Debasing Dissent: The Role of The News Media in the Devaluation of Black Canadian Activism by Ashley Irwin A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2020 ©Ashley Irwin 2020 Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner: Dr. Barrington Walker Professor Supervisors: Dr. Heather Smyth & Dr. Frankie Condon Associate Professor Associate Professor Internal Member: Dr. Vershawn Young Professor-Cross Appointed Internal-External Member- Dr. Jasmin Habib Associate Professor Internal Member: Dr. Vinh Nguyen Assistant Professor ii Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract My dissertation examines the way that the Canadian news media delegitimizes anti-racist activism to contribute to the harmful national narratives of racial equality disseminated by the white Anglophone majority. I examine the discourse used to frame three instances of Black Canadian uprising, the 1969 Sir George Williams Affair, the Yonge Street Uprising of 1992, and the 2016 Black Lives Matter sit-in at the Toronto Pride parade, in the Toronto Star, the Montreal Gazette, the Globe and Mail, and the National Post. Using critical discourse analysis as a methodology and critical race theory as a theoretical lens, I argue that these newspapers utilize racist discourses by attributing the presence of activism to Black cultural and biological deficiencies. The journalists covering the Sir George Williams Affair use xenophobic discourse and raise moral alarm in order to blame the uprising on West Indian students as well as international communist organizations and the Black Panthers. These discourses situate activism as a foreign import in order to disavow the existence of racism on Canadian soil. The coverage of the Yonge Street Uprising utilizes the discourse of the minimization of racism and the discourse of dichotomies to deny the existence of racism by blaming activism on the supposed Black predisposition toward criminality. Those covering the Black Lives Matter sit-in at the Toronto Pride parade utilize devolutionary discourse, the discourse of irrationality, and the discourse of immorality to devalue activist endeavours. These discourses portray Black activists as evolutionarily inferior, unintelligent, and immoral. I historicize, conceptualize, and analyze the discourses listed above arguing that Canadian journalists recycle racist ideology that once justified and sustained the transatlantic slave trade. Exposing these ideologies will force a necessary revision of the harmful national narratives that perpetuate the oppression of Black Canadians by disavowing the existence of racism. iv Acknowledgements I am extremely fortunate for the amount of love and support I have received from my friends, family, and colleagues. This dissertation would not be possible if it weren’t for you. A sincere thanks to my incredible advisors, Dr. Heather Smyth and Dr. Frankie Condon. Your patience, guidance, and support has been integral to the completion of this dissertation. I am so grateful for your mentorship over the years, and as I pursue a career in education, you will always serve as my models for compassionate, ethical, and justice-oriented pedagogy. Thank you to my committee members Dr. Vershawn Young and Dr. Vinh Nguyen. Your guidance, support, and feedback has been instrumental in strengthening my project. Thank you to examiners Dr. Barrington Walker and Dr. Jasmin Habib. Your commitments to social justice have been truly inspirational, and I thank you for your engaging and challenging questions during my defense. I also want to thank my honorary committee member, Tina Davidson, Graduate Coordinator extraordinaire. You’ve kept me on track over the years, soothed my anxieties, answered my stupid questions, and most importantly, you’ve made me laugh. You have contributed significantly to my positive experience at University of Waterloo. I would also like to extend a sincere thanks to Dr. Jade Ferguson from the University of Guelph. You were the first person to see potential in my work, you played a fundamental role in my pursuit of graduate degrees, and your research has inspired my own. I am a better scholar because of you. I want to thank my incredible colleagues, particularly Devon Moriarty and Becky Anderson (CanLidiots 4 Life), Monique Kamphern, Sara Gallagher, Melissa Johnson, and Val Uher. Your friendship and support have meant so much to me. You have certainly eased the stress of PhD life by listening to my nonsensical rants, laughing at my stupid jokes, and making your own, all well keeping me intellectually stimulated. Thank you to Ellen Ringler for being a sounding board for my ideas, calling me out when I need it, and distracting me with hilarious hijinks. Thanks to my parents, Mary and Brian Irwin, for your support. Thanks to my sister Jamie Campbell for being my best friend and to her beautiful boy, Edgar, for being the cutest. Deepest gratitude to my partner, Christine Bolton. You are a constant source of inspiration, and your unwavering love and support have given me strength to kick school’s butt. v This dissertation has been financially supported and funded by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, W.K. Thomas, David Nimmo and Lea Vogel-Nimmo, the Art’s Senate, the Provost Doctoral Entrance Scholarship for Woman, the UW Special Scholarship, and various teaching and research assistantships. vi Dedication For Christine vii Table of Contents Examining Committee ........................................................................................................................... ii Author's Declaration....………………………………………………………………………………...iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ v Dedication ............................................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1 Introduction: The Ol' College Try ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introducing the Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 8 1.3 Theoretical Lens ......................................................................................................................... 12 1.4 Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 14 1.5 Why This Project Matters ...................................................................................................... 16 1.6 Chapter Breakdown…...……………………………………………………………………..30 Chapter 2 They Came from Abroad: The Sir George Williams Affair and the Externalization of Black Activism………………………………………………………………………………………............35 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….35 2.2 The Events…………………………………………………………………………………...37 2.3 Xenophobia…………………………………………………………………………………..46 2.3.1 The Numbers Game……………………………………………………………………...47 2.3.2 The "Others"……………………………………………………………………………..49 2.3.3 The Usual Suspects………………………………………………………………………53 2.3.4 Us vs Them………………………………………………………………………………60 2.3.5 Historicizing, Contextualizing, and Analyzing Xenophobic Discourse…………………69 2.4 Moral Alarm…………………………………………………………………………………73 2.4.1 Historicizing, Contextualizing and Analyzing Moral Alarm…………………………...75 2.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….…….81 Chapter 3 Rampage of Yonge: The Yonge Street Uprising and the Myth of Black Criminality…….83 3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………83 3.2 The Events………………………………………………………………………………….85 3.3 Minimization of Racism……………………………………………………………………89 3.3.1 "Anything but Racism"…………………………………………………………………90 3.3.2 Anti-Activist Discourse……………………………………………………………93 viii 3.3.3 The Discourse of Irresponsible Reporting………………………………………98 3.3.4 The Discourse of Criminality………………………………………………….102 3.3.5 Historicizing, Contextualizing, and Analyzing the Minimization of Racism….106 3.4 Discourse of Dichotomies…………………………………………………………...109 3.4.1 Black Activists vs the City…………………………………………………… ..109 3.4.2 Black Activists vs the Citizens………………………………………………….111 3.4.3 Black Activists vs the Police……………………………………………………114 3.4.4 Black Aggression vs White Restraint..……………………………………………………...115 3.4.5 Historicizing, Contextualizing, and Analyzing the Discourse of Dichotomies…117 3.5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………120 Chapter 4: Rebel Revelers and the Myth of Black Inferiority……………………………………127 4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….127 4.2 The Events………………………………………………………………………...129 4.3 Devolutionary Discourse………………………………………………………….134 4.3.1 Historicizing, Contextualizing, and Analyzing Devolutionary Discourse……149 4.4 Irrationality Discourse…………………………………………………………….152