UnivERsity of WinnipEg’s campUs and commUnity WEEkly ISSUE 2008/10/30 VOLUME10 63 Are we a RACIST city? Examining Winnipeg’s Why some believe employment deep-seated beliefs equity is a step in the wrong direction news page 5 Racial slurs on the playground might be a thing of the past, What your neighbourhood but our kids are still racist says about you news page 6 news page 3 october 30, 2008 the Uniter contact: [email protected] 02 NNEEwsws the Bradley “i decided i wanted to live Effect: why like a white person and not obama still deal with the problems of might lose being indian” news page 6 arts & culture page 14 arts & culture page 16 sports page 22 Are we a racist city? UNITER STAFF No group is an island. act of defacing the mural is bad enough, the asking meaningful Is race even a word? Some argue that words are undeniably racist. managing EditoR Stacy Cardigan Smith [email protected] “race” is a term of convenience, and that it For as much as Canada is touted as an » questions even when doesn’t account for the fact that we all share ethnically-diverse country, we still deal with BUsinEss managER James D. Patterson [email protected] in what it means to be human, and that to racism everyday. Because throwing a group » you’re scared of the tease groups apart and tag them as racially of people together and then passing a num- pRodUCTION MANAGER Melody Morrissette [email protected] answer distinct may in fact be misleading. ber of anti-discrimination and employment » To be sure, the interconnectedness of hu- equity acts does nothing to ensure we’ll actu- copy and stylE EditoR Ashley Holmes [email protected] manity is beautiful thing, as it ties us together ally get along. » stAcy Cardigan smith in ways the term “race” cannot account for. We at The Uniter have gathered together a pHoto EditoR Mark Reimer [email protected] mAnaginG editor The Uniter takes seriously this sentiment, variety of pieces on topics as diverse as sub- » however, though race may not be the correct conscious racism, affirmative action and rac- nEWs assignmEnt EditoR Toban Dyck [email protected] tobAn dyck term, we are trading on the idea that you, ism in schools and in the media. We also » the reader, understand that there is no hid- spoke to Aboriginal People and recent im- nEWs pRodUction EditoR news AssiGnment editor Ksenia Prints [email protected] den commentary in our use of it. migrants about their experiences in the city. » Anyone who watches the evening news, It is our hope that by tackling such topics, aRts and cUltURE EditoR Aaron Epp [email protected] o, here we are, a bunch of middle-class, sees groups of school kids playing, looks at we’ll bring to light some of the issues many » predominantly white university stu- Canada’s treatment of Aboriginal Peoples, wish they could just ignore; and just maybe commEnts EditoR Devin Morrow [email protected] dents writing about race issues. What knows that even if race is a socially con- this is the first step to dealing with some of » Sdo we know about race issues? Perhaps noth- structed term, racism is still very prevalent these problems. spoRts EditoR Joshua Boulding [email protected] ing, but we do have the gumption to bring amongst people. So take a look at our special issue and » forth the question “Are we a racist city?” to Take a look at our front cover. This mural, form your own opinion about how racist listings co-oRdinatoR Curran Faris [email protected] those who do. located on Higgins Avenue, was anony- the City of Winnipeg is. As always, we ap- » According to the Merriam Webster diction- mously constructed to honour Aboriginal preciate your feedback. Write us at editor@ BEat REpoRtER Dan Huyghebaert [email protected] ary, race is defined as “a family, tribe, people, People killed by Winnipeg police officers. uniter.ca. » or nation belonging to the same stock.” Someone scribbled all over it. Although the BEat REpoRtER Joe Kornelsen » [email protected] BEat REpoRtER Sandy Klowak » [email protected] news BEat REpoRtER Andrew McMonagle » [email protected] Child soldiers left without a country CONTRiBUTORs: alex garcia, Brooke dmytriw, Wesley m flett Johnston, Emily payne, andrew tod, Will dumont, A Winnipeg, Canada not rk reimer J. Williamez, Ethan cabel, cindy titus, kiley dyck, Ben “think about it, there’s myers, Holly Rose, courtney schwegel, timothy penner, Jonathan dyck, maria laureano, matt prepost, ian equipped to deal with no way these kids would mcammond, Brittany thiessen, natasha anne tersigni, adam peleshaty, tom asselin, marko Bilandzjia, kevin young soldiers survive if we brought chaves, scott christiansen, mike collins, Brad pennington, Jo villaverde, adam Johnston, sagan morrow, clayton them here on their Winter, Robert Huynh, cory flavo Alex GArciA own.” the Uniter is the official student