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Tag Archives: George Floyd

Racism in Canada: Notes

08 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Aboriginals, Canadian History, Covid-19, New France, Racism, U.S.A Elections

≈ Comments Off on Racism in Canada: Notes

Tags

Amerindians, Demonstrations, George Floyd, racism

A Métis man and his two wives, circa 1825-1826.jpg

A Métis man and his two wives, circa 1825-1826. Mikan # 2835810, Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1973-84-1

The killing of George Floyd nearly drowned the discussion about Covid-19. The current conversation is about a man who was killed by a man whose duty it was to protect him, even as he arrested him. The police have duties to everyone. Therefore, it was racism at its worst. George Floyd’s life didn’t matter.

Racism in the United States is a complex topic because the economy of the United States depended, in certain southern states, on slavery. Blacks travelled packed like sardines in the hull of a slave ship and, on their arrival in North America, they were sold. Slavery took away a person’s life. A human life belonged to the owner of a plantation, which means that life was taken away from a human being. Black lives matter. The mindset of Americans is therefore rooted in colour and status.

Racism exists in Canada. A the moment, the question is whether it is “systemic” racism (racisme structurel) or racism. Our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, says racism in Canada is systemic. At first, monsieur Legault of Quebec stated that racism in Canada is not systemic, but it seems he changed his mind. Premier Doug Ford of Ontario also believes that racism in Canada is systemic. For my part, I need to read further before I position myself. As for Dr Theresa Tam, Canada’s top doctor, she urges protesters to stay safe.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/dr-tam-s-message-to-anti-racism-demonstrators/vi-BB155XJK?ocid=msedgdhp

Because the Black in the United States were slaves, racism in the United States cannot be the same as racism in Canada. Canada’s racism may be systemic, but Canada’s economy did not depend on the work of slaves. Diamonds were not found on the shores of the St Lawrence River. Canada’s diamonds where its precious pelts at a time when men wore high beaver hats.

In other words, in the 17th century, survival in Nouvelle-France depended on agriculture and fur-trading. Logging was also important. Some houses were log cabin. It should also be noted that, in New France, settling would not have been possible without the Amerindians. Jacques Cartier the official discoverer of Canada made three trips to Eastern Canada. He first travelled to Canada in 1534. He took to France chief Donnacona‘s two sons and returned them to their father in 1535. They had learned French.

Cartier waited too long to return to France, so his ship(s) was locked into the ice and his men were rapidly dying of scurvy. Amerindians provided thuya occidentalis, white cedar rich in  On his first trip, the French could not have gone to les pays d’en haut, the countries above or to the north, as voyageurs, in particular. They needed bark canoes and, snowshoes and the guidance Amerindians could provide. A canoe could be made in a matter of hours and the French had to work with the natives. “Survival” is a keyword in the history of Canada.

The fact remains, however, that the fur trade in Canada did not preclude abuse. The French gave trinkets and alcohol to natives who were prone to alcoholism, which outraged Monseigneur Laval, François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval (1623-1708). But their land was not taken from Amerindians.

François de Laval - Project Gutenberg eText 17174.jpg

The Bishop of Quebec

However, in the United States, settlers deprived aboriginals of the land they had inhabited for centuries, if not millennia. American natives were sent West forcibly west of the Mississippi. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) would facilitate that process. Moreover, the French had settled in New Orleans, Nouvelle-Orléans, but the population of the rest of Louisiana consisted primarily of Aboriginals. In Canada, their land was not taken from Amerindians until what is known as Confederation (in 1867), or the birth of Canada.

There was hostility between tribes which affected New France. Iroquois captured and killed a number of French-speaking citizens of New France. Iroquois also tortured and killed eight Jesuit missionaries. They are the Canadian Martyrs. To defend the citizens of Nouvelle-France, France sent le Régiment de Carignan-Salières. Le Régiment de Carignan-Salières, soldiers, who arrived in 1759, which is during the ten years or so when les Filles du Roy, the King’s wards were sent to New France.

Before the arrival of the Filles du Roy, the French resorted to marrying the natives, which explains why some Québécois have Amerindian ancestry. Métissés Québécois never formed a nation and are not recognized as Métis. Therefore, I am métissée, but I must pay my taxes, and look after myself. Québecois are considered culturally French and we identify with France. However, I am proud of my Amerindian ancestry. It makes me feel a legitimate inhabitant of the North American continent. It appears I am also a descendant of Alix de France, Eleanor of Aquitaine‘s daughter with Louis VII, a Bourbon king.

