Dialogue in Diversity

Dialogue in Diversity

(Major part of the speech of John A. Honderich at the Urban Alliance on Race Relations Awards dinner, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 at Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto. Honderich is the former publisher of Toronto Star and currently Ambassador on Urban Affairs of the Mayor of Toronto.)

N MANY RESPECTS, I FEEL TORONTO IS A WORLD LEADER IN CREATING THE VOCABULARY FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY LIVING IN RELATIVE HARMONY. I CALL IT THE DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY.
JUST THINK BACK OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES ON SOME OF OUR TRIBULATIONS.

• MOUNTIES WEARING A TURBAN OR CARRYING A CEREMONIAL DAGGER.

• THE ROLE OF HERITAGE LANGUAGES OTHER THAN FRENCH OR ENGLISH IN OUR SOCIETY AND
SCHOOLS.

• THE PORTRAYAL OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN A BROADWAY MUSICAL.

• THE APPROPRIATION OF VOICE IN A ROYAL MUSEUM OF ONTARIO EXHIBIT ON AFRICA.

• THE POLICE TREATMENT OF YOUNG BLACK MALES OR ALBERT JOHNSON OR WADE LAWSON

• THE APPROPRIATE CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS AND SINGING CHRISTMAS CAROLS IN OUR SCHOOLS,

• THE KEEPING OF STATISTICS ON RACE AND CRIME,

• THE PLACE OF CHINESE IN MARKHAM, THE APPROPRIATE NAME FOR VARIOUS DIVISIONS OF THE MUSLIM FAITH,

• EQUITY IN HIRING, PROMOTION AND REPRESENTATION,

• RACIAL PROFILING BY OUR POLICE FORCES.
THIS LIST IS BY NO MEANS EXHAUSTIVE. YET IT REVEALS THE DEPTH AND BREADTH OF THE DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY THAT HAS UNFOLDED HERE OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS.

ON EACH ONE OF THEM, OUR COMMUNITY GOT INVOLVED IN AN EMOTIONAL, OFTEN RANCOROUS DEBATE.

SPURRED ON BY THE MEDIA – AND THE CONFLICTING POINTS OF VIEW – WE WOULD MOST OFTEN WALLOW IN THE DEBATE. BUT I WOULD ARGUE THIS WAS A GOOD THING.

WE WOULD TRY ON DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEWS, DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS, THRSAH THEM ABOUT–AND ULTIMATELY COME UP WITH AN ANSWER OR A COMPROMISE ON HOW WE WOULD MOVE FORWARD.

FROM EACH OF THESE TRIBULATIONS, IT WAS ALWAYS MY SENSE THAT WE LEARNED SOMETHING – EVEN THOUGH THE EMOTIONAL SCARS WERE SOMETIMES DEEP.

YET I WOULD ARGUE THAT EACH OF THESE DEBATES, LIKE BRICKS, HAVE LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW DIVERSE PEOPLES LIVE IN HARMONY TOGETHER.

MORE AND MORE, IT HAS MEANT WE HAVE BEGUN TO EMBRACE WHAT NOTED CANADIAN PHILOSOPHER CHARLES TAYLOR HAS CALLED THE POLITICS OF DIGNITY.

THIS IS NO SMALL FEAT – PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU LOOK ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD.
AND A CRITICAL PART OF THIS PROCESS, IN MY VIEW, HAS BEEN THIS CITY’S MEDIA.

THEY HAVE TO VARYING DEGREES ACTED AS MIRROR, FACILITATOR, CAJOLER, CRITIC, AND PROVOCATEUR. NOT ALWAYS HELPFUL AND NOT ALWAYS SENSITIVE.

NONETHELESS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THE DIALOGUE.

IN MY VIEW, THE MEDIA TODAY HAVE THREE PRIMARY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES THAT THEY SHOULD PLAY IN THE DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY.

• THEY SHOULD BE BOLD.

• THEY SHOULD BE REPRESENTATIVE.

• YET THEY SHOULD ALSO BE SENSITIVE AND RESPONSIBLE.

LET ME SPEAK BRIEFLY ABOUT EACH ONE – AND WHERE WE SIT TODAY.
FIRST, BE BOLD.

AS I HINTED AT ABOVE, I DO NOT FEEL THE MEDIA HAS BEEN BOLD ENOUGH IN COVERING THE ONGOING DIVERSITY STORY IN OUR CITY.

I’LL BE FIRST TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT’S NOT EASY TO GET AT. BUT ULTIMATELY, THAT IS NO EXCUSE.

