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Originally Posted by Zarley
How is Black Lives Matter relevant to Canada? Does Toronto have a long history of police brutality culminating in the killing of innocent black individuals? Is there a culture of institutionalized racism that needs to be addressed?
I'd agree that we have issues here in Canada with racism, particularly towards the indigenous community, but the magnitude of these pales in comparison to the problems in the United States. To me, BLM in Toronto is simply an appropriation of a real movement in the U.S. by a group of foolish activists looking to bring attention to themselves.
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Toronto does actually have large black communities that are largely ghettoized and marginalized. Neighbourhoods like Rexdale and Jane and Finch suffer from large amounts of institutionalized violence.
That being said, I definitely side with the police on this one. The police float is about allowing gay police officers to come out. It's not about celebrating the institution of the police. If anything, it's about pointing out a shortfall in that institution. It's about pointing out a traditionally macho/conservative attitude that prevents gay officers from coming out to their peers.
BLM is not going to do away with the police. We will always need police officers. They should be promoting change directed at inclusion and tolerance within the police instead of attacking every single police officer.