This letter was in response to an article which appeared in the St Catharines Standard on January 16th 1996. The article announced the formation of a committee to investigate racism in our city. The council was acting on a recomendation of the city's Human Resources Department. This recomendation was made even though the report stated race related crimes are only a small problem in this city. It is of interest to note that the Human Resources department was told to start it's investigation only after a presentation to council from anti-racism activist Susan Howard Azzeh. Actually, after Ms Azzeh's report, the city council had no choice but to ask for an investigation, because to do nothing would bring the accusation of being "soft" on racism.
Mayor Unwin, in the article, said it was his role to condemn ALL violence.
I read in your paper on Jan.16 that St. Catharines is going to have its very own racism committee. As I read further, I had to ask why.
The article states that the city's Human Resources Department maintains race-related crime is only a small problem in this city. If this is so, why create a special committee?
Further on in the article, we are given a list of victims of race hatred. In the list, the only race I can see is "Black". I know for sure that homosexuals aren't a race, and the rest are cultural, ethnic, or religious groups. Are all victims of crime identified by race? If so, do they self-identify, or does the investigating officer label them.
Can anyone (see note below) state positively that no white person has been a victim of race hatred in the last two years?
Mayor Al Unwin has the right idea when he says he condemns all violence. Why then doesn't he form an anti-violence committee instead, dedicated to the security and dignity of all citizens, regardless of race?
Unfortunately the mayor has been swayed by the forces of political correctness. Why doesn't the mayor save some time and money, and just get Ms Howard-Azzeh to write the report for him now, because I'm sure the results will pander to the agenda of the anti-racism industry.
NOTE: In the letter as sent, I said "Susan Howard Azzeh"
NOTE: The editor left out the last paragraph of my letter. When you consider the committee has been in existance for almost a year, with no (to my knowledge) public input or publically announced hearings, this omitted paragraph is especially fitting. Come to think of it, the membership of the committee was never publically announced either.
The same day my letter was published, the Standard published a letter from Susan Howard Azzeh. I include it for your perusal.
"Congratulations to St. Catharines council for its progressive move in establishing a human rights committee. As a fitting coincidence, the day it was adopted was also Martin Luther King Jr. day.
The Toronto Mayor's Race Relatiions Committee was formed more than ten years ago at the initiative of Art Eggleton, and Hamilton soon followed with its own. St. Catharines now has the distinction of having formed the first expanded model in the Mayor's Human Rights Committee.
Once the Human Rights Committee is on its feet, we look forward to seeing positive initiatives coming from its members supporting citizens and business owners experencing racism; addressing bias/hate crimes in the area; promoting cross- cultural understanding and acceptance, and facilitating a thorough cross-representation of our community in all city functioning and events.
March 21, the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would be an ideal time to inaugurate the committee".
You can see from Ms Azzeh's letter that she has definate ideas of what the committee results should be. One might almost think that the report had already been written. It will be interesting to compare the committee's recommendations with Ms Azzeh's wish list, if the committee ever gets finished.
ACC NIAGARA/freedom@niagara.com/Feb 15 1997/Revised August 28 2006