START WITH THE BASIC FACT THAT 54 PER CENT OF THIS CITY’S POPULATION ARE IMMIGRANTS. THAT IS AN EXTRAORDINARY FIGURE. NO OTHER CITY IN THE WORLD COMES CLOSE.

AS SUCH, IT WOULD SEEM THESE PEOPLE ARE PROBABLY INTERESTED IN STORIES ON IMMIGRATION, FAMILY REUNIFICATION, RACE RELATIONS, WORKPLACE HIRING POLICIES, INTEGRATION, AND RECOGNITION OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL AND WORK CREDENTIALS. YET OPEN MOST OF OUR NEWSPAPERS OR WATCH OUR TV STATIONS, AND THE EMPHASIS IS ELSEWHERE. THESE TYPES OF STORIES ARE MOST OFTEN GIVEN SHORT SHRIFT. AND THEY SHOULDN’T BE.

THEY ARE THERE TO BE TOLD. AND PERSEVERANCE GOES A LONG WAY IN GETTING AT THEM.
WE USED TO FEEL AT THE STAR THAT IN ORDER TO REPORT ON ONE OF TORONTO’S DIVERSE COMMUNITIES, YOU HAD TO HAVE A REPORTER INDIGENEOUS TO THAT COMMUNITY. NO LONGER.

AFTER SOME SOBERING EXPERIENCE, WE CAME TO A DIFFERENT CONCLUSION: ANY GOOD REPORTER SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET AT A STORY IN A PARTICULAR COMMUNITY, ASSUMING LANGUAGE PROBLEMS CAN BE RESOLVED. AND THESE STORIES SHOULDN’T BE CRAFTED OR PRESENTED TO CATER TO ONLY THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED. RATHER, THEY SHOULD BE WRITTEN AND PRESENTED AS SLICES OF LIFE IN OUR CITY AND THEREFORE OF INTEREST TO ALL.

AND THEY SHOULD BE PLAYED AND DISPLAYED AS STORIES FOR ALL. CERTAINLY, I FEEL THIS LATTER APPROACH HAS WORKED FAR BETTER IN THAT IT HAS BROADENED THE DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY.

BOLDNESS COMES MOST OFTEN INTO PLAY WHEN IT RELATES TO THE MOST DIFFICULT STORIES. AND THOSE OFTEN INVOLVE RACE RELATIONS IN THIS CITY. LET ME CITE TWO EXPERIENCES THAT I THINK WORKED WELL FOR THE TORONTO STAR.

FIRST IS THE ISSUE OF YOUNG BLACK MALES AND POLICE.

BACK IN THE EARLY 90S, THIS ISSUE HIT A PARTICULAR HIGH. SO EDITORS AT THE PAPER ASKED: HOW DO WE GET AT THIS STORY? HOW DO WE MAKE IT MEANINGFUL TO ALL OUR READERS?
THEY THRASHED AROUND THE CHALLENGE AND ONE CAME UP WITH THE INSPIRED IDEA TO DO AN ENTIRE SECTION OF THE NEWSPAPER ENTITLED “YOUNG BLACK MALES.” THE SECTION WAS COMPOSED SOLELY OF PROFILES OF YOUNG TORONTO BLACK MALES, WHO TOLD THEIR STORIES IN BLUNT, DIRECT WORDS. NO MINCING ABOUT. IT MADE FOR RIVETING READING. AND THE EFFECT WAS DRAMATIC AND IMMEDIATE – AND ADDED TO THE DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY.

THE SECOND CASE INVOLVED THE PRACTICES OF METRO POLICE AND SO-CALLED RACIAL PROFILING.
ASK MOST PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM AND THEY’D TELL YOU THERE IS A REAL PROBLEM IN THIS AREA.
INDEED, STUDY AFTER STUDY OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS HAVE RAISED IT AS AN ISSUE OF PARTICULAR CONCERN TO BLACK COMMUNITIES.

AGAIN, WE ASKED THE QUESTION: HOW DO WE REALLY GET AT THIS STORY AND MAKE IT MEANINGFUL TO ALL OUR READERS.

THIS TIME IT WAS ONE PARTICULAR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER WHO CAME UP WITH THE INSPIRED IDEA OF ANALYZING THE POLICE FORCE’S OWN DATA ON ARRESTS TO SEE IF THERE WERE ANY PATTERNS.

