Free Speech vs. Fascism at Wilfrid Laurier University

I don't normally confirm Godwin's Law this early in a post, but I couldn't help it this time.

As many of you are aware, the Wilfrid Laurier University Student's Union has rejected the application by the Laurier Freethought Alliance (LFA) to affiliate as a campus club.

The reasons? Apparently, the union decided that a group dedicated to promoting "a fulfilling life without religion and superstition" is offensive. Never mind that they already have quite a few religious and racist organizations that are offensive to intelligent people.

The real question is why does a union (that all students are forced to be a member of and support through tuition fees) have this much power? The presence of overzealous school unions that flaunt their left-wing politically correct bullshit isn't anything new (every university seems to have them) but it is interesting how much power this one has wrestled from the students and the administration. They have even managed to obtain financial control over the individual campus clubs. This is obviously a case of a new group not fitting into the socialist utopia that the union has created for itself and should thus be prevented from freely expressing itself.

Although I am sure the organizers of the still-unofficial LFA will continue to fight to get official status (and the funding that comes with them, courtesy, of course, of the tuition-paying students and taxpayers who have no control over how the money is being spent), I wonder if we should be looking at the bigger picture and attack the unions themselves.

What is the purpose of campus unions? Throughout my university years at Ryerson, $300 a year of my tuition fees went to my union. When I asked to opt out because it violated my freedom of association clause set out in the Charter (contrary to popular belief, the Charter can sometimes be used to fight liberal ideology, although I don’t know of any successful cases), I was told that I couldn't be a student unless I was part of the union. The union then went on to fund protests of the Iraq war, gay marriage, NDP candidates who supported lowering tuition fees, and other ridiculous non-academic ventures (like prayer space for Muslims, even though there is a Mosque across the street).

I encourage all university students to look up how much money they contribute to their unions and to compare that to what the union actually accomplishes. Remember that the Canadian Federation of Students is rolling in the cash they have stolen from hard working students who are trying to learn the skills required so that they never have to be part of a union.

For more information check out The Frame Problem for a list of other blogs supporting this cause.

The TDSB to Give Racists Their Own School

As Black History month kicks off, the Toronto District School Board has caved to the racist minority lobby and approved afrocentric schools.

The term 'afrocentric' is confusing since most black people in Toronto are Canadian with roots that go back to the Caribbean. I don't understand why black Canadians seem to think they have the monopoly on what is 'African' since there are many white people with roots from South Africa and Arabs from the Mediterranean nations who are just as ‘African’. For example, a white woman born and raised in South Africa is technically more ‘African’ than a black man born and raised in Toronto, but that’s not what the racists want you to think. Using the same reasoning, I could classify myself as an African-Canadian, since my ancestors came from Africa (albeit about 60 000 years ago).

This is a clear case of how a small percentage of a small minority has managed to twist the facts to serve their agenda. Proponents of segregated schools argue that it would curb the dropout rate for black youths in the city (that hovers around an astounding 40%) because they claim the kids will feel more comfortable learning with people of the same cultural background, thus preventing them from leaving and joining organized crime. This is like saying that 40% of black youths are racist and we should support their racist views because it’s better that they are in a school and not outside stealing our cars. Of course, I reject this notion and believe that most black people, like everyone else in the city, want to live a peaceful and happy life getting along with their neighbours.

It's too bad the racist bigots who can't get along with people of other races (and their sympathizers at the TDSB) weren't seen for what they really were. The majority of the vocal opponents of race-based schools were black people (because no one else was allowed an opinion for fear of being labelled a racist) who couldn't understand why anyone would want to decend back to the 1950's. I admire all the decent people who put up a good fight but I noticed that the opponents of segregated schools didn't label their opponents as racist, which is unfortunate since I would have enjoyed the reaction (i.e. "In not a racist, many of my friends are white" etc.)

I wonder how an afrocentric school will work. Proponents argue that a focus on afrocentric history will keep the students engaged, since they will find learning about their history more interesting. Yet, which ‘afrocentric’ history are they going to choose? There are 53 countries in Africa. Most of them were colonized by European countries before they became independent so in order to present an African history, you also have to teach European history, which, of course, is in the same context in how Canadian history is taught. I wonder what will happen if the program works and less black students dropout. Wouldn't it prove that those black people are racists?

Being that this is a libertarian blog, I’ll have to somehow blame socialists and the government for the problem. Why is it that schools have to teach people’s individual culture? Public schools should teach math, science, Canadian history, English, and French (if you choose), since these form the basis for success in Canada. It’s up to parents to teach their children about their culture and religion using their own history and experiences, since no one else can really understand the issues. The real problem is that parents are too busy, lazy, or stupid to take responsibility for their children and so they expect the government to raise them instead. We can’t stop parents from indoctrinating children but we can say that the government has no business getting involved in people’s personal lives.

People face discrimination in life. Some people face more than others and that sucks. However, people can’t segregate themselves and hope the problem will go away. If I apply for a job with the government (ha!) but am denied because they have already surpassed their white male quota, I wouldn’t shrug it off and look elsewhere. I would file a human rights complaint and sue the government for discrimination (It would be thrown out because Trudeau’s bullshit Charter of Rights doesn’t treat all Canadians equally, but that’s a topic for another post). I just think the world would be a better place if people learned to live together with their differences. The conversations that arise from intelligent people with different opinions are what I think makes life worth living.