Photo by Whitehorse Star
Mayor Laura Cabott
Mayor proclaims anti-racism day
Mayor Laura Cabott has proclaimed March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Whitehorse.
Mayor Laura Cabott has proclaimed March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Whitehorse.
Cabott made the proclamation at the beginning of Monday’s city council meeting.
“A society free from racism brings together people of all ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds to build communities where one’s heritage is a source of pride and inspiration,” Cabott said.
She said a society where everyone has a right to live in conditions of dignity, respect and peace can only be achieved with the acknowledgement that everyone has a duty to work toward the elimination of racism and discrimination.
The protection and promotion of human rights can be achieved through co-ordination and shared responsibility among all levels of government, civil organizations and citizens, Cabott said.
The mayor said work to eliminate racism and other forms of discrimination is a challenging and ongoing endeavour.
By taking action to combat racism and discrimination, she said, municipalities are able to build respectful, inclusive and safe societies.
“The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is an opportunity to renew our commitment to building a world of justice and equality where xenophobia and bigotry do not exist,” she said.
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Comments (46)
Up 0 Down 1
Mitch Holder on Apr 1, 2022 at 11:26 am
The Hammer (lol) - your own accusation of my being racist for expressing the frustration of vastly defunct systems of achieving equality belies your own deep ceded systemic racism. Your passive progressive government conditioned you, it can be unlearned. When trying to be edgy comes off as woke garbage, you need to work on yourself.
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sympathy for your ....... on Mar 21, 2022 at 5:06 pm
@Wilf: I am sympathetic with your disability and the fact that you had ONE management discriminating against you. I had several of those in my earlier years after I immigrated to Canada; but even then with no-commanding of the English, I knew the difference between discrimination and ignorance. By the way, I did OK in the work force down south and here as well.
Up 10 Down 1
Charlie's Aunt on Mar 21, 2022 at 3:22 pm
Someone forgot to say which color shirt to wear!
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Typical and not surprising at all on Mar 21, 2022 at 9:30 am
Let's end racism in the Yukon by making sure that everyone is treated equally.
Stop creating division. Stop having 2 classes of criminal justice for FN people and everyone else. Stop having 2 classes of government project procurement / bid awards for FN business and everyone else. Do these two things and you would have some semblance of equality among the masses.
Up 11 Down 3
Anie on Mar 20, 2022 at 5:05 pm
Wilf, I think you may be misunderstanding the thumbs down. I am not a racist. I simply do not think that your comment is pertinent to the discussion of racism. Somebody didn't think you were as well informed as you seem to have thought you were. That's not racism. That's an opinion. And I'm sorry but perhaps your overinflated opinion of your own opinions and qualifications, and intolerance of any differing opinions, may have something to do with how you were treated.
Up 20 Down 2
I am not worthy. I am but a lowly worm… on Mar 19, 2022 at 1:34 pm
No Wilf, thumbs down on your post do not indicate racism. They most likely indicate disagreement with your position. Is it okay if we sometimes disagree with you or, are you “the science”?
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Wilf Carter on Mar 19, 2022 at 11:13 am
To show Yukoners racism is alive and well in Yukon look at the people who voted thumbs down on my comment of racism in the work place. Every one who voted against my comment shows racism.
Up 27 Down 7
North_of_60 on Mar 18, 2022 at 8:07 pm
To see how truly racist the Yukon is, learn a few racist terms in the non-English languages spoken here, and listen to how often those are spoken when they think we don't understand what they're saying. Unfortunately, most of what's passed off as "anti-racism" is actually little more than anti-white virtue-signaling.
Up 22 Down 8
Thor on Mar 18, 2022 at 4:38 pm
Dear Hammer - Anti-racism. I don’t think that word means what you think it means. Being anti-racist requires everyone to think about what it is they are saying and why they are saying it. This is not done in the world of Liberal doublespeak, and groupthink. Adjust your perspective and drop your invective cause you ain’t no witty psychological detective.
So, as long as anti-racism means no preferential treatment of one group or another in action or in word then we are good. Unfortunately, Liberals are too invested in identitarian gymnastics that they have become the party of racism with their promulgation of things like white privilege… A tired trope of generalizations that do not apply beyond the identitarian constructs and the minds who are prone to such machinations.
You better check the grip on that hammer because I think you’re losing it!