IT TOOK A LOT OF TIME, A LOT OF APPEALS TO COURTS AND A LOT OF HARD ANALYTICAL WORK. WE DIDN’T KNOW IN ADVANCE WHAT THE RESULTS WOULD BE, BUT WE FELT THE ISSUE WAS WORTH THE INVESTMENT. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, I MIGHT ADD.

THEN THE RESULTS CAME IN. THERE WAS A WORRISOME PATTERN WHICH HINTED STRONGLY AT RACIAL PROFILING. SHOULD WE RUN THE STORY? SHOULD WE OFFEND AUTHORITIES? DARE WE BE BOLD?

WE DID. AND THE AFTERSHOCKS FROM THIS SERIES ARE STILL REVERBORATING THROUGH THE COURTS, POLICY ROOMS AND STREETS OF THIS CITY. NOT ONLY WAS IT THE RIGHT THING TO DO, I FEEL IT ADDED SIGNIFICANTLY TO OUR ONGOING DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY.

BEFORE I LEAVE BOLDNESS, THERE IS ANOTHER PART OF THAT SECOND SERIES WORTH MENTIONING.
IN THIS CASE, IT WAS A PROMINENT MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN JAMAICAN COMMUNITY WHO DECIDED TO BE BOLD.

MUCH HAS BEEN SAID IN SOME QUARTERS ABOUT A BLACK CRIME PROBLEM IN OUR CITY.
SUCH A BROAD, ILL-DEFINED GENERALIZATION NOT ONLY HAS LITTLE MEANING BUT IS OFFENSIVE TO SOME COMMUNITIES. YET THE STAR DATA SHOWED THERE DID APPEAR TO BE A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF JAMAICAN CANADIANS ARRESTED FOR CERTAIN OFFENCES.

TO SAY THIS WAS EXPLOSIVE INFORMATION WAS TO STATE THE OBVIOUS. AND THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF INFORMATION THAT USUALLY SENDS COMMUNITY LEADERS SCURRYING TO THE HILLS PLEADING “NO COMMENT.”

NOT VALERIE STEELE, THEN PRESIDENT OF THE JAMAICAN CANADIAN ASSAOCIATION.
SHE TOOK THE PROVERBIAL BULL BY THE HORNS AND SPOKE IN NO NONSENSE TERMS ABOUT THE PROBLEM. “IF THESE STATISTICS ARE TRUE, WE IN THE COMMUNITY HAVE TO LOOK AT THESE AND SAY: WAIT A MINUTE. WHAT’S GOING ON?’

LATER SHE ADDED “WE HAVE TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR, TOO,’ AND SHE WENT ON TO GIVE A SENSITIVE AND REALISTIC ASSESSMENT OF THE POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS HER COMMUNITY FACES.

A LESSON IN BOLDNESS OTHERS COULD WELL STUDY, AS WELL AS BEING ANOTHER BRICK IN THE DIALOGUE.

THE SECOND ROLE I SAID THE MEDIA MUST DO IS: BE REPRESENTATIVE. THIS MEANS MAKING SURE NEWSROOMS REFLECT THE COMMUNITIES THEY SERVE.

YOU WON’T MEET TOO MANY MEDIA PROPRIETORS WHO WOULD ARGUE WITH THE BASIC PROPOSITION THAT THEIR NEWSROOMS SHOULD REFLECT SOCIETY.

NOT ONLY IS IT THE RIGHT THING TO DO, IT MAKES GOOD BUSINESS SENSE.

FOR IF A CITY’S DIVERSE COMMUNITIES DO NOT SEEM THEMSELVES REFLECTED IN THE MEDIA, THEY WILL ULTIMATELY TURN AWAY FROM THEM OR SIMPLY IGNORE THEM. AND IF THEY ARE ALIENATED FROM THE MEDIA, I WOULD ARGUE THEIR SENSE OF INCLUSION WILL BE LESS, AND IF THAT HAPPENS, THE CIVIL SOCIETY WILL BE LESS HEALTHY AND OUR DEMOCRACY LESS HEALTHY.
YET TO DATE, THE RECORD ON MINORITY HIRING IN THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN SPOTTY. – AT BEST.
WHILE THERE ARE NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS, THE LOFTY WORDS OF INCLUSION DON’T REFLECT THE REALITY OF HIRING.

IN THIS REGARD, CANADIAN MEDIA ASSOCIATIONS HAVE FALLEN WELL BEHIND THEIR AMERICAN COUNTERPARTS. IN THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY, FOR EXAMPLE, THE AMERICAN INDUSTRY HAS BEEN IN THE FOREFRONT OF ADVOCATING MINORITY HIRING.

