Racial Issues

[politika]

This topic is regarding the rap lyrics that have been circulated to dozens of emails by the RCMP. I agree the this is crude and a low for the RCMP to do somthing. I think if it happaned at work he should be fired no charges laid, but if it was done at his home when he was off duty no charges should be laid and shoud be kept on the force. I thought this was a free country and you were able to express oppinions?

Sure this is racist but their's racists songs about the white majority and other cultures going around but do you think the government does anything about these? no they won't. It is because first nations get better treatment than any other culture in Canada. It is like the residential schools if it was white minority of people in it we would not be compensated.

I agree that this song was racist but my point to prove is that are government is more racist than the cop who wrote this song.

So my question to you is if the tables were turned at the RCMP made a racial song about the white majority would their be an internal investigation of it?

[Riverwind]

This topic is regarding the rap lyrics that have been circulated to dozens of emails by the RCMP.  I agree the this is crude and a low for the RCMP to do somthing.  I think if it happaned at work he should be fired no charges laid, but if it was done at his home when he was off duty no charges should be laid and shoud be kept on the force.

Everybody has black (dark) humour on the job. The humor usually pokes fun at a stereotype of the people they deal with on a day to day basis. In most cases this humor will be appalling to people who do not work in the environment day after day. For example, black humor in the medical profession will often make fun of people with serious illnesses.

If we are talking about cops in Toronto then black humor about blacks circulating privately between officers is expected since the black community does seem to be creating a lot of extra work for police.

In short, it is not about where this humor was used but what context this humor was used in. If this was humor exchanged privately between officers and was never intended for an audiance outside that group then it should be fine. If it was used to intimidate or harrass co-workers or people in the general public then it is a problem.

[kimmy]

I've had conversations with someone who works at an emergency room in an Edmonton hospital. This individual told me that the majority of patients who come through emergency are natives, even though natives comprise less than 2% of Edmonton's population. The emergency room sees the same things over and over again-- drug overdoses, alcohol poisoning, poisoning from trying to get a high from substances not safe for human consumption, and lots and lots of stab wounds. My emergency room acquaintance has become frustrated and exasperated from seeing a continual string of these patients, and from seeing the same people come in over and over again-- sometimes even on the same night.

The people involved in these activities might not represent the majority or even a significant portion of the native populace. But from the perspective of the emergency room people, they see this continual stream of natives come through their doors to be treated for self-inflicted stupidity. This experience has tainted her view of natives as a whole, as unfair as this might be.

And I tend to suspect the police and RCMP have the same sort of experiences with natives. They interact with the bad apples continually. They see the same sorts of activities continually. They know that when they receive a call for certain types of situations, there is a high likelyhood that natives are involved. This kind of ongoing experience can't help but affect their view of natives. Like my emergency room acquaintance, the police and RCMP tend to continually deal with the bad apples and it affects them.

So while I don't mean to sound like I'm making excuses for the RCMP in this case, I can understand where this sort of view comes from. I would expect that even somebody who enters a situation with the most enlightened perspective would be affected by it somewhat.

-k

[FTA Lawyer]

This topic is regarding the rap lyrics that have been circulated to dozens of emails by the RCMP.  I agree the this is crude and a low for the RCMP to do somthing.  I think if it happaned at work he should be fired no charges laid, but if it was done at his home when he was off duty no charges should be laid and shoud be kept on the force.

Everybody has black (dark) humour on the job. The humor usually pokes fun at a stereotype of the people they deal with on a day to day basis. In most cases this humor will be appalling to people who do not work in the environment day after day. For example, black humor in the medical profession will often make fun of people with serious illnesses.

If we are talking about cops in Toronto then black humor about blacks circulating privately between officers is expected since the black community does seem to be creating a lot of extra work for police.

In short, it is not about where this humor was used but what context this humor was used in. If this was humor exchanged privately between officers and was never intended for an audiance outside that group then it should be fine. If it was used to intimidate or harrass co-workers or people in the general public then it is a problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree fully with Sparhawk on this. Sitting around in the barrister's lounge at Provincial Court one can hear a number of jokes, comments, and other quips about the justice system and its participants (from both Crown and Defence Counsel) that if spoken to the average person on the street would invoke quite a negative response.

And oh to be a fly on the wall in Judges' Chambers...

These forms of dark humour are a significant psychological coping mechanism for people who have to repeatedly deal with situations that tend to invoke a sense of helplessness. If we cannot find humour in our daily ordeal, dealing with murders, rapes, assaults, drug addicts, etc. etc. would simply become overwhelming.

I refuse to draw a conclusion that the RCMP officers who sent this e-mail around are necessarily racist and should be canned. HOWEVER...

It is one thing to have these "dark" conversations in the privacy of an office or a barrister's lounge...but any time you make a record, be it sound, photo, video or e-mail, you lose control over the use and context of the information.

As such, if you privately joke with a co-worker by sending this rap song to him, you can't prevent him from doing something stupid or inappropriate with it, and now your name is permanently attached to it.

As such, in my view, there should be an administrative reprimand of some sort for sending this rap song around through official police e-mail boxes and thereby bringing it beyond the realm of private conversation.

FTA

[szkw1]

I refuse to draw a conclusion that the RCMP officers who sent this e-mail around are necessarily racist and should be canned.  HOWEVER...

It is one thing to have these "dark" conversations in the privacy of an office or a barrister's lounge...but any time you make a record, be it sound, photo, video or e-mail, you lose control over the use and context of the information.

As such, if you privately joke with a co-worker by sending this rap song to him, you can't prevent him from doing something stupid or inappropriate with it, and now your name is permanently attached to it.

As such, in my view, there should be an administrative reprimand of some sort for sending this rap song around through official police e-mail boxes and thereby bringing it beyond the realm of private conversation.

FTA

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My sentiments exactly. Such "public" behaviour on the part of the very people who are supposed to uphold the laws of this land is highly inappropriate. This is especiallyt rue when there are cases, before the courts, accusing members of the RCMP of being racist.