Olympics protestors don’t know shit
Olympic complaints need refocusing
DANIELLE SIEMENS
Opinions Writer
On Jan. 11, a group of about 20 protesters gathered to protest the Olympic Torch Run.
Generally, I support a cause if there is a good reason, but not so in the case of the Facebook event dedicated to protesting the torch relay. The event called “Saskatoon Olympic Torch Protest” gave 10 reasons why the Olympics were unjust, especially toward Aboriginal people, regarding contested land.
Did the creators of this event do any research to back up their reasons? While I do admit a small part of their arguments make sense, they could have done a better job explaining them and not just padding them with pointless facts and arguments that have grown cold over the last 20 years. I mean, c’mon, guys!
There are many reasons for the protest on the Facebook group dedicated to protesting the Olympic Games. At the very least choose some that are legitimate for the 2010 Games.
It seems like they’re protesting just for the sake of protesting.
The list of reasons as to why the Olympics shouldn’t take place could apply to any major event happening anywhere. It’s more like they’re trying to make a statement about how society works and the Olympics are just an excuse.
No. 6, “impact on women,” which describes how more women will be raped and sold for sex, is ridiculous, especially when combined with No. 7, which describes how B.C. is going to turn into a “police state” to subdue and repress the masses, especially protest groups. Of course, that’s why all the extra police are going to be in B.C.! It isn’t for national security and to prevent crime, rape or hostage taking. Why didn’t I see before?
And another thing, reason No. 6 is probably true; as we speak, pimps are probably relocating their prostitutes to B.C. for increased business, thus necessitating more police and invalidating reason No. 7.
Whoever created this list of reasons was really selective about the “truths” they based their arguments on. They definitely did not take the whole story into account, and yet people are just eating it up.
I honestly hope that people have more common sense than to blindly follow a cause without knowing what they’re talking about. Going around like a bunch of sheep really isn’t cool. It’s like when Napoleon Dynamite was popular in high school and people only liked it because it was the cool thing to do. Granted, it does feel good to support a cause and be part of something, but isn’t that what the Olympics are all about?
If these people actually looked at the Olympic Charter they might realize that a lot of their arguments don’t apply anymore.
For instance, one argument against the Olympics is about racism and its sordid involvement with the Olympics. Historically this may have happened, but the fifth fundamental principle of Olympism states that “Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.”
Things have changed in the last century, but it seems these protesters are basing their opinions of something on a horrible part of its past. I mean, sure, Germany had Nazis, but that doesn’t stop people from going there and celebrating Oktoberfest.
The only argument I somewhat agree with is the one titled “Corporate Invasion,” but not for the same reasons listed. Coca-Cola, a major sponsor of the torch run, has made a requirement that each participant do something for the community or to conserve the environment, something Coca-Cola itself has yet to do.
The one that I completely agree with is No. 8: public debt. The creators of this assumed that the Olympics would be over budget, but, again, neglected to do research. Here are the facts. The Olympic Village is $130 million over budget, and costs are still rising. In fact, the Olympics are so over-budget that they had to cut funding to schools and hospitals. I think that’s a real reason to protest, don’t you?
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illustration: Danni Siemens
You should be careful painting all these protesters under the same brush. How do you know that the one voice you heard on facebook is speaking for the mob?
I know for a fact that you are not the spokesperson for all people who did not attend the protest. You definitely do not have my thoughts in mind.
who every wrote this is ****** and knows noting about why these people are really protesting against the olympics
Thank god that we live in a country that is free and affluent enough for these stupid assholes to protest the Olympics. Keep up the good work you wankers.
This article has no intelligible argument and is disturbingly ironic. While Danielle Siemens criticizes Olympic protesters for not understanding “shit” and missing the point, she instead reveals her confusion and lack of critical thinking skills when tackling this topic. Whether or not I support the Olympic protesters is beside the point. I don’t remember when I’ve read any article, published or otherwise, so poorly constructed (grammatically, logically etc.) and misinformed. One example that stands is her argument that reason No. 6 invalidates No. 7 (paragraph #7). Aside from her feeble logic, she presents no facts to support her baffling statements.
Is the Sheaf really this desperate for articles?
With regards to the editorial comic, my sentiments are similar. It is horribly offensive, and I’m disappointed that the Sheaf would print such drivel.
Ms. Siemens says:
“Historically this may have happened, but the fifth fundamental principle of Olympism states that “Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.””
Just because they say they’re legit in their charter doesn’t mean they’re legit.