The French lost the Seven Years’ War, called the French and Indian War in North America. France had to give some of its colonies. So when Nouvelle-France was officially ceded to Britain, Amerindians feared for their lives. They were rescued by George III’s Proclamation of 1763, which did not please Americans.

Ironically, Amerindians in the what would be Canada lost their waterfront lots beginning in 1867, when four provinces of Canada when Nova Scotia, New Brunswick Québec and Ontario confederated and bought Rupert’s Land. It was land that belonged to the Hudson’s Bay Company. The HBC retained its trading posts, but Amerindians were eventually placed on reservations, a mixed blessing.

See the source image

Rupert’s Land

Louis Riel was a Métis, the most famous among Métis, and he was elected three times to Canada’s Parliament. Riel was executed on 16 November 1886 for the execution of Thomas Scott, an Orangeman (Protestant) from Ontario. The Métis thought they would participate in the creation of Canada and that it would be bilingual and Catholic, in the case of Catholic Métis. Between the Conquest, 1763, and Confederation, 1867, voyageurs were employed in the fur trade and when the beavers were nearly extant, they accompanied explorers, such as David Thomson, who married an Amerindian.

The Métis in Canada live West in or near Winnipeg and are the descendants of the voyageurs, persons who went west to collect fur from the Amerindians. But voyageurs also retired in Minnesota. When the border between Canada and the United States was traced, after the War of 1812, voyageurs trading posts were suddenly located in Minnesota, where a significant number of voyageurs retired. One of the voyageur who settled in Minnesota is Gabriel Franchère, a hero to Americans. (See Gabriel Franchère, a Hero to Americans.)

Voyageurs married Amerindians, because they could be away from Quebec for three years. Some had two wives, one west and one in Quebec. As the picture above illustrates, some had two Amerindian wives. Derek Chauvin has a French name, which suggests voyageur ancestry, but not necessarily Amerindian ancestry. Derek Chauvin has a French name. Other Métis are the descendants of the baron de Saint-Castin, who was an Amerindian chief. (See Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie, Baron de Saint-Castin.) One of my readers is a descendant of Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie, Baron de Saint-Castin.

Several Quebecers are métissés but they are not considered Métis. French-speaking Canadians identify with France, their motherland. We are culturally French, so despite our ancestry, we must pay our taxes. I like being métissée because it makes me feel that I belong just a little more than others.

a person standing in front of a computer: Chief Allan Adam of the Athabascan Chipewyan First Nation.

© Global News Chief Allan Adam of the Athabascan Chipewyan First Nation

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/enough-is-enough-first-nations-chief-says-he-needed-to-tell-story-of-alleged-rcmp-beating/ar-BB158toC?ocid=msedgdhp

Northern Alberta First Nations chief alleges he was beaten by RCMP

The Blacks in Canada

Mathieu da Costa, an African-Portuguese translator, was “[t]he first Black inhabitant of Nouvelle-France. He was a member of the exploring party of Pierre Dugua, the Sieur de Monts, and Samuel de Champlain and arrived in Nova Scotia sometime between 1605 and 1608 as a translator for the French explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mon(t)s. He was the first recorded free black person to arrive on the territory of today’s Canada.” (See Pierre Dugua, sieur de Mons, Wikipedia.) Mathieu da Costa died in Quebec City in approximately 1619.

Ironically, Pierre Du Gua de Mons travelled to North America in 1599 with Pierre Pierre de Chauvin de Tonnetuit who had a house built at Tadoussac. But Pierre de Chauvin probably returned to France. (See Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, Wikipedia.)

Nova Scotia has a black population some of whom are part Amerindian.

Conclusion

However, I stand by George Floyd. His colour is an accident of birth and his ancestors. The only justice is eradicating racism and the process must start at home and in schools. We must not let children bully others.

  • From the Red River Settlement to the North-West Rebellion (8 May 2018)
  • American Tragedies (8 October 2017)*
  • Walter Crane: from Slavery to Wage-Slavery (21 December 2015)
  • Jean Vincent d’Abbadie, Baron de Saint-Castin (11 September 2015)
  • Comments on Racism (2 February 2015)*
  • Freemasonry & Abolitionism  (31 January 2014)
  • Ignatius Sancho & Laurence Sterne: a Letter (14 December 2013)
  • The Abolition of Slavery (15 November 2013)
  • The Noble Savage: Lahontan’s Adario (21 October 2012)
    etc.

