Well that was a whole lot of wasted newsprint. I don't know about the rest of you but after slogging my way through the Daily News' second roundtable on racism in Nova Scotia, I came away with the distinct impression that I had just read the transcript of a few white guys having a very polite and nauseatingly politically correct discussion about the financial implications of a social audit. Whatever the hell that means.
Now before I go any further, I have to throw this out to the masses: whether ones agrees or not with the premise that racism exists in this province, how is conducting moderated roundtable discussions on the issue productive if the sessions are segregated? First we had members of the black community in discussion, then we had members of the white community in discussion. How can we come together if we continue to be kept apart?
But back to the panel of "prominent members of the privileged group" as they talk about....well, they're talking about something I'm sure because there were a whole lot of fancy words and terminology being thrown around, I'm just not sure it had anything to do with "take[ing] the lid off and see[ing] what’s inside", to borrow a phrase from Percy Paris, a member of the first roundtable last January.
Yesterday's panel was comprised of:
Barry Barnet, (Minister responsible for the office of African-Nova Scotia Affairs) who looked very CEO-ish in his assigned seat at the head of the table. Mr. Barnet avers in his very first sentence that racism exists everywhere and then makes an attempt to describe how it feels to be on the receiving end of a racist act. He then gets into his government role of consulting with the black community and how he did this this all by himself with his executive assistant, Angela Johnson which means he didn't do this all by himself. Barnet touches on the establishment of a church on the former Africville site but would not commit to any definite plans to build it.
Did Barnet offer anything constructive to the issue of racism in Nova Scotia? He admitted that it existed. The rest of his stance was nothing more than verbal diarrhea.
Jeanne Fay, community legal worker and member of the Metro Coalition For A Non-Racist Society - Ms. Fay contributed an abbreviated version of the history of racism in Nova Scotia and stated that the white community do not "understand" this history. She didn't offer any reasons why white Nova Scotians appear to have a short spurt of ADD when it comes to understanding this particular part of history but she did ask, "What can we do as white people to provide some leadership"? Later she added that the simple answer was to "deal with poverty". Fay too speaks of the need for the construction of a church in Seaview Park.
Did Fay offer anything constructive to the issue of racism in Nova Scotia? She knows her black history, maintains that white Nova Scotia doesn't understand that history and ends her stance with the poverty issue. So no, she didn't.
Blye Frank, Dalhousie professor who authored a report on allegations of racism at Cole Harbour District High School in the early 90s - Professor Frank accuses us all of participating in racist activities, many times most of us aren't even aware of it but we need to be accountable for it. The good professor then began with the big meaningless words and phrases that I suppose look intelligent but say absolutely nothing: 'deconstruct', 'engagement of responsibility and commitment', 'pedagogy'.
Did Frank offer anything constructive to the issue of racism in Nova Scotia? He agreed with the idea of a "social audit".
Which brings me to Mr. Jaimie Baillie, the winner of The Use of a Whole Lot of Important Sounding Words to Say Absolutely Nothing award.
Mr. Baillie is president and CEO of Credit Union Atlantic and he offered to the panel a speech worthy of any politician seeking higher office in Canada. He began by acknowledging the importance of the topic the privileged white community were "dealing with". It was all downhill from there. Mr. Baillie brought to the table the idea of a "social audit committee" at his company's board of directors level. He describes this concept as an audit, not unlike the financial variety that "tests our actual performance relative to the statement of values our company has which includes inclusion in decision-making in the workforce and so on. That ensures we are really walking the walk".
Walking the walk or talking the talk because I have to tell you, if Baillie was talking about racism in Nova Scotia, I didn't see it unless the issue is tied into the province's finances. He spoke of 'economic drivers', 'full participant in global economies', 'business growth', 'succession planning practices', 'responsive to the marketplace', 'superior returns', 'numeric targets'...I could go on but I'm starting to forget what I was talking about.
Did Baillie offer anything constructive to the issue of racism in Nova Scotia? I'm not sure...did he? He offered a lot of well, spin about...something. But on a positive note, Baillie did tell the panel that the CUA employs "non-white" workers from entry level to the board of directors. Wow..
Could a room full of white business/educational leaders be anymore evasive as this panel? Could a roomful of white business/educational leaders be anymore ultra-politically correct as this bunch? Did this panel offer anything even remotely constructive to the issue of racism in Nova Scotia? Not even close. And what is this "non-white" designation? Doesn't that term add to the divide by assessing members of the black community on the attributes of their white counterparts? "Non-white" presents a negative connotation to all minority groups who are being defined by the fact that they aren't white.
I can't wait to hear what Percy Paris has to say. At least he's real.Care to comment? Contact D.L. McCracken at
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