The Olympics is a VERY major project, affecting a lot of people and costing a lot of money. It would be CRAZY to not question or analyze anything regarding the Olympics. It would be especially crazy to accept what they say without actually keeping an eye on them to make sure they’re acting in an acceptable manner.
Ms. Siemens accuses the protesters of not doing any research but she doesn’t cite any more sources than they do. Actually, after reading the Facebook event page it looks like their reasons are VERY well researched. Ms. Siemens doesn’t even begin offer a sufficient rebuttal.
First of all, I think we can all admit the cartoon kicks all kinds of ass.
Second,this is her opinion. We are not going to agree with everyone but for what it’s worth I think her points are well thought out and it was an interesting opinions article. REMEMBER, boys and girls, opinion article.
The Sheaf or The Shite ?
Terrible attempt at journalism.
D-
I do think we all agree that we have starving people in Canada and cutting funds for schools etc is very sad and unfair. They have spent way to much money on this event at a cost to us all.
I see racism/discrimination/stereotyping is alive and well at the University of Saskatchewan. And to think higher institutions were about opening up students’ minds and seeing others’ point of view. I am so disappointed that this ‘opinion’ piece actually got printed. The cartoon is derisive and discriminatory against the First Peoples of this land, who have been attempting to overcome the colonizer’s version of the treaties, which were signed Nation to Nation. We are all treaty people and cartoons such as this illustrate the continuing misunderstanding of what that term means.
I completely agree with the comments stated about how Danielle Siemens did not research her “opinion,” but what truly bothers me is Danni Siemens cartoon. I am student at the University of Saskatchewan and I think I can safely say that I would slap Danni Siemens for that cartoon. I am a first nations person and I know that we have the right to be treated with better respect then that.
So to you Danni Siemens all I can say is your proctologist called and guess what he thinks he found your head. Get a ______ clue!
U of S is supposed to be based on respect OF ALL PEOPLES, well right now I think I would more than willing spend my money on another university that doesn’t allow absolute crap like this to be printed in a campus news paper that I pay a fee for!
I get that some people are offended by the cartoon. Some have accused it of being racist, etc.
I don’t see it. Could someone please clearly say why it is racist rather than just calling it racist without explanation?
I really want to understand this. Thanks.
Dear Isaac,
Racism is not a very complicated idea to grasp. One group thinks they are better than another group and because they think they are better, they develop a sense of entitlement about this opinion. This, in the case of Europeans/white Canadians, is called “white privilege”.
Whit privilege allows a person to ignore the truth of the group they have decided is less than themselves. It allows them to act out on their opinions and do and say things to and about the group they have decided is the out group (in Canada, the out group is Indigenous people, in case you haven’t been paying attention).
It allows them to distort the truth (as in the cartoon/commentary above), create gross stereotypes (as in the cartoon/commentary above), dehumanize individuals (as in the cartoon/commentary above), rewrite history (as in the cartoon and commentary above), ignore facts (as in the cartoon and commentary above), and generally behave in a really ignorant and obnoxious way that is based on the sense of entitlement they have developed due to the racist brainwashing they have received over the years.
1.) The cartoon promotes a stereotyped image of what Indigenous people look like – as though we all looked the same and dressed the same. It is a stock image that doesn’t even attempt to represent with any accuracy what the Coastal Nations’ customary dress and appearance were like back in the day.
2.) It makes an assumption that Indigenous Nations all across Canada in 1792 were NOT actively protesting the assault of our tribal homelands by an invasive species (What’s An Invasive Species? http://www.invasivespecies.gc.ca/english/view.asp?x=1).
“Invasive species are a serious threat to biodiversity in Canada. They create an imbalance in nature by competing for the same resources that native species need to survive. Like a ripple in a pond, their impact is far-reaching.”
3.) The author doesn’t quite have enough balls to come right out and say it, but (and I always hear this from white people) she hints that the Indigenous people are “complaining about nothing again and need to get over it”…as though matters of social justice, cultural and physical genocide, rape and murder of our children, state sponsored social engineering designed to destroy our languages, cultures, self sufficiency, theft of resources that could have helped us stay independent, destruction of Indigenous ties to the land at the scope the Canadian and British governments orchestrated (and are STILL orchestrating it) it are paltry things. But I suppose that’s a typical opinion coming from someone raised in a hierarchical, colonial culture.
Apparently, in Canada, it isn’t racism unless someone forces you onto a train by gunpoint and ships you off to a reserve, er…concentration camp…somewhere isolated and cuts you off from the rest of the world where you are starved, beaten, divested of your humanity and dignity, dismissed, minimized and told to quit complaining you trouble maker and that it could be worse, etc etc etc.
