The stickiness of so-called “reverse racism”
When an idea is “intuitive” but also steeped in a culture war we have a heightened duty to examine it.
How to stop increasing the reach and impact of hate (and misinformation) on Twitter
Some thoughts on how not to amplify hate accounts on Twitter.
Twitter, hate, harm, and misinformation
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the ambient misogyny and racism (and more) that floats around my Twitter communities. It’s ambient in the sense that it’s pervasive, and also that we don’t have to follow an antagonist to see their tweets or have them engage us directly. It’s an ecology of violence. And misinformation….
Reality testing, Dylan Marron and Every Single Word
If you ask white folks about the over-representation of white folks on screen, they will often misunderstand and/or underestimate the degree and seriousness of over-representation. Luckily we have some tools to help us with our reality testing…
Salvaging trust: confronting journalism’s deep wrongs
News orgs make a big deal about fixing typos and issuing corrections. But what if there’s a much deeper trust problem…
Racist trope: fatwa as act of villainy
I’ve become numb to racism in legacy media in Canada. But to see Canadaland unthinkingly repeat a racist trope angers …
My friend is voting for Donald Trump, because reasons
So much media that passes as journalism isn’t, and this election has demonstrated the power of television and “news” in a remarkable and nauseating way…
Cognitive bias and the backwards bicycle test
The backwards bicycle is a hilarious and damning insight into the challenges of understanding and resisting deeply ingrained ways of thinking and doing…
Argumentum ad antiquitatem
Argumentum ad antiquitatem
Cop show Blue Bloods makes me cringe
Blue Bloods is a story of a cop family, the Reagans, in New York. And it’s a reasonably well written family drama that suffers from deeply racist, and sexist, narratives…
Andrew Coyne: instance of racism #3
This is my third exploration of racism in the writings of Andrew Coyne, while writing for Postmedia News. Today’s argument will focus on the discourse of denial…
Andrew Coyne: instance of racism #2
This is my second exploration of racism in the writings of Andrew Coyne with Postmedia News. This argument will refer to three articles written by Coyne in January…
Andrew Coyne: instance of racism #1
This is my first argument toward the conclusion that journalist Andrew Coyne made claims that were racist. The remarks by Coyne that I will focus on for today’s argument were…
Andrew Coyne dismisses multiple allegations of racist writing
A little while ago I posted a review of several journalists’ positions on the Idle No Moremovement. With the exception of Ibbitson, all of the journalists I reviewed positioned themselves as experts and went on to express views in ways that displayed a lack of good judgement…
Scott Stinson’s defense of John Crosbie’s racist joke
I don’t make a habit of reading the National Post. It’s what Conservative Party members read. But I did see an article from Friday, November 4. It was on page three. I was immediately struck by the overt racism and decided to try to engage the author, Scott Stinson, by Twitter…
Good research and racist comments
The study that inspired the racist comments, and this post, is interesting because it helps folks who have a hard time seeing racism understand that it’s rampant in Canadian culture. The researchers sent off over 6000 resumes to potential employers in Toronto. Among many other findings, it was found that those resumes with English sounding…
Intention and responsibility
It is entirely possible for the meanings we create to be beyond our intent and within our responsibility. I’ve said this before, here. You have to read down a ways to get to it, and it’s so fascinating, that I thought I would repeat it. In the wild of human to human interactions, more meaning…
What to do about hate?
Okay, so it’s one thing to notice and criticize ads that are demeaning, racist or hateful. But I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I have a duty to also contact the owners of the ad that I wrote about here and also here, and let them know that I think their ad is racist. Or…
Positioning the other, again
So last week I wrote about a bus ad that I photographed and posted claiming that it was racist. But I didn’t really speak to how or why it was racist. And it’s important to be able to say why.1 The tagline: “GREAT MEXICAN TASTE, WITHOUT THE RUNS” So the implication of this tagline is…
Positioning the other
Advertisements push our buttons and our boundaries. Ad copy that once might have been rejected for being too risky or simply in bad taste is now often fair game. Companies and organizations work hard to create a brand that is irreverent, humourous and memorable. And that works for many organizations – especially if you are…