Why are we silent about the hypocrisy and prejudices of the Toronto Media?

         

               Close your eyes and repeat the words “guns and violence” now say this three times over and what images emerges in your mind?  Be honest. If you live in the greater Toronto area be honest again.  Remember I don’t know who  you are my dear readers.   What are the  images that emerges in your  mind?  Yes murders do take place in the greater Toronto area and the recent murder of an  innocent  eleven young boy Ephraim Brown shocked the city. Whenever violence occurs in Toronto we always say the same line over and over “its the parents fault, its the kids fault, its society’s fault.” The media doesn’t do much better. We repeat the cycle over and over. How can we break it? Is it even possible to? Have we all become apathetic to the constant news about death?

            Often lost in the cyclone of  newspaper reports, radio, and television broadcasts is the misandry and racism of the greater Toronto media. There needs to be more positive male influences for young boys yet society doesn’t seem to give a damn. The Ontario government certainly isn’t doing enough to provide employment for young people or  encourage young men to become teachers or social workers often these jobs are filled by women. And just so the feminists don’t come breathing down my throat. I never said female teachers or  female social workers do not work hard or try their best. I am saying there needs to be more male  teachers, more male social workers, and more male guidance counsellors.  Young boys  need positive male influences in their lives. A young boy sometimes will listen to an older male that is nice, caring, and actually has empathy for a child and demonstrates to the child that he cares.

          For the Toronto media the black community is the “out” group we are on their constant hit list.  We are the mainstream media’s target audience. I really hope people pay attention to the race of the people writing the negative anti black articles. And sometimes newspapers willl hire their “token” black writers as the “voices of reason.”  Often these “token” black writers will not “rock the boat” and do what their editors tell them to do. They will  provide the standard “lecture” when they are actually a part of the “system” and a part of the problem. I mean I understand that blacks in the Toronto media have to cover their own asses they got bills to pay and families to feed. However, I don’t see the black journalists in Canada take the kind of risks that the African Americans do. The African Americans will challenge their white or Asian editors or if an African American is an editor they sometimes even rock the boat. In Canada you never see that take place.  

         In fact, the Toronto media does a great job stereotyping young blacks and building up the appetites of racists and then unloading the racism in print,  on the radio, and TV.   I am not denying that violence and crime is not a problem with the GTA black community. However, crime is not just confined to blacks. White people commit crimes and so do Asians and Aboriginals. Where is the balance in the news coverage? Oops I forgot blacks don’t run Toronto  mainstream news. 

         Black Canadian feminist Dionne Brand wrote two excellent non fiction books about racism in Toronto.  Brand’s work moves beyond the fear that the mainstream press attempts to create with their articles, radio broadcasts, and TV news stories. Brand studies the news and I learned so much never to just take the news at face value. 

   The first book by Dionne Brand I read was  called  “Bread Out of Stone” it was published in the year 1994. “Bread Out of Stone” really assisted  me to thinking  about the news and to pay careful attention to how the news is “framed”. 

          In the year 2001 Brand’s second non fiction book  “A Map to the door of No Return” was published.   Dionne Brand is one of the few  black Canadian scholars that I  believe speaks the raw truth she is unrelenting.  Brand  also challenges the black community.  Brand does not let all sections of the black community get off the hook. So often the work of some black intellectuals its always black society against the world. Brand focuses on the internal politics within the private sphere of the black community as well. 

          We cannot just blame the mainstream for everything we have agency over our own lives. Brand writes a lot about “othering” and “framing” her work is so important. Everyone should read these two books  in relation to thinking about the Canadian media. I really don’t buy the Toronto newspapers these days. I mean why should I?

     How many times do I have to see the faces of  young black men plastered on the cover of the newspapers depicted as monsters? Usually the skin tone of the black man is darkened to make the black man appear more “sinister.” How many times do the editors of the big Canadian newspapers play up these racist stereotypes? Its typical but should not go unchallenged.

