Today Nova Scotia finally recognized the terrible disservice meted on Viola Desmond. She was the Black woman who refused insisted on sitting in the "Whites Only" section of a movie theatre in 1946. 1946! Nine year before Rosa Parks took her stand. But typical of Canadians, everyone knows about Rosa Parks and few know about Viola Desmond - who ignited the Civil Rights movement here.
It's time for Nova Scotia to declare Feb. 15th "Viola Desmond Day" and give us all a holiday.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
A while back, a judge in Canada insisted that a woman remove her Nicab so that he could see her face. He insisted that he couldn't judge her truthfulness if he could not see her face. And then just last month, a teacher said he could not teach a woman a new language unless he could see her mouth. What? Does that mean blind people cannot be judges? Blind people cannot teach languages?
Get real guys! Just because these women come from a different culture and are new to Canada doesn't mean you have to bully them into conformity. Sure, if their culture goes against Canada's principals of equality (like if the woman was being MADE to wear the hijab or nicab - I spelling that right?) then they must learn Canada's laws. But we who were born here have some strange ideas too... like that men have to cover their arms in Parliament but women don't.
Go Figure
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