ITS INSPIRATION IS CHARLES MAYNARD, A NOTED BLACK AMERICAN JOURNALIST WHO DIED IN 1993 AND AFTER WHOM AN INSTITUTE HAS BEEN SET UP.

IT WAS MAYNARD WHO ONCE FAMOUSLY SAID “THIS COUNTRY
CANNOT BE THE COUNTRY WE WANT TO BE IF ITS STORY IS TOLD BY ONLY ONE GROUP OF CITIZENS.”

AMEN, TO THAT. ECHOING THIS SENTIMENT IS THE FREEDOM FORUM, ESTABLISHED BY THE GANNETT FOUNDATION, WHICH IN THE PAST HAS WORRIED MORE ABOUT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.

BUT MORE RECENTLY, THE FOUNDATION HAS PUT DIVERSITY ON THE SAME FOOTING AS FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN DECLARING “OUR INTEREST STEMS FROM THE BELIEF THAT THE FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS AS A MASS MEDIUM DEPENDS ON HAVING NEWSROOMS THAT REFLECT THE FULL DIVERSITY OF THE COMMUNITY.”

AS A RESULT, AMERICAN PAPERS HAVE SET LOFTY GOALS FOR HIRING. WHILE THEY HAVE YET TO BE FULLY MET, THE EFFORT IS REAL AND TANGIBLE.

AND WHEN THE TARGETS ARE NOT MET, THE INDUSTRY IS OPEN AND CANDID ABOUT IT.
WOULD THAT A SIMILAR DRIVE TAKE SHAPE NORTH OF THE BORDER.

FOR WHILE THE CANADIAN INDUSTRY HAS PAID LIP SERVICE TO THE IDEAL, IT HAS BEEN JUST THAT – LIP SERVICE.

AND THIS IS SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH. MUCH MORE SHOULD AND MUST BE DONE HERE.
THE THIRD AND FINAL ROLE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS BEING RESPONSIBLE AND SENSITIVE.
SOME MAY WELL ASK; HOW CAN YOU BE BOTH BOLD AND SENSITIVE? I WOULD REPLY – YOU HAVE TO BE.

THE TWO ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE CONCEPTS.

SENSITIVITY, WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF DIVERSITY, MOST OFTEN REVOLVES AROUND THE USE OF LANGUAGE. AS I MENTIONED ABOVE, I FEEL TORONTO IS IN THE VANGUARD OF CREATING THE VOCABULARY FOR A DIVERSE SOCIETY LIVING TOGETHER.

WE ALL KNOW WORDS HAVE MEANING. THEY CAN HURT. THEY CAN STING. THEY CAN LEAD TO STEREOTYPING.

WHAT IS INNOCUOUS TO ONE, IS INFLAMMATORY TO ANOTHER. AND I WOULD ARGUE IT IS ENCUMBENT ON MEDIA TO GET THESE ISSUES RIGHT.

TAKE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE USE OF THE WORD FUNDAMENTALIST WHEN COMBINED WITH MUSLIMS – A PRACTICE SEEN ALL TOO OFTEN ACROSS NORTH AMERICA THESE DAYS.

SO WHAT IS THE UNDERLYING MESSAGE WHEN THE PHRASE MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALIST IS USED?
IS IT THOSE ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS, WHO BELIEVE DEEPLY IN THEIR FAITH?

OR IS IT THOSE ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS WHO LOOT, KILL AND PLUNDER IN THE NAME OF THEIR RELIGION.

I THINK TO MOST OBSERVERS SUCH A PHRASE DOES EVOKE AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE IN THE WAKE OF 9/11. AND IT ISN’T A FLATTERING ONE.

INDEED, MANY MUSLIM GROUPS HAVE ARGUED THE CARELESS USE OF THIS PHRASE HAS LED TO AN UNFAIR STEREOTYPING OF THOSE LAW-ABIDING MUSLIMS WHO ARE FUNDAMENTALISTS BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ISLAM.

INDEED THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT IN THE UNITED STATES – A PROTESTANT MOVEMENT THAT DEVELOPED PARTLY IN OPPOSITION TO THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION – USED TO BE KNOWN AS CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS.

THEY HAVE RECENTLY DROPPED THAT TERM. TODAY THEY PREFER TO BE DESCRIBED AS “EVANGELICALS.” AND THE MEDIA HAVE ACCEPTED THAT.

BUT THE MUSLIMS HAVEN’T BEEN QUITE SO FORTUNATE.

