If you're racist, please tick this box
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Since Monday, Quebecers are furious at Journal de Montreal and the TVA TV network for a controversial poll they commissioned with Leger Marketing on what they first called a "poll on racism" and later, fearing repercussions, renamed it to "poll on tolerance" in Quebec. The first article on the results of the poll came out on Monday and some would say caused lots of stir in Quebec, including an attack on a mosque in Montreal on Tuesday night. Funny enough, no major newspapers seem to have covered this incident and few community papers have written on it [a Google search leads me to "Little mosque on the prairie"...perfect].
My political science course professor said it was an unacceptable and subjective poll. The result of 59% of Quebecers being racist was shocking for most... Wednesday, Le Journal de Montreal published an article that tried to downplay the sad statistics they published a couple of days before that. It stated that 82% of immigrant Quebecers stated Quebecers were very friendly and welcoming, yet the poll, aimed at Quebecers born in the province, avoided contact with cultural and religious communities in Quebec. How they got the results, I have no idea...
All I know is yesterday, after my Poli Sci. class, I had a rather interesting conversation with Maria, a girl born here, whose family has Greek origins, who said despite the fact that she was born here, she is made to feel somehow less respected because of her family origins. Her exact words were "they think we are only here to work for them and that's our only objective in life."
Meanwhile, the francophone media is trying to change the focus on the issue. They have been playing and re-playing excerpts from the upcoming episode of "Fifth Estate", which is airing an exclusive interview with "a Muslim fundamentalist who infiltrated the cell" who reveals "the inner workings of the cell and its members. These are young men who have adopted a brand of Islam that they believe sanctions jihad in their home city and against their fellow citizens."
Expect more mosque break-ins and nights of broken glass.
Finally, a distraction for all the problems of Quebec.
The show airs on Friday at 10 pm on CBC.
My political science course professor said it was an unacceptable and subjective poll. The result of 59% of Quebecers being racist was shocking for most... Wednesday, Le Journal de Montreal published an article that tried to downplay the sad statistics they published a couple of days before that. It stated that 82% of immigrant Quebecers stated Quebecers were very friendly and welcoming, yet the poll, aimed at Quebecers born in the province, avoided contact with cultural and religious communities in Quebec. How they got the results, I have no idea...
All I know is yesterday, after my Poli Sci. class, I had a rather interesting conversation with Maria, a girl born here, whose family has Greek origins, who said despite the fact that she was born here, she is made to feel somehow less respected because of her family origins. Her exact words were "they think we are only here to work for them and that's our only objective in life."
Meanwhile, the francophone media is trying to change the focus on the issue. They have been playing and re-playing excerpts from the upcoming episode of "Fifth Estate", which is airing an exclusive interview with "a Muslim fundamentalist who infiltrated the cell" who reveals "the inner workings of the cell and its members. These are young men who have adopted a brand of Islam that they believe sanctions jihad in their home city and against their fellow citizens."
Expect more mosque break-ins and nights of broken glass.
Finally, a distraction for all the problems of Quebec.
The show airs on Friday at 10 pm on CBC.
Labels: fifth estate, Islam, Montreal, quebec, racism