Up 4 Down 9
Chuck Farley on Mar 18, 2022 at 4:05 pm
TheHammer; BANG!!! you nailed it
Up 38 Down 7
Dave on Mar 18, 2022 at 11:24 am
So a black womens organization (which is exclusively formed and exists for one race and one gender) just said they are taking donations and working to get all of ‘their people’ out of Ukraine. That’s about the most outright blatantly racist thing to say by an organization who only serves one colour of people only, right?
Can a white organization say they are just there to do anything for ‘their people?’ Are there buses or airplanes right now where if someone in need showed up they would be told no you have to be black to get on here. But you keep up the useless virtue signalling Whitehorse mayor, go get ‘em!
Up 11 Down 28
TheHammer on Mar 18, 2022 at 11:19 am
Mitch Holder@ Canada doesn't have a culture. Your comment is a manifest sign of a lack of culture. Anti-Racism should be extended 24/7 to the comments pages of the Star, this is the platform where local right supremacists air their inferior opinions.
Up 21 Down 3
Groucho d'North on Mar 18, 2022 at 10:44 am
I would like to read the Terms of Reference the City will use to guide their deliberations on racism.
Up 37 Down 9
Mitch Holder on Mar 17, 2022 at 9:19 am
So the City of Whitehorse will now treat white taxpaying citizens the same as bipoc taxpaying citizens right? I won't hold my breath. Critical Race theory is the THEORY AND PRACTICE OF systemic racism and multiculturalism is where ALL CULTURES GO TO DIE.
Up 24 Down 6
Yukonexe on Mar 17, 2022 at 6:17 am
To Proscience Greenie: please explain what CRT is then. FWI I don't watch Tucker. Always nice to see NPCs buzz words though.
Up 27 Down 11
bonanzajoe on Mar 16, 2022 at 9:20 pm
There is racism in every race. Do you think that fact will be brought up? I won't be attending myself, but it would be interesting to see how many white rhinos will be there pointing the accusing finger at their own race. To impress the other races of course.
Up 20 Down 8
YukonJim on Mar 16, 2022 at 5:30 pm
Great Job!
Thanks, Racism Solved.
Up 27 Down 13
Liberalism Kills! on Mar 16, 2022 at 4:24 pm
Reindeer Games - Don’t play them:
At ProScience Greenie - We understand what critical race theory is. You provide a wonderful example with your reference to Tucker Carlson - Well done. The predicate foundation for CRT is the categorical imperative. It is the winnowing away of counterfactuals to construct a self-serving narrative of the self as virtuous without having to be so.
It is a an ascribed narrative of self as victim based on the presumed impacts of social organization in the light of a hierarchically imposed identitarian matrix. The self as subject transformed into object wherein the object represents some process of discrimination as a right of declaration - It is the abstract representation of the self as some caricature of the whole of my race. It allows the proclaimer to be what they are not through the application of a cultural pretext.
It is the product of lazy minds, to think heuristically, without regard to question of the specifics. For example, if your “race” (sic) believes that one should take care of their elders and you intimidate, con, or beat your grandparents for liquor money why do you get the benefit of the presumption of your race, your culture, that says you must respect your elders? WTF?
Every culture has a reverence for the elderly, if only at the level of the categorical, but for the millennials… Hmmm… I wonder if ‘millennials’ represent some new “race”… Perhaps?
Character comes from within, not from the outside. Some people never really develop and they become politicians and I say this because politics is not about creating the art of the possible but rather about divide and conquer - This requires categories and it is antithetical to inclusion and diversity because it creates the contest of us and them based on, in the average, the assumption of facts that do not fit the individual because they aspirationally intended for the whole.
You are a representative of your identitarian precepts - That is always a lie as individuals act according to the context of a given moment either accepting or rejecting their cultural tenets which are fluid, dynamic, and evolutionary notwithstanding the political silliness that wants to frame cultural identities as some static process of a reasoned morality - It is not.
It is a label applied in the abstract that does not fit the individual because culture is individually mediated - There are greater differences within cultures then there are between cultures - This is a reality given the individual nature of the human actor operating in the context of the here and now with heuristics (rules of thumb) having some weight in the decision-making process.
Heuristics are biases - The systematic and routine errors in thought that we are all subject to… But these are not the only ghosts in the machine, the remnant error making processes from heuristics, to perception, to attentional control, to mental health, to neurodevelopmental concerns, to simply, whether or not the individual is sufficiently hydrated or nourished - You need glucose to function properly. Your brain accounts for roughly 3% of your bodies mass but requires about 20% of your bodies daily intake of glucose.