          In Brand’s second non fiction book “A Map to the door of no return” she writes about her disgust with the black Canadian newspapers and I agree.  I once thought that the black Toronto  newspapers had all  the answers to provide an alternative perspective to the racist garbage that the mainstream papers dish out.  The Toronto black newspapers “claim” to serve a purpose for us to  vent or discuss our own concerns about the pernicious racism in the Canadian media. However, now I am not even sure about the black community newspapers anymore such as  Share and Pride?  Sometimes I think these “papers” do such a disservice. Every single damn week some black “elder” in Share and Pride complains about black youth.

        Meanwhile,  we have the hurricane of blame continuing. You have the mainstream media saying black parents don’t give a shit about their kids. Yet  they ignore the white kids in the suburbs that are getting high on drugs, stealing cars, having babies out of wedlock, and getting into trouble with the law.  Next, you have the black community newspapers with their weekly editorials  saying that young black people we don’t give a shit about our own lives. When someone is constantly complaining in your ear about something what do you do? Most people tune that person out. I also notice in the black community newspapers you never read articles WRITTEN by people under 30 or under 35. 

         I am tired of hearing and reading about these “uppity blacks” with their Masters and Doctorate degrees that have broken into the white academia and now have lost their fight for activism. Often some of these “uppity blacks” form an alliance with the oppressor and  chip in with the mainstream media to broadcast their own racist prejudices about black youth. Its the old tired “look at me syndrome.” Yes I am looking at you. You are an old goat and you are  now siding with the  white man because you feel “privileged” because you got “status”, “money”, and “power.” I am so tired of reading about these motherfuckers in the black community newspapers that I tune these papers out. I mean what purpose do these papers serve anymore other then promoting their own brand of misandry and deleterious biases against young black men?

       I do NOT believe blacks commit all the crimes in the GTA  nor do I subscribe to the typical sensationalistic articles published by the so called “liberal or conservative media” .  Has anyone noticed that in the Canadian media there are never any articles or news shows on exactly how the news is put together?  Do people actually think ” what” the media tells us is the “only” news out there. The media “only” reports whatever they believe will elicit the kind of reponses or kinds of “collective thinking” that will drive up TV ratings, radio ratings, and newspaper sales. Right now in Canada every few months the sweet spot for the Canadian media is to dig up or come up with anything negative about the GTA black community.

        People need to know in Vancouver there is a lot of crime going on down there on the west coast. The out community in Vancouver isn’t blacks because our populations are too low. South Asians are the out community in Vancouver. The gun crime in Vancouver is indeed a very serious issue given the fact the 2010 Winter Olympics is just around the corner.  In the Western provinces the First Nations people are the “out” group. And in Montreal the  French speaking blacks and Arabs/muslims are the “out” group over there. Every section of Canada has their scapegoats.

        Look at the Canadian news rooms from radio, TV, or print you will notice very few blacks. Black Canadians along with Aboriginals are treated as though we are the bottom of the Canadian social hierachy. Whenever, the majority wants to promote “diversity” they will hire Asian reporters and journalists in the news room before they will hire blacks.  Has anyone ever questioned why? The news is socially constructed but of course you will never read that in print, on the radio, or on the evening news.

          When I use the word “socially constructed” I mean there are actually racist people in powerful positions with their own anti black prejudices  that look and seek out stories to stereotype black people. The only times the Canadian media ever writes anything positive about black Canadians is in relation to sports and entertainment. There is more to the black Canadian experience then being a basketball player, track athlete,   singer, or rapper. I am not knocking the young blacks that excel in these various forms of entertainment and sports. I am simply saying more diversity is needed.

        Another point to  consider is why does the actions of  some individuals in Greater Toronto black community affect us as a “whole”? Are all white Canadian men pedophiles like Peter Whitmore?    Whitmore  has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing young boys. Do the Canadian reporters for the various  newspapers, radio outlets, TV stations, create  “race specific” news stating that because Whitmore is  a “white male” his race had a role in him becoming a pedophile? Should we now fear all young white men? Are all young white males child molesters?

