Comfort Food for Thought

April 3, 2010

Comfort Food for Thought

I’m willing to bet that the people in the AMS are actually really smart. I’ll grant that they probably have grades that are better than mine. I’ll even accept that they might be more finely tuned to avoid racism and promote inclusivity than I am. But somewhere along the line, they made two major mistakes. One was the mistake of thinking that they could avoid stirring the pot of racial division if they made a quick little apology and went on about their day. The second major mistake was that they compromised an initiative that would have gotten food for people who can’t afford it. I am referring to the sumo suit party. For those of you who don’t know, (and must clearly by living under a rock) the AMS was throwing a charity event for a food bank that included large plastic and foam sumo suits for students to play in. The people in the AMS had thought about this event and planned it very carefully, the food bank would get donations, people would be happy to give, and at the end of the night everyone would feel a little better knowing that charity was done. Oh how I wish it was so.

The AMS considered what it planned to do with sumo suits a racist endeavour. “We can’t compromise inclusivity! We’re not a clique of insiders that doesn’t like to involve others, we’re the AMS!” Instantly, an apology was written and the rest is history. The story ended up running in the National Post, Globe and Mail, and Vancouver Sun. It was a national embarrassment, and Queen’s is going to need to bounce back from it. I don’t know if the sumo suits were racist. I think that if they were, it is offensive to students of Japanese origin to effectively tell them that they can’t demand an apology. The agency to stand and ask for rights is essential to being granted them, lest a student government become the nanny of so many racialized students. If they weren’t racist, and merely a fun way to raise money and food for a food bank, which, by the way, would be used more by racialized people than others, (hunger or racism, which causes more direct harm?) then we’ve stepped too far and forgotten the broader goal in university to spread knowledge to anyone willing to listen. We forgot to feed the hungry.

The reputation of Queen’s University continues to be harmed by actions like these, and as a racialized person, I just wish my degree still meant what it would have 25 years ago. Perhaps it’s time we moved on and stopped dividing people on race at Queen’s. We’re capable of producing the best minds of our generation, let’s not waste that ability because we didn’t know when to move on and treat people as equals rather than as victims and oppressors. Does racism exist at Queen’s? Absolutely. Are we going to solve the problem by antagonizing people who really don’t wish harm on anyone because of race? Never. Let’s remember that on a campus where racial slurs have been yelled and hate crimes have been committed, an abundance of inflatable polyurethane is not our first priority.

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