So, things like culture and race are socially constructed matrices within certain contexts that are irrelevant to the here and now of our relationship to one another, be as you are, be respectful, and I will treat you as the individual you deserve to be treated as… I refuse to treat you as a category, a stereotype, and will accept you for you, as you allow me. I don’t want yours or anyone else’ bullshyt, just be you!
For a self-professed scientist I would have thought you would be less committed to generalizations - Curious.
Up 25 Down 10
unReal on Mar 16, 2022 at 2:50 pm
Every day should be anti-discrimination day!
Up 39 Down 9
Matthew on Mar 16, 2022 at 2:46 pm
Just an FYI, the Barbary slave trade was here centuries before the salves of America.. you won't learn about that in school because it goes against their current agenda.. curious, who sold the slaves to the white explorers? Oh the irony!
Up 59 Down 6
Groucho d'North on Mar 16, 2022 at 1:14 pm
What's then to be done with racsim hiding in the shadows in disguise? Words like settlers, colonists and the one that has been around for so very long - non-natives. There would be hell to pay if the term non-whites was used as frequently.
Canada has an ad running on TV lately bragging about building new housing for women AND Black women. Our national relationships will not improve until we are people first with no adjectives.
Up 12 Down 50
ProScience Greenie on Mar 16, 2022 at 12:33 pm
Yukonexe - like so many, you don't have a clue what CRT is but you're so very afraid of it. Lay off the Tucker Carlson for a bit and let your brain heal.
Up 34 Down 9
Rick S on Mar 16, 2022 at 11:06 am
So brave. So stunning. Raises for everyone at City Council.
Up 23 Down 4
Go ask Upton on Mar 16, 2022 at 11:02 am
@Mr. Facts: no, you won’t be well received pointing that out to one of the main architects of the TRC, who went on to take a cut of hundreds of rez school settlements!
Up 65 Down 4
i Said Pardon on Mar 16, 2022 at 10:18 am
This is great, but i'm still waiting for "International day for the Elimination of Snow on My Street " proclamation.
Up 50 Down 5
Liberalism Kills! on Mar 16, 2022 at 10:09 am
Dear Mr Facts - You can point it out all day long but it does not matter. They will tell you that this ‘discrimination’ is not ‘discrimination’ because the current ‘discrimination’ is intended to correct the imbalance of past ‘discriminations’ experienced by the preferred group. Although it is prima facie ‘discrimination’ it is factually not ‘discrimination’ by the arbitrariness of a politicized will.
Up 67 Down 4
YUKONER on Mar 16, 2022 at 10:06 am
Who voted for her? Fix the streets.
Up 35 Down 7
Groucho d'North on Mar 16, 2022 at 9:26 am
This is a good start. As I have posted here previously, I believe we need to promote equality for all rather than how we may be different in order to qualify for some government perk or special considerations. The practice of identity politics has been a major contributor to racial issues in Canada. "Diversity is our strength" made it easier for the governments to pander to specific diverse voting blocks. Clearly the end does not justify the means.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-politics/
Up 40 Down 5
Mitch Holder on Mar 16, 2022 at 8:22 am
Are the councilors giving up anything to observe it? No? Yeah, that 's what I thought, another empty PC gesture and we are well past out of patience.
Up 56 Down 6
Yukonexe on Mar 16, 2022 at 7:24 am
Will this help fight against CRT and identity politics? Quit giving favoritism to certain groups?
Quit with diversity hires? Actual equality for all?
Or is this just puffs of smoke and virtual signaling?
Up 55 Down 6
Yukonexe on Mar 16, 2022 at 5:53 am
This will be interesting when it clashes with C19 medical discrimination. As well as, any diversity hires. As a first nations person, don't pander or virtue signal to me. Hire the best person for the job, no matter of race, religion, or sexual preference.
Up 3 Down 25
Anonymous on Mar 16, 2022 at 1:17 am
Hate is the strongest form of love.
Up 62 Down 5
jack on Mar 15, 2022 at 9:49 pm
How about an anti-pothole day instead?
Up 20 Down 22
Adam Smith on Mar 15, 2022 at 9:12 pm
I'm sure our 3 main political parties will be tripping over themselves to support this as well. See who can virtue signal the hardest.
