Following from Sunday’s protest

People who think Sunday’s protest was some kind of mindless party in emulation of the United States should read this Gazette op-ed about what the protest was really about, especially with François Legault continuing to maintain that there’s no systemic racism in Quebec.

Does Legault naively think systemic racism is something written down in an official manual? It is not. It’s an entire culture’s worth of hints, jokes and remarks. It’s an older police officer indicating to his younger partner that a couple of black youths walking along in a “nice” neighbourhood should be stopped and questioned. Once that younger cop stops asking “Why? They haven’t done anything suspicious” the meme has successfully reproduced itself. This is why it goes on existing and why it’s so hard to stop it, and why it’s systemic, no matter what our premier thinks.