Kingston, as a Community We Can Do Better
Shelby Johnston, Online Staff Writer
July 13, 2020
The city of Kingston and the Queen’s community has long been accused of a racist past and present. Both as a school and a city that exudes white privilege, the community has long been judged for its less than perfect reputation. Whether it be for Queen’s student’s famous cultural appropriation party, where people were asked to dress as their favourite culture, or the 2005 Kingston Police racial-profiling study that found black motorists and pedestrians in Kingston are four times more likely to be stopped and questioned by officers.
The City of Kingston has its own history of racial injustice separate from that of Queen’s whose student’s turnover every four years, and so arguably have a different kind of impact. Kingston is where Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald was raised: he won his first political seat on the Kingston town council. However, Macdonald’s legacy as the first Prime Minister of Canada is often overshadowed by his significant racism towards Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in Canada. Macdonald was the architect behind the Indian Residential School System in Canadian; a system created to assimilate Indigenous peoples into Canadian culture, that resulted in mass genocide against Indigenous peoples.
In 2005, Kingston Police participated in the first racial profiling study undertaken by a Canadian police force. In addition to results on the racial profiling of black motorists and pedestrians, the yearlong study found that, “1.4 aboriginals were stopped for each white person.” Although this study is now over ten years old, it seems not much has changed in Kingston., despite the influx of Queen’s University students from all over the world who contribute to the Kingston community dynamic. In 2016, a group of Queen’s University students held a party in which they instructed guests to dress as their favourite culture. Dubbed the cultural appropriation party, the party featured “white people dressed as Buddhist monks, Middle Eastern Sheiks, Mexicans and Viet Cong fighters in rice hats.” Queens publicized that they were taking the matter very seriously, however, they found it was not a Queens sponsored or sanctioned event and little could be done. In 2017, the original organizers of the 2016 cultural appropriation party tried to revive the event as an annual party for its second year in a row. This “immediately prompted criticism from the University, AMS, and students alike.” However, it is clear that the organizers and attendees did not learn from the public outcry after their first event. Just this year, students hosted a coronavirus-themed party which received public backlash as racist and insensitive and led to the Undergraduate Trustee’s resignation. This follows reports in 2018 that an Asian student was attacked in Kingston after he was followed by a group of men yelling racial slurs.
In support of the re-popularization of the Black Lives Matter movement after the Death of George Floyd, hundreds have gathered for multiple protests and vigils in Kingston and around Canada. The Kingston and Queen’s community showed their solidarity in the fight to end police brutality and racism towards Black and Indigenous People and persons of colour (BIPOC) in Canada. However, there is still work to be done on a community level. For example, anyone who has been to Kingston can attest to the enthusiastic support for Sir John A. Macdonald: streets and schools named after him, as well as multiple monuments and restaurants honouring him. Kingston could benefit from acknowledging that Macdonald’s racism and human rights atrocities against Indigenous peoples in Canada far outweigh his contributions as Prime Minister.
There are great resources at Queens which support anti-racism in the community, and educating ourselves on these organisations and how we can contribute is a great first step. For example, ASUS Against Racial Discrimination, an outreach program of the undergraduate arts and science student government, provides anti-racism resources for BIPOC as well as resources on organizations and donation pages for both BIPOC and non-BIPOC provided through the ASUS equity library. On this page the many clubs and resources by and for BIPOC students are detailed. Another good resource through Queen’s is the University Council on Anti-Racism and Equity. They are responsible for creating initiatives and groups to “foster a diverse and inclusive campus community.” They currently have working groups on “Racial Equity and Social Justice, Community Consultation and Outreach and Orientation Week.” Queens students, staff and faculty are welcome to attend their meetings as guests. Most recently a petition has been circulated to remove the Sir John A. Macdonald statue from City Park. Gathering more than 3,500 signatures thus far, the petition is starting a conversation on change in the community suggesting a way in which it can be done. The Kingston and Queen’s communities have a history of well documented systemic racism readily available at Kington and Queen’s archives, and online. It is valuable to use these resources as a starting point to better the community.
This article was written before the vandalization at Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre. The Observer and QIAA condemn this act of racism and homophobia. We encourage our readers to learn more about continuing oppression in the Queen’s community at @stolenbysmith.