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The
essays in this section were written by third-year journalism students
at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto. They were enrolled
in a course called Covering Diversity, which was established in
1997 and is still the first of its kind in Canada.
By Ryan
Kennedy
While attending a punk music festival in Columbus, Ohio, two years
ago, a situation came up that really made me reconsider how minority
groups can be affected by the actions of the majority, even if
the majority does not intend to have an effect.
Always a political event, the More Than Music festival happens
every year, and combines the music of popular hardcore punk bands
with workshops ranging from health topics to gender issues and
activism. This particular year, another concession was made by
the organizers -- several rooms at the venue were set aside as
"safe spaces" for certain groups. These groups included
children (basically a daycare room for punk parents who brought
their kids), gays and lesbians and visible minorities. Many people
in attendance were very confused by the rooms, wondering out loud
why minorities felt the need to segregate themselves from the
rest of the punks when they seemed to preach the need for equality
in society.
In a very juvenile form of protest, several attendees made a sign
that read "Dudes only safe space," taped it to the wall
across from the "minorities only" safe space, and stood
under it. Naturally, several punks in the minority safe space
saw the sign and became quite incensed. The two groups exchanged
words, and eventually a large group had gathered into a very small
hallway listening to what had turned into quite the debate on
race relations. I was in the hallway for the debate, and I learned
a lot from it about how minorities see themselves in society,
with punk rock acting as a microcosm.
The main point that the punks from the minority room were trying
to convey to the white kids was that when they go to a local punk
show, they may be the only black kid or Asian kid there. White
kids, on the other hand, are always surrounded by people like
them, and although hardcore punks are vehemently anti-racist,
the minority punks were pointing out how they sometimes feel left
out because of their skin colour. The safe space gave them a place
to "retreat," as one minority punk put it, from a white-dominated
subculture, and learn from each other what their experiences had
been (the fest attracts kids from across the continent).
What I learned most from this debate was how naive white people
can be towards race relations, and I include myself in this statement.
Too often minorities are criticized for speaking out about racism,
as they are put down for "rocking the boat" or "making
a mountain out of a molehill," but that debate made me realize
something important. The question is not whether I, as the majority,
think a minority feels comfortable in a situation, but whether
the minorities themselves
feel comfortable.
Thanks to that situation, I feel I am more compassionate towards
the concerns of minorities, and will no longer pass off their
objections as trivial complaints.
From a journalistic perspective, I think this scenario opens up
a broad spectrum of ideas regarding minority concerns. Issues
such as neighbourhood gentrification, employment equality and
race sensitivity can all be examined in relation to the context
of this anecdote. Most importantly, however, is the fact that
it got me thinking about how a minority's perspective on an
issue would differ from mine.
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