multiculturalism
Dusan Petricic's Toronto
In 1993, when Dusan Petricic came to Toronto from Belgrade in what is now always called "the former Yugoslavia," he was generally seen as its leading political cartoonist.
That is a charged and prestigious category in Europe, particularly eastern Europe, where political discussions during most of the 20th century were coded rather than straightforward. This was especially true during the Soviet era when cartoonists, like playwrights, were significant figures; they had a limited licence to express dangerous thoughts. They were expected to both represent and defuse political passions.
Me In Media – Public Town Hall
Sep 13 2011 - 7:00pm
Sep 13 2011 - 9:00pm
Location
Alice MacKay Room
Vancouver Public Library
Vancouver, BC Canada
49° 14' 58.9956" N, 123° 6' 3.708" W
See map: Google Maps
Do you think media plays a role in creating a more inclusive Vancouver? How does ethnicity shape the stories that we tell about ourselves and our city? Join youth, educators and media makers as we reimagine ethnic representation in media and learn how the next generation is changing how we consume --and even create -- these stories.
MIM will explore issues around ethnic representation in media & storytelling and the importance of media literacy when we create and consume those stories from the perspective of media professionals, educators, advocates and youth.
This event is presented in partnership between the United Nations Association in Canada, Schema Magazine, CoopCulture and co-sponsored by the Vancouver Public Library.
Format:
Immigration, multiculturalism and ideology
The most chilling phrase in the Norwegian horror was the killer's statement, through his lawyer, that it was "atrocious," or in another translation "gruesome," or even just that he was sorry -- but it was necessary. I've never seen anything that expresses the toxic potential of ideology so eloquently. It's especially in that note of regret. Rage and hate do terrible deeds but they may falter. An idea that you know with certainty is true can be put into action no matter what your state of mind or feelings. You might even have tears in your eyes as you shoot.
Canada as the India of the new world
Columbus made history's most famous mistake when he called the people his lookout had sighted Indians, and thought he'd arrived on the outskirts of India. The late Vancouver humorist Eric Nicol caught the jumble nicely. When Columbus heard the cry "Indians!", wrote Nicol, he ordered his three ships to form a circle with the women and children in the middle, like a wagon train in a Hollywood western. So the women and children all started drowning.
Getting past 'yes' or 'no'
Multicultiphobia
(University of Toronto Press,
2010;
$24.95)
Almost anything that goes wrong in minority communities can be blamed on multiculturalism, in the minds of some of its critics. They say multiculturalism, by celebrating diversity, not only encourages minorities to maintain possibly anti-democratic or sexist cultures and extraneous political agendas in Canada; it also exempts them from criticism based on mainstream values. Incompetence is excused, crimes are condoned and terrorist threats are ignored, all because multiculturalism makes people fear that criticism of minority groups, or even individual group members, will bring down accusations of racism.