Wednesday, February 23, 2011

"A Twist of Race" Reading

In his 1998 "A Twist of Race: Ben Johnson and the Canadian Crisis of Racial and National Identity", Steven J. Jackson brings up several interesting points.  Prior to reading this, I had not given any thought to how racist attitudes might exist in Canada.  As Jackson states, "...Canada is recognized as one of the most pluralistic nations in the world..." (Jackson, 1998, p. 25).  I am sure that there is some racial disharmony within Canada, as there exists in most, if not all, parts of the world.  However, I feel that Jackson may be reaching with his belief that the transformation of Johnson from Jamaican immigrant, to Jamaican-Canadian, to Canadian, and back to Jamaican immigrant is primarily based on racist attitudes.

It is very practical that cultures highlight those who bring positive light upon them and hide or disown those who bring negative light.  Looking into his background, I found that Johnson was around sixteen when he immigrated to Canada.  While I would be suspicious of calling him a Jamaican-Canadian rather than just a Canadian if he had immigrated as an infant or even prior to his teens, much of Johnson's identity was formed prior to his life in Canada.  To call him only Canadian during his short-lived Olympic victory would be an insult in my opinion to the part of his identity that is Jamaican, a country with a prestigious and well deserved record in Olympic Track & Field.

I believe that the proper labeling of Johnson's nationality should be whatever he describes himself as.  While I have no idea what that would be, I would think that he would prefer Jamaican-Canadian, though I could be very wrong.  As far as Canadian's owning and disowning him during his success and fall, what country/state/city has not done the same thing with many others regardless of race?  Didn't leaders in the American Muslim population quickly distance themselves from extremist who caused 9/11?  And rightfully so, because the vast majority of Muslims are not extremists and would never commit such terrible crimes.  Canadians rightfully wish to be thought of in a positive light, as we all do.  So when it was found that Johnson was doping, they rightfully distanced themselves from him. When I think of Ohio, I think of the Wright brothers, one of whom was born in Indiana.  However, I don't think of Charles Manson, who was born in Cincinnati.

I also don't know if I buy Jackson's evidence of the term "Jamaican" being equivalent with "black" in Canada.  If anything, I think that most people would picture a person of African descent when an individual is described as Jamaican.  As more than 90% of Jamaicans are of African descent, this would usually be correct.  If someone were described as a Swedish-Canadian, I would automatically think their skin was white as over 90% of Swedes are of European descent.

While I am sure that there were racist undertones from the media and Canadians within Johnson's fall from grace, I disagree with Jackson's belief that titling Johnson a Jamaican immigrant stemmed from racial disharmony.  However, perhaps I am wrong.  While I disagree with Jackson, it is quite possible that Johnson's labeling as Jamaican was due to racism within Canada.  One of the difficult parts of racism in a country like Canada is its hidden nature, or "racism with a smile".  It could be that the less overt form of racism has sufficiently pulled the sheep's wool over my eyes so that I cannot discern it.

1 comment:

  1. These are interesting insights regarding the Jackson article on Ben Johnson. I think one of the things that this article makes clear is that very often our discussions of race are also about "national identity." That is important to keep in mind as we prepare for the Olympic bids. If Canadian identity is reflected by the "salad bowl" or "mosaic" metaphor, then it would seem natural that Johnson's "Jamaican" identity would still be visible. It was interesting to me that when Lebron left the Cavs, he highlighted the enmity between Akron and Cleveland.

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