            The pig farmer Robert Pickton  is accused of raping and murdering  prostitutes in British Columbia. Are all white males rapists that kill innocent women?  Again has the Canadian media ever been “race specific” with Pickton?  Why doesn’t the Canadian newspapers “link the race” of Robert Pickton to the alleged crimes he committed and write articles about that?  Whenever  a white person kills, rapes, or commits a horrible crime the criminal is viewed as an individual. Yet with people of colour and especially black people the media wants the entire “group” or community to feel  “guilty”. I have to question this kind of subconscious racist mesages the media is sending.  I am tired of feeling “guilty” for people that have no sense of value for another person’s life. I am tired of feeling like I should take responsibility for the actions of a few black men that have no respect or regard for anybody not even themselves.  There are amazing positive black men within the black community doing good yet you hardly ever hear about them.  I think black people we have to free ourselves from the mixed messages the media is sending us. However, I am not advocating not caring because we should indeed care about black youth of course we should. I am just saying think have critical media literacy when you read the newspaper just remember that its “socially constructed”.

        The news you read in the newspaper, watch on TV, and listen to on the radio is “socially constructed” it is  created. It didn’t just come out of nowhere.  The news is created by non blacks in editorial meetings. The editors will sit at a table with the writers,  producers, or story editors and decide which stories will have enough juice to shock the public. The media knows the formula that the best way to shock the public is of course to  discriminate against black people and to lower our self esteem and  “attempt” to make us feel bad about ourselves. Everyone knows if you want to make more money go after the blacks.

                   Dionne Brand’s work and other black activists work are important because knowledge is power. When you read something that makes sense you learn something. Brand’s work acts as a catalyst for change it helped me to try to stop feeling so “guilty” or care what the mainstream thinks. I used to listen to certain Toronto radio talk show programs. I now tune that shit out. I mean why should I listen to some rich white females or white  males complaining on the public airwaves about how hard they got it?  I won’t mention the names of the Toronto radio programs because I definitely do not want to promote them on my blog.

                I think black activist organizations are a great source of fighting this supremacy and reading the works of black writers is also very helpful. I think that’s a great place to help with making change take place.   When you read the newspaper go to the websites of the various papers that you read.  Look at the names of the  editors, look for pictures, look to see who  the editor in chief is, the publisher, the managing editors, the people in charge.  You will notice NONE of them are black and it isn’t by SURPRISE EITHER. The Canadian media isn’t just run by whites now Asian Canadians also hold powerful positions at certain top newspapers. Why don’t blacks have top media positions just like in the United States? It certainly isn’t due to the lack of  skill or talent.  Canadians are more hypocritical about racism then Americans. I personally believe the “system” wants to keep “blacks” out of the “top” positions. Because if black people were in the top media positions in Canada the news you see, hear, or read would be VERY DIFFERENT.

    Some Asian Canadians also have their own racist prejudices and biases against black people.  Some Asians  also are saying blacks play the “race card” as well yet they don’t acknowledge or even admit the “system” treats different races differently. Some Asians want to deny the   contributions black people have made during and after the civil rights movement.  The question has to be asked who fought hard against employment discirmination?  Where do you think affirmative action emerged from?  Who do you think FOUGHT HARD for affirmative action? Who do you think benefits from affirmative action NOW?  It isn’t just blacks. It wasn’t Asians that fought hard for it! It was BLACK PEOPLE yet other racial groups are the first to put down blacks and side with whites. Is anyone surprised?  Some Asians believe since they are not at the “bottom” of the social hierachy they have a “right” to discrimate against blacks as well.  You will never see a black person be the editor in chief  or as a top editor at  mainstream Canadian newspaper or media outlet. You will in the United States but not here that’s never going to happen.

      And if you think other people of colour don’t have  their own racist prejudices against black Canadians think again. Aileen Siu the Ontario government employee is an Asian  woman  and she  attempted to justify  her racist “ghetto dude” comment. The Evon Reid incident was a perfect example of some Asians Anti black prejudices.  Aileen Siu still has her job. As expected the Toronto media swept the issue under the rug. If a black person had made a racist statement that person would of been fired on the spot.  Canadians always try to put down America and say America is so racist. At least in America there is an open dialogue about racism and Americans of all races are more cognizant of it. Americans aren’t afraid to discuss racism while Canadians have a pathetic attitude and just attempt to hide from the obvious truth.