LONDON (Nov 90-Jan 91) - In response to comments made by Howard McCurdy (NDP MP for Windsor-St. Clair) on the subject of racism (in the article below), Fp leader Robert Metz sparked a brief debate in the editorial pages of the London Free Press that broadened the subject of racism to the political system that is its breeding ground: socialism.

UWO New Democrat John McCullagh, using the Marxist argument that capitalism is the cause of "inequity" which in turn is the cause of racism, fell into the same philosophical trap that an increasing number of Canadians are caught in: confusing prejudice with racism, and equality before the law (a capitalist concept) with its opposite, equality of outcome (a socialist concept).

Fortunately, as Metz illustrates in his rebuttal, McCullagh's arguments have no objective basis. After all, once socialism is identified for what it is, there is no objective way anyone seriously concerned with eliminating 'racism' and 'inequity' could possibly support it.

Rise in racism blamed on shift to the right

The country's only black MP was in London to address UWO students.

The London Free Press

A right-wing shift in Canadian politics is is contributing to a rise in racism, Canada's only black MP said here Tuesday.

Windsor-St. Clair NDP Howard McCurdy said before the election of the Mulroney Conservatives, the fight against racism in Canada was boosted by a fundamental attitude that is social democratic in its roots - a mixed economy, social support programs and a commitment to accessible post-secondary education.

"There's no doubt in my mind now that we're seeing a fundamental change engineered by the new right." These movements are characterized by the lack of commitment to equality. he said. It's an expression of the "me" syndrome.

As a result. many Canadians become insecure and alienated and when that happens, they start to look for scapegoats and therefore a rise in racism.

Before Mulroney's election, Canada was well on the way to identifying a new "in" group that was multicultural, McCurdy said. That's no longer there.

Instead, he said, racists have been encouraged to express themselves and take refuge in race-based theories like those of UWO professor Philippe Rushton.

McCurdy is in London to speak to University of Western Ontario students during a week-long anti-racism tour of Ontario campuses.

He called on Western's administration to commit itself to improving diversity at the highest academic levels. It could most affectively (sic) fight Rushton by ensuring there are people capable of expressing others' cultural views, he said.

McCurdy said virtually every significant Canadian university is culturally more advanced than Western. "It's the most stratified university in the country.

That has happened because "London hasn't had cross-currents of ethnocultural and racial diversity that other communities have experienced.

And yet McCurdy, a London native, said he spent the first 10 years of his life in this city and never experienced a racist incident. He chalks that up to the fact he was an "exotic" - unusual in the primarily white Anglo-Saxon city of London.

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Page last updated on April 28, 2002