oppression that we work to resist through organizing, supporting and advocating for our diverse communities.
- Acknowledge the importance of uniting Indigenous and racialized people in common struggles while recognizing our different communities, histories, and experiences of oppression and resistance.
- Work in solidarity across differences by collaborating with other community based organizations to address intersecting identities and oppressions.
- Recognizing that Canada is on stolen Indigenous land, and working in solidarity to challenge and confront a colonial system based on dispossession, genocide, racist laws and illegal borders!