Quote:
Originally Posted by HyperMOA
Don very well could have seen a large group of Russians not wearing poppies speaking Russian as he could have seen a colour of skin that you are reaching for. He could very well know the demographics and seen people not speaking English and figured they had recently immigrated. Was he wrong? If it’s his observation it’s not wrong. Were you downtown Toronto to witness what he witnessed. I wasn’t. I’ll take his word for it.
|
That is one heck of a reach.
"I live in Mississauga, nobody wears — very few people wear a poppy. Downtown Toronto, forget it! Downtown Toronto, nobody wears a poppy."
So he walked by a single large group of Russian immigrants and then goes on to say that he's witnessed 'very few people' in city 1 wearing a poppy, and 'nobody' in city 2? How does that add up?
Supposing for a minute that it
did make some sense for him to observe a single group of people and then create the worlds biggest exaggeration by saying that 'nobody wears poppies'...Why would he assume that people speaking a foreign language must be new immigrants?
I work with several people who speak Chinese to each other regularly, they were all either born here or have been in Canada for 20-30+ years.
How did he even know the Russians live in Canada? Might they not have been tourists?
I get that you're probably playing the devil's advocate here to some degree, but it's really not very plausible. You seem under the impression that the race thing is something I jumped to and am alone in; by no means is that the case. I think it's pretty widely accepted that that's where he was coming from. It's not because everyone wants something to be upset about (although I'm sure there's some of that, there always is) but because it's about the only thing that makes any sense.
For The Win, USA Today
Don Cherry's racist rant about immigrants should be his last
Interviewee on Global
The “racism and the microaggression” of Cherry’s statements, she said, could incite an anti-immigrant sentiment.
Toronto Sports Media
The speech clearly contrasts “new” Canadians with “good” Canadians, and is for that reason rightly being denounced as racist.
As it Happens interview
CO: And, of course, just to remind people in case they’ve not heard it already, but that it involved people who don't wear poppies that he accused of being, he said that you said that you people love our way of life. You love our milk and honey. The least you can do is pay a couple bucks for a poppy. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price. Any doubt in your mind as to who you people is referring to?
SS: No, because he also juxtaposed that with talking about him seeing very few people wearing poppies in downtown Toronto and in Mississauga, where he lives. Toronto is very diverse — as is Mississauga — so I don't think there was any question about what he was trying to say.
CO: Not just that the remark is racist, it's just factually inaccurate. When it comes to service and sacrifice, there are people, not only immigrants in Canada who have been in wars since the Great War to Afghanistan, but also people from other countries who have made enormous sacrifices. What's the reality there?