Kind regards to everyone. 💕

a man smiling for the camera

© Provided by The Canadian Press

© Micheline Walker
8 June 2020
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George Floyd: Racism & Covid-19

04 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Covid-19, The United States

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Covid-19, Donald Trump, four officers arrested, George Floyd, James Mattis, William Blake

James Mattis wearing a suit and tie smiling and looking at the camera: US President Donald Trump speaks as Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) looks on during a meeting with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House on October 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

© MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump speaks as Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) looks on during a meeting with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House on October 5, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Covid Remains

  • Covid-19
  • dividing Americans

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/george-floyd-protests-how-to-stay-safe-while-demonstrating-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/vi-B14Zoln?ocid=msedgdhp

Covid remains. It is the new reality and it will remain the new reality. Protesters who have taken to the streets are likely to catch the virus and spread it. Moreover, as I wrote in my last post, Mr Trump is seeing the protesters as thugs. He is not seeing them as individuals protesting an unjust death and asking that racial tensions in the United States come to an end.

I wasn’t well yesterday, and could not post anything, but I saw pictures that told a long story. The police was not allowing journalists to cover the events, which is their role. It is therefore difficult to know events precisely. We will not know who is destroying personal property. However, fatigue did not prevent me from reading.

As I feared, protesters had again taken to the streets, where no one is safe. Mr. Trump is a racist. Therefore, he wants the public to see that the protesters are thugs and will not let anyone see otherwise. This is authoritarianism, repression, bigotry and other evils I will not name. Not now. However, yesterday, The Washington Post reported that former defence secretary Jim Mattis has stated that:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis wrote in a statement published by the Atlantic.

“We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,” he continued. “We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

Mr Matis is right. This president wants to put protesters in the wrong and has the press pushed away so he is the only witness and divides Americans.

Mr Floyd’s murderer is in custody, and so are his fellow officers. When Mr Floyd said that he could not breathe, fellow officers didn’t pull Derek Chauvin away from George Floyd. I wrote that a heavy foot killed Mr Floyd, but it was a merciless knee and fellow officers did not intervene. They could have prevented George Floyd’s death.

All Officers Arrested

I have now read that all officers had been arrested. As for protesters, Mr Trump will not ever see them as protesters. As noted above, however legitimate the protest, the protesters will be seen as thugs. Moreover, it has also been reported that Mr. Floyd had been infected by Covid-19. Will this be used to explain away a genuine homicide? Mr Floyd died of Covid-19. How convenient! But we know the truth.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-06-03/new-charges-expected-in-george-floyd-death

https://nypost.com/2020/05/29/george-floyds-deadly-police-encounter-

Conclusion

I will close by repeating that Donald Trump should not have been elected to the Presidency of the United States. He is not sufficiently educated. A good education is a source of freedom. It broadens the mind. One sees what one had not seen before and one can wrap one’s thoughts in words. But what Mr Trump reads is fake news, and he thinks he is under attack. He has also learned to lie.

In short, Derek Chauvin killed Mr Floyd and President Trump is failing Americans abysmally. There could be new outbreaks of Covid-19 and President Trump is distorting the truth. To this effect, he is not allowing the press from chronicling events. Fortunately, Americans can see.

The protest must be peaceful and Americans must elect to the Presidency of the United States a person who will be accountable and will not divide the United States.

In Canada,

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/protests-are-important-but-risks-of-covid-19-must-be-considered-freeland/ar-BB14Z3Bv?ocid=msedgdhp

Love to everyone 💕

Paul Robeson sings Ol’ Man River

800px-Europe_a_Prophecy,_copy_D,_object_1_(Bentley_1,_Erdman_i,_Keynes_i)_British_Museum

Europe a Prophecy (Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
4 June 2020
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George Floyd: Corrections

02 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Racism, U.S.A Elections

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Demonstrations, George Floyd, Homicide, Violence

John Minchillo/AP

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/us-police-protest-photos-george-floyd_ca_5ed42a6ac5b6b1a55b9541ec

Something went wrong. It started last night. The post I published does not promote disorder. When I read it this morning, the post had been altered. One cannot set buildings ablaze and otherwise destroy property.