That's why I'm really happy we finally have a sensible 4th choice with the Yukon Freedom Party. I really hope they are recruiting candidates.
Up 58 Down 4
AreYouForReal? on Mar 15, 2022 at 8:10 pm
So tired of minor politicians trying to farm woke points. There are plenty of specific problems in this city to tackle yet you lot are more focused on trying to change the world. “Racism is bad.” Great! Glad you brought it up but don’t think it over just because you arrogantly set an end date. Take more meaningful actions instead of this fluffy nonsense. Don’t know what I expect from these jokers though, the city can’t even fix the 2 crevices that keep opening up on either side of the bridge.
Up 11 Down 17
Observer on Mar 15, 2022 at 8:10 pm
Can't wait to see the WS have a anti-racisim day, will cut comments by 3/4s!
Up 8 Down 25
Nathan Living on Mar 15, 2022 at 8:08 pm
One day is virtue signaling, should be celebrated for at lease a week.
Up 38 Down 10
Liberalism Kills! on Mar 15, 2022 at 6:28 pm
Racial discrimination, bigotry, and xenophobia are not the same thing. For example, the Ukrainian peoples have good reason for any xenophobic attitudes towards the Russian insurgents. In the example of bigotry who is to say what constitutes an unreasonable belief about an individual or a group of individuals who represent the ‘other’?
For example, many FN peoples express, hold, and advance negative beliefs about White people, Filipino peoples, Black peoples etc. The entirety of “white privilege” is a lie predicated on the fears and prejudices of others. Many women hold negative views about men. Many men hold negative views about women. And of course, most people hold negative views about lawyers, and government workers, deserved or not, but is it unreasonable?
This fuzzy-wuzzy proclamation is in itself racist, bigoted, and xenophobic given the current climate of hate directed at some so-called white privilege which is nothing more than a whimsy of the privileged who are classist and elitist in their words and actions - Open your f$&@ing eyes and understand what is actually going on around you! You are being played.
The strategy of the upper governing classes has always been and continues to be - Divide and conquer. This proclamation itself arises out of privilege… By the look of it, a “white privilege” but that would be too bigoted, too xenophobic, class privilege it is then! Hmmm…
Don’t let them play word games with you which is by the way, straight from the Liberal playbook on Friendly Fascism… To gain hegemonic influence over the volk through administration of the Liberal Volksfrei… Leftist terrorism but then what lawyer is not a corporatist in deed if not in word?
BonfireJim - Perhaps there is some indulgences occurring around that bonfire, maybe, just a little?
Up 14 Down 21
Moose101 on Mar 15, 2022 at 6:19 pm
This is bs - don’t “you people “quoting Don Cherry have anything better to do? Next thing is we’ll be sitting around a campfire singing Cumbyya.
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Wilf Carter on Mar 15, 2022 at 6:03 pm
Racism is very bad and I have a learning disability called dyslexia and had one of my employer management discriminant against me because they said I never attended any universities but in fact SFXU, SMU and UFA.
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bonanzajoe on Mar 15, 2022 at 5:21 pm
When are they going to proclaim anti-white day? The accusations have been around long enough.
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BnR on Mar 15, 2022 at 4:52 pm
The usuals are all “I’m not a racist but….”
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Jeff Bikaboom on Mar 15, 2022 at 4:13 pm
Whitehorse is just oozing with virtue. Apparently in Whitehorse, racial discriminations bad, but medical discriminations good. I would like a commitment to building a world of justice and equality where medical apartheid does not exist. Canada seems to be piling on the discrimination faster than it can eliminate it.
I will never attend an International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination rally; if you have a racial acceptance rally, invite me.
By the way, congratulations to the city. I see night shift is back removing snow and crews have been clearing the sidewalks all week. Something must of happened to get things back in order.
Up 130 Down 19
Mr Facts on Mar 15, 2022 at 3:39 pm
Yeah you can start with all the job ads that discriminate against anyone who isn't First Nations. Law Courts that show only one type of culture. Lol, the list is a long one.
Or am I not supposed to point that out?
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BonfireJim on Mar 15, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Amazing! it is so important to recognize our biases, and recognize the pain and suffering we have caused others through our discrimination and hate. Would be awfully hard to spin anti racism any other way than positive. A great day for self reflection and improvement.
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Matthew on Mar 15, 2022 at 2:23 pm
Ummm... ok..? Remember, only white people can be racist folks, straight, white, males.. get it? LOL