Ms. Coppola's Class



COPPOLAOLC‘White students union’ posters spark outrageThe posters, promoting a white students union, surfaced on three Toronto university campuses, but were pulled down soon after going up.OLIVER SACHGAU / TORONTO STAR?Order this photoChrys Saget-Richard, a member of the Ryerson University Racialized Students' Collective, shows one of the racist posters he tore down on campus Monday. The posters promote a white student union.By:?Oliver Sachgau?Staff Reporter,?Published on Mon Sep 14 2015Posters promoting a white students union popped up Monday at three Toronto universities, and were taken down as fast as they went up.The posters show a stylized image of two white men in front of a Toronto cityscape, with the CN tower visible in the background. The words “White Students Union!” are scrawled along the bottom, with a website linking to a group called Students for Western Civilization.Fraser Macpherson, a student at Ryerson University, stumbled on one of the posters at 7:30 a.m. on Gould St. After Googling the website at the bottom of the poster, Macpherson said he took a photo of the flyer, posted it on Twitter, then tore it down and threw it in the trash. The experience has left him shocked.“I was not expecting to see something like this,” he said.The posters were also found on campus at York University and the University of Toronto. A spokesperson for York confirmed eight posters had been removed early Monday. Michael Forbes, a spokesperson for U of T, said there had been reports of the posters on campus, but said none had been recovered by security staff. Both universities condemned the posters, and said they violated the universities’ code of conduct.“We do not condone this. We find it offensive,” Forbes said.Forbes said the group wasn’t known to the university before. The group’s website included a contact page linking to a Facebook group, but requests for comment were not answered.The event is renewing calls by some for conversations around racism and safe spaces on university campuses. Chrys Saget-Richard, a member of Ryerson’s Racialized Students’ Collective, an on-campus group dedicated to creating an “anti-racist climate” at the school, said the posters show racism still exists in Canada.“A lot of people (will say) ‘It’s worse in the States, racism doesn’t exist in Canada, we’re very polite,’ all of these things. But it’s happening here, on our campuses, in our communities,” Saget-Richard said.The Students for Western Civilization website included a link to an interview with Ricardo Duchesne, a professor at the University of New Brunswick who previously came under fire for arguing that Asian immigrants hurt Canada’s European character.Duchesne told the Star on Monday the interview on the website had been done with an upper-year student of his. He said he is not upset with being associated with the group, and criticized what he called a double standard in the media and academia against white and European pride.“There are black student unions, Asian student unions, but for some reason people react in a very negative way against a white student union. They assume that it is racist, that there’s something inherently wrong with it,” Duchesne said.Ryerson does have student groups for other ethnicities, like the United Black Students Ryerson. But Saget-Richard said people who don’t think a white student union is racist because black students have a union don’t understand what racism is.“They don’t understand that it’s not just ‘I don’t like you because of the colour of your skin.’ It’s a structural, systemic issue, and it goes far beyond the colour of your skin,” Saget-Richard said.The posters will hopefully start a conversation about racism and safe space, but it’s still worrying that people exist who believe a white student union needs to exist, he said. “It makes me nervous because people who might buy into this are walking on our campuses.”Poster positionsStudents at Ryerson University shared their feelings on posters promoting a white student union that were put up on Monday morning.Tristan Miller, first-year environmental and urban sustainability student:“It’s a little weird that someone would create something like that. It’s kind of segregating a group away . . . I don’t feel highly about that. I think that’s wrong. I can understand being a group that supports a certain culture, but if you’re just supporting your own race to stand above others, it’s kind of weird.”Furqan Basit, fourth-year computer science student:“They’re trying to take advantage of the stuff going on in the States. Ferguson, Baltimore riots, and stuff … I don’t know what the purpose of this group is. It doesn’t say what they’re going to do . . . It bothers me.”Lukas Malkowski, fourth-year dance student:“I’m very confused. I have absolutely no idea why students feel there’s a need for a white students’ union. As a white male, I do not recognize the need for this organization at all.”Claudia Marjanovic, fourth-year dance student:“I just don’t see the reason for it, and I can’t believe things like that are happening in the 21st century. Are they actually a group, or just promoting it? It just seems like an excuse for them to be a-------. There’s nothing positive about it. ”PART A: /5kUse your inferencing skills to answer the following multiple choice questions.Fraser Macpherson was shocked to see a poster for a “White Student’s Union,” posted a picture of the poster to social media and then threw the original out. You can infer that:a) Fraser was used to this sort of thing on campus.b) Fraser was excited by the appearance of this poster because it was so unusual and wanted to take credit for it.c) Fraser was disgusted by the appearance of his poster and wanted to alert others. d) Fraser was a member of the “White Students Union”Although contact information was left at the bottom of the poster, the lack of the group’s response indicates:a) They do not want to face media outlets for fear of backlash.b) They want people interested in joining to use the contact information.c) Facebook shut down their page.d) both A and BFrom the comment given by Tristan Miller, you can infer that he feels the group is made up of:a) an inclusive group of studentsb) white supremacistsc) his friendsd) a multicultural societyFrom Professor Duchesne’s response, you can infer that he ________________ “White Student’s Union.”a) Despisesb) Loathesc) Sympathizesd) EncouragesFrom the quote, “A lot of people (will say) ‘It’s worse in the States, racism doesn’t exist in Canada, we’re very polite,’ all of these things. But it’s happening here, on our campuses, in our communities,” you can infer that this student thinks most people in Canada:a) Don’t recognize the culture of racism in Canadab) Are not racistc) Are racistd) Are not as racist as AmericansPART B: Using your inferencing ability, answer the following response questions. Using your inferences as supporting detail. ****write in full sentences giving specific detail please****Why were some reactions to the organization positive? /2 C____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Why was there such a negative backlash towards the organization? /2c____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Which opinion positive or negative do you think was more popular? /1c______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ................
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