The CBC has a story saying Senator Murray Sinclair is on the beat.
He says businesses should provide better training so this sort of thing doesn’t happen.
He was of course the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, still waiting for some of their points to be implemented.
Words are cheap. Bank should lose some skin.
You will find that you won’t cure racism through punishment, quite the contrary, I’m afraid.
And cash would not make the victims of racism feel better about what happened, because for that they would need to forgive, and money does not invite forgiveness, but a word of apology spoken from the heart certainly does.
Also the restitution I proposed will cost the bank a substantial amount of cash: they would not be able to send their employees to do community work in their spare time. But that money is not punishment, it’s an investment.
Of course the CEO who wrote the non-apology. does not see all that, a certain lack of empathy is part of the job. For this to change, we need to stop accepting cash as apology and restitution, and demand meaningful words and behavior instead.
Reading this thread, I’ve been thinking about how people in the US have had the same assumptions and demonstrated the same killing racism towards Native Americans as demonstrated in this story.
This book is about the horrific spectacle of white society literally preying on Native Americans who have received a money settlement:
Good joke. Who writes your material?
What is it you find so funny?
That’s very presumptuous, especially if you’re white.
I can think of many victims of racism who’d “feel better” about a useful cash settlement than an apology, however supposedly heartfelt.
And who ever said forgiveness is the only way to feel better in such situations? And who says that the victims of racism have some sort of duty to forgive? Whatever they feel is up to them, seems to me.
I think she has a valid point, though I’m not sure where tge answer lies.
When a corporation has money, it’s easy for them to make a payout. So they can react without actually changing.
There woukd still be a big chasm between tge bank and the man and his granddaughter. They may not have any future trouble with that bank, but they’ll have the aftereffects, and this may not be the only incident. Real change is needed. The bank can’t promise it will never happen again, but it can put a lot of effort into it, and if it happens again react differently.
But we aren’t the man and his grandaughter. Maybe the money would do something for them, I don’t know.
I can’t speak for victims of racism, but I can definitely say that if you are poor money does make you a less vulnerable person and makes it easier to forgive the wrongs of the others and society. There’s almost no way to experience true forgiveness while you are not experiencing a stable life. A good chunk of the time is spent too damned exhausted to even feel the depths of anger and indignation. We live in a capitalist society like it or not and we treat people worse and worse depending on how poor they are. We also see having money as a “reward” for being a good person. Now these things aren’t necessarily right or true but it does add up to a strong argument for monetary reparations in general IMO.
Yes, welcome to Canada.
In the good old days, while the US would have actual signs that said “whites only”, in Canada there would be an unspoken understanding. A black writer from Montreal told of growing up knowing that certain establishments were just not open to him. All very polite. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Also, the stereotype the teller perpetuated…if an Inuit has 30k, it was ill-gotten.
Yes! Great point, and the results of that research are just as I expected.
I’ve rolled my eyes several times upon hearing, I do give to homeless people! But I give them food, or maybe an old sweater or coat, instead of money. They’ll just spend that on drugs or booze. or cigarettes. How do you think they got on the street in the first place?
Also, the White Savior Complex/Religious Institution issue of maintaining control over how charity is directed, rather than maintaining autonomy for the poor.
Corporations don’t have hearts.A CEO apologizing on the behalf of another employee almost always rings hollow. Like parents apologizing for their kids. “Yeah, I know they are monsters. Sorry.” Then never actually making changes in behavior.
Actually, punitive damages DOES affect the actions of corporations. Not for any altruistic reasons, but economical ones. You can find examples of ethically run businesses, but most do the bare minimum to stay legal and in business.
Just to make sure I understand what you are saying: considering what I described as an appropriate apology, you argue that many victims of racism would still prefer a “useful cash” settlement, because that would make them feel better about the racist incident than said apology?
You’re right, there is probably other ways. Can you name a few?
I don’t know, who said that? It’s definitely up to them. But I do think a racist has the obligation to do all they can to make it possible that forgiveness can happen.
I will undoubtedly be pilloried, but if someone has a sign that says “hungry – need food”, and I give him a sandwich and bottle of juice and they reject it because they wanted money, what should I think?
Here’s a bit more background on that how being poor affects your cognitive capacity:
But blaming poverty on the poor’s bad decisions helps people think that poverty can’t happen to them.
