Letter to the Editor: An open letter to the WLUGSA from a former president

This would make a lot of sense if you replaced your words ‘we are all human’ with ‘we are all racist’ and ‘overreact in any situation where there is great pressure’ with ‘be racist publicly from time to time’. This is essentially what you are arguing for. Shame on you.

Matt Davidson, you need to have your reading comprehension checked before you comment on an article. The author is arguing that the Grad association should not crumple immediately to pressure and should take time to consider all facts and opinions before rashly rushing to a decision. This “you don’t think the same way I do — You must be racist” argument is getting really tiring. There is no racism here, just a past president offering his thoughts and support in an open letter to the GSA.

The actions of Sandor can in no way be misconstrued as “racist”. He did nothing to infringe upon anyone’s rights based on their race. Regardless of your stance on Sandor’s actions, please don’t dilute a serious discussion with baseless claims. Get offended by his ad if you want, just don’t misconstrue it to further vilify the man.

Matthew Davidson, the ad wasn’t the slightest bit racist. it did not mention nor did it even suggest anything to do with race. If the word “slave” is racist to you obviously don’t know what the word means.

Assuming that the word “slave” is inherently racist is, in fact, racist. Almost every culture in the history of people has used slavery, just as often with people of the same racial background as they were, as not. Caucasians have enslaved Caucasians, Asians have enslaved Asians, Africans have enslaved Africans. Using the word slave is not, in and of itself, a reference to any particular race. Don’t try to project your own prejudices on someone else.

Of course Jason. Your parents must be proud. No one suffered from slavery as much as Caucasians.

Dark Horse? If you were a slave in 21st century Canada, then we have much, much bigger problems to discuss. Does this mean if I say “I’ve been slaving away at work for 12 hours today?” , then I should be compelled by others to “check my white privilege” and be punished? Shame on all of this. All of this! It is disgusting that we are even having this conversation.

Don’t pull the black card. Human beings have been enslaving each other throughout history regardless of skin colour – whoever had the biggest guns got the most slaves, basically.

Also, no mention of race was there, only the word “slave”. If that offends you, maybe try to understand that the world isn’t just about you.

Matthew – Intent matters. That doesn’t mean that ignorance should excuse the offense, just that it should temper the response.

It seems clear that Sandor did not intend to offend anyone with the slave comment and was not considering any racial undertones that the term might carry. The experience of slavery is not specific to the African / North American slave trade nor, sadly, did it end with the Emancipation Proclamation. While the word “slave” carries baggage, it is not a direct slur and there’s no reason to believe that Sandor intended it as such.

I think that his choice to use the word “slave” in the ad was a poor one, however the appropriate response would have been to explain to him why people might be offended by the ad and request a retraction / apology. Branding the man a racist and terminating his livelihood was extreme, arbitrary, and foolish.

Matthew. “This sounds like the operator thinks slavery is funny.” As an adult you should be able to distinguish between a joke about something and support for something. The logical leap you just made could be used to demand the removal of half the books in the library, all of Shakespeare and so on. My ancestors were slaves on the sugar plantations of Trinidad and I ask you to check your white privilege and refrain from being offended on my behalf.

As for your concerns about “student recruitment efforts or its its brand image”, I think you will find that the disproportionate response of the student Stazi has caused greater damage than an innocuous job ad on Facebook; as an example I am writing to you from rural France.