4.) She clearly has no familiarity with the long history of civil disobedience that has come with the Olympics regardless of where they are held. Every nation and dispossessed population with any kind of political grasp across the globe understands the Olympics as an opportunity that only comes once every 4 years – if the author were a political science or government major she would understand the sagacity of holding protests at this time – especially when the gatekeepers keep ignoring your (very valid) protests. Instead she shows her ignorance by trying to excuse the protests away as “insignificant” as “trouble making”. Where have I heard that sentiment before…..
Again, safely couched in her nice little cocoon of white privilege, she carefully structures her “argument” around this central theme of insignificance…that clearly these people are trouble makers who simply and only want to be seen as cool, because everyone knows how cool it is to fight for justice on the behalf of disenfranchised Indigenous Nations and run the risk of being gunned down (or baton-whipped/pepper sprayed) by the Great White Mounties and city cops in the middle of the street – Canada has a nice long history of shooting unarmed nechis.
5.) The history of the land on which the Olympics is going to be held is contested land. Meaning that there has never been a clear provenance regarding European title to it; despite this, Europeans simply did what they always do: they regarded Indigenous protests as insignificant and moved onto Indigenous homelands, telling the natives to “get over it”.
6.) Race is a construct created by Europeans who had to find a way to reconcile their Christian values (no murder, no lies, no adultery, do not covet, etc etc) with the rape, torture, greed, theft, lies and plunder they were about to embark upon. By reducing the humanity of the people whose lands they wanted, they were able to justify their colonization and find a way (don’t ask me how) to live with themselves afterward.
All this opinion is is just the mindless, baseless ravings of a person who hates nechis and thinks we are a**holes for not having gotten over the genocide yet, for continuing to hold a grudge, for not moving on from THE PAST….reality check: Canada has only been around as a self-governing dominion since 1867. That’s about 143 years….The Gradual Civilization Act was spawned around 1857, 10 years before Canada even officially existed! The residential school system as we know it has been around since 1879.
My dad was born in 1934, three years later he was taken and put into a residential school where he stayed for the next 10 years. He is now 75 years old…he isn’t in the past. He is alive and now. The Coastal Nations have had even less time to adjust to the invasion and recover from it – hard to recover when you are still being invaded; as far as it looks to me, white folks aren’t about to pack up and go back to their countries of origin (England, France, the Ukraine etc).
It’s striking how deep the dissonance is between white Canadians and history – how insignificant they believe it to be when it comes to Indigenous people, how…desperate…almost they are for us to just forget it and “move on”, yet how eager they are when it comes to their own (selected) past.
Notice how the author characterizes the invasion of the traditional homelands of the Coastal Nations? “George Vancouver establishes British control over the coastal area…” she writes, nicely sanitizing what actually happened in a slick version of the truth. This is what is called “whitewashing” – i.e. covering up the ugly truth with a nice, clean, coat of white. That’s what’s called a racist “master narrative” because no matter how evil the white people are to the brown people, they always come out lookin’ clean, innocent, victimized, even, by the brown people who try to hold them to account for their actions and the actions their culture/country does in their name.
So how that plays out is that when Indigenous people want justice and what’s fair for all that has been taken from us ONLY because we were brown and outnumbered (white nations who lost wars with white nations NEVER lost their homelands…hmmm), the white master narrative changes it to: “those $%^&*# stupid indians are complaining about nothing again and want more money for it”.
George Vancouver was actually a cartographer (that means “mapmaker” U of S kids) in the employ of Britain and was paid to sail the Coastal Nations between 1792 – 1794 in order to map Indigenous lands. He wasn’t empowered to make treaties, nor was he empowered to come as the conquering hero (cum invasive species)and plant the British flag on Indigenous homelands as the cartoon would seem to suggest.
There isn’t a lick of even intellectual sarcasm contained within the article which I could have appreciated – all I get from it is some overfed white kid whining about stuff she knows nothing about. If that’s the kind of writing The Sheaf wants, then they should visit Stormfront Canada to recruit members for their childish “paper” and brand of “journalism”. They might get someone who’s not only racist, but can be funny about it too.