newspaper of the University of Volunteer stAff Winnipeg and is published by mouseland press inc. mouseland –tom Denton, Hospitality House press inc. is a membership based organization in which students and community members are invited to participate. for more refugee Ministry information on how to become a member go to www.uniter.ca, or ccording to the United Nations, call the office at 786-9790. the Uniter is a member of the canadian University press and campus plus media services. there are now anywhere between programs for these young people, it’s amaz- sUBMISSION OF aRTICLEs, lETTERs, gRAPHICS AND pHOTOS aRE 250,000 to 300,000 child soldiers in ing to me how much the communities rise WELCOME. articles must be submitted in text (.rtf) or microsoft Word Acombat around the world. But those who es- (.doc) format to [email protected], or the relevant section editor. to the occasion. We see a lot of these kids deadline for submissions is 6:00 p.m. thursday, one week before cape the horrors of war to end up in Canada get help finding a place to live and orienting publication. deadline for advertisements is noon friday, six days do not find much reprieve either. prior to publication. the Uniter reserves the right to refuse to print themselves with the city by people in their submitted material. the Uniter will not print submissions that are During a presentation on the new communities.” homophobic, misogynistic, racist, or libellous. We also reserve the Canadian Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI), Ken Despite the shaky support networks, ac- right to edit for length and/or style. CONTACT US Eyre, project manager for CSI, explained how While Janine LeGal agrees Winnipeg lacks official tion is being taken to bring child soldiers » children are being used as soldiers or as aids General Inquiries: 204.786.9790 support services for child soldiers, she believes into areas like Winnipeg and away from Advertising: 204.786.9790 in war movements, mostly in Sub-Saharan local communities do a lot to welcome these danger. With his CSI project, Eyre is work- Editors: 204.786.9497 Africa. refugees. ing alongside human rights champions like Fax: 204.783.7080 Involvement with militaries isn’t always General Romeo Dallaire and Ishmael Beah, E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.uniter.ca forced for these youth, Eyre said, adding these kinds of things on their own.” a former child soldier, to assist child soldiers some choose a life in combat to escape ex- Former child soldiers most often remain the world over. The project aims to stop the LOCATION » Room ORM14 treme poverty and hunger. homeless because the vast majority are or- recruitment of child soldiers, extract individ- University of Winnipeg Yet what awaits these children after the phans to begin with, or have committed uals from conflict zones and prevent future 515 Portage Avenue wars finish, or if they escape service early, is atrocities in their home villages and can’t re- recruitment. Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 almost as abysmal as their life in combat. turn home due to threat of persecution. The group is focusing on practice rather Tom Denton works for Hospitality Emigration is also near impossible for than theory and is in the process of training moUsEland pREss BoaRd of diREctoRs: House Refugee Ministry, a private organiza- most. Gaining entry for unaccompanied professionals who will be sent to West Africa david EisBrenner (chair), mary agnes Welch, tion sponsoring many of Manitoba’s refugee minors is extremely difficult and most and Cote d’Ivoire in order to start removing Rob nay, nick tanchuk, Brian gagnon, devin king, claimants. countries won’t accept the refugee status of these kids from violence. meg mcgimpsey, Ben Zorn, kelly Ross (UWSA), “The reason we don’t see a lot of unac- someone who has committed human rights “You can look at the problem of child sol- scott nosaty for inquiries e-mail: [email protected] companied children is because there aren’t violations. diers and keep picking away at all the issues any services set up in the city to receive While Canada accepts somewhere around inside, making the problem bigger; or you them or rehabilitate them. Really, the only 7,300 refugees a year (560 of whom end up can do what we’re doing and boil it down to way for those types of kids to get into the in Manitoba), very few teenagers are allowed essentials so it becomes easier to handle. It’s COVER IMAGE country would be through privately set up into the country by themselves, and virtually not rocket science; we’ve built rockets. This the anonymous mural is adoptions.” no children. is harder; we’ve never done it before,” Eyre “Think about it, there’s no way these kids Hope still remains for these kids who said during his talk.