THEY HAVE BECOME SO CONCERNED ABOUT THE MISUSE OF LANGUAGE THAT THEY SET UP AN ANNUAL MUSLIM MEDIA WATCH TO GRADE THE COUNTRY’S NEWSPAPERS ON THEIR PORTRAYAL OF MUSLIMS.

IF ANYTHING, THIS GROUP HAS AT LEAST BROUGHT TO PUBLIC ATTENTION THE ISSUE OF STEROTYPING AND OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE.

WHATEVER ONE MAY THINK OF THIS GROUP’S ANALYTICAL METHODS, ONE CANNOT HELP BUT CONCLUDE THAT IT PROVIDES ANOTHER USEFUL INPUT INTO THAT DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY.
PHOTOS TOO CAN BE A PROBLEM. ONE OF THE LAST DIVERSITY ISSUES I DEALT WITH AT THE TORONTO STAR CONCERNED A WIRE SERVICE PHOTO OF THE HINDU GODDESS DURGA WHICH RAN ON OUR RELIGION PAGES.
EACH FALL, STATUES OF DURGA ARE WORSHIPPED FOR NINE DAYS AT PRAYER FESTIVALS, AND IMMERSED IN WATER.
THE IDOL SHOWN IN THE PHOTO WAS UNCLOTHED, WHICH DREW A VEHEMENT REACTION FROM SOME HINDUS. THEY CALLED THE PHOTO AT LEAST DISRESPECFUL, IF NOT BLASPHEMOUS.
CERTAINLY NO EDITOR AT THE STAR UNDERSTOOD THAT THE IDOL WOULD NEVER APPEAR UNCLOTHED.

A SEARCH ACROSS THE WIRE SERVICE FOUND NO OTHER CITY WHERE OBJECTIONS WERE RAISED. THE FIRST JOURNALISTIC RESPONSE WAS TO HOLD FIRM AND DO NOTHING. YET HUNDREDS OF E-MAILS, SEVERAL DEMONSTRATIONS, AND A SERIES OF ANGRY DELEGATIONS LATER, I FINALLY MET WITH THE GROUP.

ONE COULD NOT HELP BUT BE MOVED BY THE INTENSITY OF THEIR REACTION, THEIR FEELINGS THAT AN INSENSITIVE INJUSTICE HAD BEEN PERPETRATED BY AN ALL POWERFUL, UNKNOWING, IGNORANT INSTITUTION.

A SIMPLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT WE HAD OFFENDED SOME ALONG WITH THE RUNNING OF A PHOTO OF A FULLY CLOTHED DURGA RESOLVED THE ISSUE.

IN RETROSPECT, IT SEEMS A CLASSIC CASE OF RESPECT AND SENSITIVITY. NO JOURNALISTIC PRINCIPLE I KNOW OF WAS BROKEN BY LISTENING AND THEN ACKNOWLEDGING FEELINGS MIGHT BE HURT.

TO SOME, THESE INCIDENTS MAY SEEM LIKE SMALL STUFF.

BUT IT’S BASIC STUFF. AND, I WOULD ARGUE, THE BIG PICTURE ONLY BECOMES CLEAR IF YOU GET THE SMALL STUFF RIGHT. IT’S ALL PART OF THAT ONGOING DIALOGUE.

AND FOR MANY MEDIA OUTLETS, THIS STILL REMAINS A HUGE CHALLENGE.
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. THIS OBSERVER’S VIEW ON WHAT THE MEDIA SHOULD BE DOING IN THE ONGOING DIALOGUE ON DIVERSITY IN THIS CITY.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT FOR THIS ROOM.

EACH ONE OF YOU HAS A STAKE IN OUR CITYS VITALITY AND IN MAKING OUR GROUND-BREAKING EXPERIENCE WITH DIVERSITY WORK.

I THINK EACH ONE OF YOU APPRIECIATES ONLY TOO WELL HOW THE MEDIA CAN AFFECT AND INFLUENCE THIS PROCESS.

SO I WOULD SAY TO YOU: BE BOLD. LOOK AT WHAT PEOPLE LIKE VALERIE STEELE HAVE DONE. LOOK WHAT THE HINDUS DID WITH THE DURGA.

TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THE DEBATE

AND IF THE MEDIA AREN’T LIVING UP TO THEIR END OF THE BARGAIN, THEN DON’T HESITATE TO LET THEM KNOW ABOUT IT.

THE STAKES ARE TOO HIGH TO REMAIN SILENT.

FOR WHAT IS AT STAKE IS NOTHING LESS THAN THE WELL BEING OF OUR COLLECTIVE COMMUNITY.
THANK YOU.