Love,
nehi katawasisiw
p.s.:
check out this awesome sites!
http://www.tolerance.org/
http://www.case.edu/president/aaction/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf
http://www.antiracism.com/
I’ve read a substantial amount of literature post printing of the Sheaf article. There is a lot said, but one thing yet to be mentioned is the inaccuracy of the following statement :”The only argument I somewhat agree with is the one titled “Corporate Invasion,” but not for the same reasons listed. Coca-Cola, a major sponsor of the torch run, has made a requirement that each participant do something for the community or to conserve the environment, something Coca-Cola itself has yet to do.”
In National Magazines over the past year, Coca-Cola has led the way in Canada in the way in tackling green emissions. They’ve won awards for it! They’ve changed their bottle packaging so that it is now made from 100% recycled product. Plants have spent millions of dollars to change their water systems, lighting and recycling programs to be more green.
As a U of S grad, it’s an embarrassment to have to school newspaper permit the publication of articles that are so poorly researched. There is zero credibility! It’s a true embarrassment to the univerisity!
Is the sheaf available for distribution by mail?
In regards to the ‘opinion’ article written by DANIELLE SIEMENS … some opinions are better kept to ones self.
The article was poorly written and unfortunately it seemed that it was written very last minute with no sufficient facts or real purpose other than to share your prejudice with the campus. Perhaps if research was done by Ms. Siemens she would have learned that the protestors felt strongly about their cause, their main concern is that the Canadian government is spending millions of dollars on the 2010 Olympic Games meanwhile millions of people are living in poverty in this country.
Another interesting little tid bit that Ms. Siemens neglected to learn was that people of all races are taking part in the protest. It is not just aboriginal people trying to cause trouble as the cartoon suggests.
The cartoon was incredibly concerning to me, I was under the oppression … oh sorry … I mean impression that unjustly racial depictions of Canada’s aboriginal people were no longer being printed in current public papers, I thought we were past that.
For those readers who do not understand why this cartoon is so offensive i would like to just point out one piece of racial injustice that Danielle Siemens seemingly finds funny. The two obviously inferior Indian men say, “200 years from now, we’ll have the Olympics. Then, we can protest this unfair treatment.” I personally cannot believe the the editor allowed this to be printed. Allow me to enlighten you, 200 years ago people came to Canada and wanted it, even though other people already lived here. The new people had many resources and decided the easiest way to get what they wanted was to make a trade. Both groups new and old settled on agreements. Since that time the new people have been twisting the agreements so that they would not have to deliver their side of the trade. The new people promised education, the old people got residential schools and everything that came with that (you know what I’m talking about). The new people promised shared land, the old people were given gated communities called reservations which they were not allowed to leave and were guarded to make sure that they didn’t. The new people promised health care, they were given old medicine and alcohol. The new people took advantage of the old people. Ms. Siemens have you ever heard of the 60s and 70s scoop? In the late 60s and into the early 70s the Canadian government thought that it would be best to kidnap (literally kidnap) all aboriginal children from THEIR FAMILIES and adopt them out to white families. Maybe perhaps you have heard of the resistance in Oka, in which a town wanted a new golf course so they decided the best place was on a nearby reserve where people actually lived. They tried to kick people out of their homes so that the town could tear their houses down along with the trees and gravestones, all for a golf course. These are are just a small few of the “unfair treatments” that were so easily made into joke by Ms. Siemens cartoon.
I suddenly feel ashamed to be a student at this university and I am not sure that I want to be spending my money in a institution that allows such racism to be broadcasted in hallways all over campus. Ignorance is another word for uneducated, Ms. Siemens has proven herself to be very ignorant. Perhaps the protestors were not protesting the Olympics alone, perhaps they were protesting people like you who do not care to learn about the whole truth.
isaac,
tolerance dot org & antiracism dot com also google White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
all are really good resources for learning about what racism really is. some people think it is only racism when it is a word, or a certain kind of action – what racism really is, is a socially embedded system and ideology that privileges whiteness. it is found in every single indigenous homeland colonized by europeans (i.e. africa, new zealand, australia, turtle island [aka canada the us & south america]….it is a cultural orientation, not just an individual orientation and it happens along a spectrum of actions and thoughts, so that you can have a person who just automatically assumes that a native person is this or that without really thinking about it, to someone (like those cops in edmonton) who acts out their racist beliefs in a way that is intended to do harm to someone ONLY because they are aboriginal…..and everything in between.
Another smart wannabe idiot trying to form an ‘opinion’ without any facts or idea to back it up with. I’m glad I’m not going to U of S.
Thank you for the lively discussion on this article. The article has been on the website for over 2 weeks and hopefully everyone has had a chance to express their opinions.
Comments are now closed.
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