14 February 2004

Are We Redefining The Term Racist?

For the last three days the Conan O'Brien show has been broadcasting from Toronto.

Naturally this was arranged by the tourist boards in Ontario to help reinvigorate the city after the devastating public relations blow that was SARS. The city of Toronto put up some money, I think, as did the Government of Ontario and the Federal Government. From what I understand now, at least some of those parties are thinking they probably want their money back.

The whole thing started when Conan turned Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the American version of Ed the Sock on MuchMusic, loose in Montreal during the carnival. The segment was televised and, I thought, was uproariously hilarious. Naturally, it featured Triumph going through the streets of Montreal tearing strips off of all the Quebeckers he could find. Of course, he insulted them in English, which no good Quebecker will claim to understand, but you could see that some of them did and weren't the least bit impressed. Those who only spoke French were offended at the mere presence of someone speaking English in a French city, which leads me to believe that the purpose behind the whole segment was just to piss off the French. But then, isn't pissing people off the nature of comedy in general?

Before I get us started on a debate about the nature of Comedy, which would fill a whole forum in and of itself, I should complete the story. Apparently a number of the Powers That Be have decided to take offense to Triumph's antics. A number of Government officials have even gone so far as to call the segment Racist.

Now that comment causes me to ask one very important question: Are we redefining the term racist to encompass mere nationality?

It's a logical enough question, I think. If I remember correctly, the term racist was originally coined to encompass a set of disparaging remarks made by a member of one race of humanity against a member of another race of humanity. As an example, the term 'Nigger' is a disparaging word that a Caucasian individual would use to refer to a black person. Likewise, the term 'Honkey' is a disparaging remark employed by a black person to refer to a Caucasian.

We learned all of this in Elementary School, but I don't remember my teachers ever expanding that definition to include remarks made by a person who speaks one language to a person who speaks another. Thus, the question: Are we redefining the term racist to encompass mere nationality? And if we are redefining racism, then are we also, by extension, redefining race? Conan O'Brien is a Caucasian, and the French individuals that Triumph insulted were Caucasians as well. The only difference between them was the language that they speak. So how is an Anglophone insulting a Francophone racism?

For decades the French community in Canada has been trying to gain Distinct Society status, largely because of their part in Confederation. There are even those who believe that Quebec should be an entirely different country, and every now and again the issue of separatism comes up.

Personally, I think it's all a load of crap.

Are the French a distinct part of Canadian society? Absolutely. Are they a distinct society within the framework of Canadian society? Yes, I believe they are and should be recognized as such. But this isn't good enough for the separatist community, who seem to believe that our side of the American/Canadian border should be called Canada and Quebec. This is what I call going too far.

If the French are a distinct society above and beyond the framework of Canadian society, then I think that the same courtesy should be extended to some of the other nationalities represented in Canada. If the French are to be considered a distinct society, then so should the Scots. For that matter, so should the Irish, the English, the Spanish, the Italians, all the different kinds of Arab, and all of the other nationalities within our borders. If it's good enough for the French then it's good enough for everyone else.

But the French will never stand for that because that puts them on the same level as everyone else, and they seem to think that they're better than that. Here's a news flash for you, guys, you're not, and I think it's about time you started to realize that.

Canada isn't good enough for you? Too bad. Equal status with the other nationalities represented within Canada isn't good enough for you? Too bad. You want to separate? Fine, here's how you can separate: have a picture of Canada tattooed on your backsides. That way, every time you bend over Quebec will separate.