Editorial: Is Quebec racist?
Editorial
Is Quebec racist?
By Bruno Hildebrando
In recent weeks, the government of François Légault, the Premier of Quebec, has been preparing a bill to be voted on by the National Assembly that would prohibit the wearing of religious clothing and adornments by public servants in positions of authority, such as police officers and judges. Primary and secondary school teachers have been included in the list.
In many media outlets, columnists accuse the current Quebec government of being racist, as the new law targets especially Muslim women who wear the veil that covers their heads. Of course, they are not the only target: Jews who wear the kippah and Indian Sikhs who wear the turban will also be prevented from wearing such adornments.
As Légault's proposal began to take shape - it was a campaign promise - public opinion began to be shocked to see on television and in the newspapers the faces and names of the people who would be affected by the new law. Therefore, a clause was added that guarantees that anyone who wears religious clothing or adornment and who already occupies the role described in the law, can continue to dress as before, as long as they remain in that role. The law would apply to anyone hired after the law's implementation. He calls this the grandfather clause, or granpérisé. It comes from the term “grandfather”. It is the equivalent in Brazil of what we call “acquired rights”.
To prevent the law from being challenged in court, as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is expressly contrary to Légault's bill, the Quebec government will appeal to the “notwithstanding” condition: this is a legal solution for when the provincial government is not in compliance with a federal law. It is not an exclusive privilege of Quebec, and can be used by any province. Some commentators and activists say that this law can be questioned internationally, as it violates some clauses in United Nations decisions.
This whole scenario leads us to an important question: is Quebec racist?
Before properly answering this question, it is necessary to think very carefully about the history and concept of certain terms that are now widely used on social media.
It is not possible to classify Quebec as a racist jurisdiction. Just compare with countries like South Africa before the end of Apartheid, where whites, blacks and “colored” people were separated by law. There were places where only white people could enter, and others intended for black people. It got to the point where marriages between whites and blacks were prohibited. Talk show host Trevor Noah, who lives in the United States, came from Africa, and his parents were of different races from each other. He couldn't walk down the street holding hands with his own mother. Another example was the southern states of the United States, where until the sixties black people were separated from black people. That was law.
Quebec is very far from that. There is no law that separates people by race, or that establishes a level of racial hierarchy among citizens. Therefore, as a “state”, or jurisdiction, Quebec is not racist.
But what about Quebec society? Are Quebecers racist?
Because of this bill from the so-called “Kakist” government (it comes from the name of Légault’s party: Coalition pour l’Avenir du Québec, or CAQ), many people accuse the current Prime Minister of being racist, and ask the same question, that In other words, would Quebec society be racist?
Terms have a specific meaning, and a reason for having the meaning they do. Racist is not the same thing as xenophobic. They talk a lot about Islamophobia, that is, discrimination directed against Muslims. Words have meaning, and being Muslim does not mean belonging to a race, but rather belonging to a broad group of people who follow a religion. Yes, we can say that Arabs follow Islam, but they are not just Arabs: there are black people who follow Islam. And among the Arabs there are people who are very different from each other: Moroccans and Lebanese are different people, with different cuisines. The Iranians are not even Arabs, and the same thing can be said about the Pakistanis. The country with the largest Muslim population in the world is in Indonesia. They are Asian.
Two years ago, a young Quebecer invaded a mosque in Quebec City and killed six people, in addition to injuring nineteen others. Yes, there are radicalized people. But Quebec society condemned the act. And the boy was sentenced to life in prison, with the right to appeal only after forty years of detention. Although the conviction was not made under terrorism law, what he did fits perfectly into the concept of a terrorist attack. And whoever commits terrorist acts is a terrorist. And he does not represent society as a whole. No way.
No. This new law, presented by Légault, is not racist. She could perhaps be classified as xenophobic, but she is not racist. But before we talk about the xenophobic aspect of this law, we need to finish answering the question: is Quebec society racist?
But what about the Quebec sovereigntist movement?
For many critics, the Quebec separatist movement, or sovereignist movement, to have a more accurate translation of the name in French, would be an ethnic nationalist moment. It would be a self-affirmation of Quebecers as a nation, that is, a distinct people, with their own language, claiming a specific territory. But who would be a true Québécois, or Quebecois? Just the descendants of 16th and 17th century French colonists? Or would it be someone born in Quebec, whose parents and grandparents were born in the province, and who speak French at home as their mother tongue? And the Anglophones who have lived here for generations and who speak English as their mother tongue, would they be Quebecers or not? There is a term to identify French-speaking Quebecers, born in Quebec, and whose families have lived here for generations: they are what are called “pure laine” Quebecers, or pure wool. It is an expression similar to what is used in Rio de Janeiro, the so-called “carioca da gema”.