As you know, there are thugs. Plain thugs. For them, a demonstration is an opportunity to destroy property. They may join the demonstration and distort the message. One will not see the truck that is driven into the demonstrators and may not want to remember that people are protesting the murder of an African-American.

If a demonstration is violent, people may not remember an unjust death and police brutality. They will instead remember the disorder and the destruction it led to, and the protesters will be looked upon as criminals. President Trump will send in the National Guards. Beware of thugs.

The protest in Montreal has been ruled illegal. Covid-19 precludes large gatherings, however peaceful.

Yes, Canada grieves, but it grieves the brutal death of George Floyd, whose murderer was a policeman.

I must have my computer examined. There are hackers.

Love to everyone 💕

https://chicago.suntimes.com/metro-state/2020/6/2/21277915/photos-sights-and-scenes-from-mondays-george-floyd-protests-in-chicago

Paul Robeson sings Danny Boy

640px-Paul_Robeson_1942_crop

Paul Robeson

© Micheline Walker
2 June 2020
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George Floyd: Canada Grieves

01 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Racism, The United States, U.S.A Elections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Covid-19, George Floyd, Murder, Protest, racism, Vote

a group of people that are standing in the rain: Police form a line on H Street in Washington as demonstrators gather near the White House on Sunday to protest the killing of George Floyd.

© Alex Brandon/AP Police form a line on H Street in Washington as demonstrators gather near the White House on Sunday to protest the killing of George Floyd. (The Washington Post)

The Right to Life

George Floyd had the right to live, despite the color of his skin. His death is murder most foul. It truly saddens me to see that a person who should protect others, a policeman, failed in his duties to protect a citizen of the United States and that fellow officers did not come to Mr. Floyd’s rescue.

I would like to express indignation at the brutal act that deprived Mr. Floyd of his life. A police officer’s first duty is to ensure the safety of others. The murderer and his colleagues failed Mr. Floyd and they failed the people of the United States. I also wish to express heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Floyd’s family, friends, and to his community.

a group of people walking down the street

© Provided by The Canadian Press, Montreal

Demonstrations

  • eloquent, but peaceful demonstrations
  • Covid-19: stay safe

However, in the days of Covid-19, demonstrations are not advisable. Covid-19 is so easily transmitted that demonstrations could infect hundreds of persons. Protective masks fall while buildings are set ablaze. Please remember that in the mind of a racist, a violent and destructive protest will be viewed as vandalism, which it has become. Violent protests could be used to justify Mr. Floyd’s murder. Yes, racism can go that far. Protest peacefully. 

Racists walk a crooked path and many are not educated. President Trump is not as well-educated as his predecessor, President Obama. He would not even hear Dr Fauci, an exceptional immunologist who should have guided the President’s actions. President Trump has also severed the United States ties with the World Health Organization, the WHO. Such behavior is inexplicable and it is wrong. How to fight Covid-19 is for experts to determine. Elected officials act on their advice.

Allow me to say to African-Americans facing racism that they are not alone. Whites are also fighting racism. Americans of every creed and color elected Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States.

The American Elections 

The electoral campaign is well under way. Therefore, Americans are at liberty to elect a President who will not tolerate racism and prejudices. But for the time being, we are in the midst of a pandemic. Covid-19 is as deadly as the heavy knew of the policeman who choked Mr. Floyd. In fact, it is deadlier. Many of you who have protested may have been infected. We have abused the environment and can expect horrific consequences. Do not engage in demonstrations that will destroy you and harm your cause.

Protest peacefully and be an instrument of change. Elect a good candidate to the  Presidency of the United States. At the moment, Mr. Biden leads and he has many supporters. The world is watching, hoping for a change, but only American citizens can vote.

Here is a quotation from a piece Barack Obama published in Medium.

The “bottom line,” he wrote, is that “if we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both. We have to mobilize to raise awareness, and we have to organize and cast our ballots to make sure that we elect candidates who will act on reform.”

Uprooting racism and other societal ills is everyone’s task. Do not stand alone and stay safe.

Love to everyone 💕

Paul Robeson sings Let my People Go

a man standing in front of a mirror posing for the camera: Houston police will escort George Floyd's body upon its arrival.

© Courtesy Ben Crump Law Firm Houston police will escort George Floyd’s body upon its arrival.

© Micheline Walker
1 June 2020
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