Comments on: The Unbearable Whiteness of Canadian Columnists

By: llrfu

llrfu — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 13:04:40 +0000

So you disparage racism by spewing racism huh? And worse – fail to see your hypocrisy!

Start your own papers!! In a Capitalist Democracy, THAT, is the correct answer. If there’s so much demand for minority views, and so much demand by minority writers for a place, the two should be able to hook up! But WAIT – there already is tons of minority papers in the GTA and across Canada. And blogs, and youtube channels etc. It’s never been easier to get started. So stop whining and get started!! And if you’re good, you’ll get picked up by the masses!

My above paragraph notwithstanding, I’ve only ever heard 2 opinions in all my life – Lefty’s, and Righty’s. And know what? Regardless of colour, the Lefty’s sound like Lefty’s, and the Righty’s sound like Righty’s. This whole issue is an Abstract Construct that leads nowhere but to hatred and divisiveness. Oh, and btw – since these are all a bunch of hard line Lefty’s – why don’t they simply MOVE?!?! Yeah, you heard me. Lefty’s don’t believe in borders, and the papers in predominantly black countries are – well – predominantly Black. So GO!! You don’t believe in borders – remember? So GO!!

By: Sonic Wild

Sonic Wild — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 03:50:10 +0000

29 % of all children in Toronto schools come from backgrounds of ‘mixed ancestry. That means that they have parents from different backgrounds. They are multi racial.
This article is at least 20 years behind the times.
Sad that the study of Journalism should be so shrouded in the past.
Walk forward into the new world of the present , where people are truly diverse, and that diversity cannot be ‘seen’ by the human eye, but must be ‘seen’ by the human heart.
Wow …. so past. So old.
Time for a renewal of Ryerson.

By: Tikiliberationfront

Tikiliberationfront — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 03:09:54 +0000

Did you come up with that on your own or is it some sort of a Brunswick Stew of half-baked utterances from second rate academics working at third rate institutions?

By: Mark Matchen

Mark Matchen — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 01:17:42 +0000

Just for fun, I took a look at the Ryerson Review staff. Wow, are they white. Whiter than white. Shade-your-eyes-from-the-glare white.

So to the writer of this piece, who is not white, my question is, which of your white colleagues should bow out? If they all apply for jobs, and those hired are in proportion to those applying, the dearth of non-white writers will continue.

Another question. I’m not sure, but I assume working for the Review is by application. Shouldn’t the Review be selecting a more diverse staff, regardless of ability? Part of your argument is that the absence of non-white writers discourages others from entering the pool. So however few non-white journalism students are at Ryerson, shouldn’t they all be on the Review, to help create the circumstances to improve diversity in the future?

I’m not challenging the value of a more diverse writing pool in Canadian journalism. But it’s a hard problem, and it’s not necessarily caused by racist incumbents. Educational achievement in elementary and high school is probably a better place to look.

By: Jacqueline Russell

Jacqueline Russell — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 19:29:14 +0000

It is not enough to have token visible minority and racialized staff, there needs to a change is their location in positions at all levels of publication from writers to editors to owners. This is the means to having multiple perspectives reflected in news stories.

By: Ricardo Shaw

Ricardo Shaw — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:40:33 +0000

Old white males.. hahaha.
Well, lets think about that? For starters, who primarily goes into journalism? Until very recently, mostly males. And yes, they get older. Go figure. So that point is basically meaningless.
Secondly to be a ‘person of colour’ as a journalist you have to actually go to journalism school for a start. How many ‘black’ journalism students are there? Not many.
Yes, we hear all the usual nonsense but here are some actual facts. (which might actually matter if your trying to write a story about journalism)
1) Blacks make up less than 1% of the population of Ontario.
2) Blacks have a marginal rate of graduation from high school. Much less from higher education.
Those are facts. Not guesses.
Those ‘old white ‘ columnists are the people who earned it.
If you want more black columnists you have to have more in school. FACT

By: AJJ

AJJ — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 23:38:11 +0000

Saying “black” or “white” is not racism. Racism is a systemic structure of privilege based on historically established advantages based on race. Colourblindness, which is the ignoring and silencing of true material advantages and disparities based on race sustains racism. Read the comments for a reflection of the point the article author is making, mostly racism

By: AJJ

AJJ — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 22:53:06 +0000

By: Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 18:25:36 +0000

This bemoans the lack of non-white people in journalism, but I suspect what it really bemoans is the lack of career minority activists. For example, would the author be happy with a Thomas Sowell, a man of “colour” who holds opinions further right than mine? I somehow doubt it. The article is itself a demonstration of the “white privilege” thesis…making the assumption that editorials by “people of colour” will be somehow steeped in leftwing critical theory and qualitatively change the narrative of the media. What if people of colour hold the same opinions as whites? Most of them do, y’know.

I have to say that this attitude is what perpetuates the mythology of “whiteness” and “colour.” I have a feeling that if the professional agitators and their lilly white liberal cheerleaders would shut up about race, we’d all adopt the same outlook as young children…complete race blindness.

By: John Ferguson

John Ferguson — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 00:07:39 +0000

Further to Mark Bourrie’s point above, what is the breakdown of journalism students by sex and ethnicity at Ryerson and other major schools?