PEOPLE
#MeanwhileInCanada Black Canadians Are Fighting Ignorance and Intolerance
We too are angry. We too are hurting. We too are tired.
For a large part of the weekend #MeanwhileInCanada was the number one trending topic on Twitter for Canadians. The tweets were largely comparisons of news coverage between escalating protests in the United States, following the murder of George Floyd, and lackadaisical Canadian headlines. This juxtaposition would be tone-deaf on any day, this weekend it was particularly infuriating.
While some Canadians were tweeting inconceivably ignorant comparisons, others marched the streets of Toronto demanding justice for Regis Korchinski-Paquet.
Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year old black woman, died after falling from her 24th-floor apartment during an altercation with Toronto Police last week. Police have been accused of pushing her over the balcony.
The fact that these topics can simultaneously trend on Canadian’s social feeds and further that #MeanwhileInCanada can edge out the voices of thousands calling for police reform and an end to anti-Black racism (#JusticeForRegis and #TorontoProtest were the number two and three trending topics over the weekend) is not surprising. Canadians are woefully ignorant about anti-Black racism in our country. A luxury I cannot afford.
In 2006, Duane Christian, a 15-year-old boy, was shot and killed by police in Toronto. I remember the moment vividly. I sat in the living room watching the news with my parents.
A 15-year-old boy was shot by police.
The boy is described as a black male approximately 5'9"
His name is Duane.
Then the calls came — from friends, family members, church members — my parents fielding the questions.
Is Dwaine okay?
Please don’ tell me it’s him?
Did they kill him?
We were the same age. We were the same size. We had the same name. We had the same complexion. It…