This is a long discussion, about who is and who is not a Quebecer. They say that if Quebec wants to integrate the immigrants it welcomes, it should expand that range. Anyone who has citizenship, speaks French, and has lived here for a long time, would they also be a Quebecer?
But when we talk about a racist people or society, we need to take into account the reality on the streets, in parks, in the subway, in the supermarket, in schools and universities, and at work. And the reality is that, at least in Montreal, society in general is a veritable Babylon. Many Brazilians who live in the city can say that they know people from several dozen countries, from all continents. Brazilian society is mixed, but it is the result of immigration that occurred a long time ago, and there was time for the miscegenation to take shape and breadth. In Quebec, especially in Montreal, non-European immigration has been occurring since the seventies, when many Vietnamese children were adopted by Quebecois couples - it was the time of the Vietnam War. The wave of Brazilian immigration began in earnest from 2004-2006, and our community is one of the most recent here. As well as several others.
In the past, Irish, Jews, Italians, Greeks and Portuguese came, among some others. Today people come to Montreal from all over the world. And many, in one way or another, with greater or lesser success, find their place in the sun. Would this be possible in a racist society?
No, we will not deny that discrimination exists in recruitment processes. No, let's not deny that racist people exist. But this also exists in Brazil, where black children who enter stores are taken to the door. This has already become folklore in Brazil: European couples who adopted a black child and accuse a certain store of racism because the security guard asked the child to leave the store. And the recent case of public school students who were blocked from entering a famous shopping center in São Paulo?
They say that Quebecers are protectionist when it comes to good jobs, and that those who don't have a French name and surname have less chance of getting a job. This is another discussion that will be left for another article, as it involves aspects other than first and last names. It involves personal contacts, place of academic training and professional experience.
No, we cannot call Quebec a jurisdiction where legal racism exists. We also cannot generalize and accuse Quebec “society” of being racist, nor xenophobic. Just as there are no laws that define what race is, or that divide society into races, with their privileges and restrictions, neither does this exist in terms of xenophobia. Or immigrants could not acquire citizenship.
But what about the new law that affects women who cover their heads with the Muslim veil?
As in any society, some pressure groups are more influential than others. For example: a survey was recently released showing that the majority of Quebecers are in favor of the idea of buying oil from the province of Alberta instead of importing from Saudi Arabia, as is done today. But Premier François Légault said that in Quebec “there is no political or social climate for the construction of an oil pipeline from Alberta passing through Quebec territory.” What does this mean? That a part of Quebec's cultural and political elite thinks one way, but the majority of people think another.
François Légault's new law almost expressly targets Muslim women, and the position of the Aquarela Magazine editorial team is against this law. But we do not agree with the idea that Quebec society is xenophobic or racist, much less Quebec as a whole.
There is another bill that François Légault wants to promote, which would determine that new immigrants, when they complete three years living in Quebec, would have to take a French exam and correctly answer a series of questions about so-called “Quebec values”. . This is another legal precedent for the institutionalization of devices that can be considered xenophobic.
The current government was elected for a series of reasons, not just because of the proposals aimed at immigrants, among these reasons would be fatigue with the successive governments of the Quebec Liberal Party, the so-called PLQ, and disillusionment with the Québécois Party, the so-called PQ. , due to his proposals for a separatist referendum and the impacts this would have on the economy and society. It was the first government elected outside the federalist party versus separatist party dichotomy, and this was considered a positive aspect of the last provincial elections. However, his proposals regarding immigrants set dangerous precedents that could eventually affect all immigrants.
We disagree with the veil law because we don't agree that it is up to the government to tell women what and how they should dress. And we do not accept comparing Quebec society with society in countries where women are forced to wear the veil. Because they are different societies, with different values. And it is because of this difference that many immigrants chose to live here, and continue to live here. Or they would make another choice.
No, Quebec is not racist, nor xenophobic. No, Quebec society is neither racist nor xenophobic. But there are pressure groups that want to change some laws and that can change things. The situation is never stable, and in a democracy it is our role to defend our rights.
This is a long discussion, and it does not end in an article. Talk to your friends. Read what is published in the newspapers, what is on the news, what is posted on news websites. Make your reflection. And welcome to Quebec!
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