How is this not racist? (updated, bumped)
I’m a tad late to the party in commenting on this.
Carleton University sinks to a new low:
Carleton University won’t be holding a popular fundraiser to benefit cystic fibrosis, it was confirmed Tuesday, after the student council passed a motion falsely claiming the disease affects only white men.
In what journalism councillor Nick Bergamini calls an “incredibly divisive” move, the Council of Carleton University Students Association (CUSA) passed a motion at a meeting late Monday night that effectively cancelled the annual Shinerama fundraising campaign.
Shinerama events occur during the school’s orientation week and proceeds go to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF).
The association raised the motion based on information it received from one of its former executive members that the disease affects only white people and mostly males…
Who we all know aren’t worth the oxygen they stubbornly keep sucking down.
As Darcey points out, this would be like canceling fundraisers for sickle cell anemia because that disease disproportionately affects black people. It’s little more than Racism, although the CUSA evidently doesn’t see it as such.
Update: It looks like Carleton has reversed its decision:
The Carleton University Students’ Association says it will overturn its decision to drop an annual fundraiser that supports cystic fibrosis.
The student president also apologized for the negative reaction the university received across Canada.
The association voted 17-2 on Monday to cancel the fundraiser because of the mistaken belief that the disease affects primarily white males.
Association president Brittany Smyth said in a release that “the responsible thing to do is to reverse the decision.”
“I believe this issue has been blown out of proportion but the motion was never meant to imply that raising funds for cystic fibrosis research was not a worthwhile cause. I do apologize for the negative attention Carleton has received.”
I’m still having trouble squaring Ms. Smyth’s statement that the CUSA “ever meant to imply that raising funds for cystic fibrosis research was not a worthwhile cause” with the fact that they voted to cancel the fundraising on the (false) grounds that “the disease affects primarily white males.” Yeah…not really seeing how that works.
Still, this is a good decision by a student association not exactly known for making good decisions, and so is worthy of mention on that basis alone.
I started blogging back in 2004 -- in May, if the Wayback Machine is to be believed. Not that I remember the exact day. To be honest, I didn't take it that seriously then; it was a fun distraction, but nothing more.
That all changed, I think, once the Danish cartoons were published, and the assault on the right to freedom of expression became very visible. With the recent issues in Canada concerning the "human rights" commissions, the gravity of the matter has only increased, and my interest in blogging has increased right along with it.
I used to blog at a domain called Time Immortal, but it seemed to be the right time for a change -- there's been a lot of that in my life of late. Hence this blog: a fresh start, and proof positive that I won't shut up even if I get shut down once in a while.
