Nathan Bauman has written an open letter to Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, expressing deep concern over the arrest of a Korean high school student who broke a bully’s nose while defending himself.
For the record, I share Nathan’s concern — or should I say, I’m aghast (although sadly, not surprised) at the stupidity of it all — but I’m not sold on the institutional racism part. Granted, this is partly because I can’t believe institutional racism exists in a country where provincial human rights commissions go after guys like Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn.
(HT to reader)
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
You’ve got to be kidding. That Canada’s human rights kangaroo “courts” go after guys like Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn is proof of the ubiquity of institutionalized racism in Canada. It means that Canadians like Bauman have chosen to define all conduct as racist; the only way to get action is to allege racism. If it’s not “racist”, nothing much must have happened.
If I were the Premier of Ontario and received a letter like Bauman’s, saying the author is from another province (i.e., not an Ontario voter) and calling me a racist, I’d suggest a hot cup of STFU.
This is weak! There is more to this story than what is written in this screed. Everyone knows that Canadian=Love, it’s the Americans that are mean and racists.
Is that second sentence actually a sentence Brendon. Seems to me it got to the period a bit too quickly.
Are you arguing against Robert’s dismissal of Bauman’s claim that racism is institutionalized in Canada?
Are you arguing against Robert’s supporting evidence yet in support of his dismissal?
What exactly are your trying to say?
Wait don’t answer yet, I’ll put the kettle on, you go get your cup, and we will think about it for a bit
That it seems to you the second sentence got to the period a bit too quickly is proof you deserve that hot cup.
Also, questions generally are denoted by the use of the so-called “question mark”.
Brendon, is that a requital?
Well then, in the same vein, nah nah nah nah nah nah. Take that you rapscalion.
Give it up Hitest. You’re not even in the same league, let alone the ballpark.
LOL…I don’t know where to begin…
I’ll mention a few:
Nathan is deeply concerned and Robert, for the record shares Nathan’s concern. I suppose it is ok to be concerned (even deeply) with anything, but I wonder if anyone has taken the time to read Nathan’s letter or has considered that the facts (sic) of the issue as far as I can tell are from a few paragraphs in some newspaper?
The letter from Nathan to the govt. official takes (I assume — since the only source Nathan mentions in his letter is the G&M article) one newspaper article and…
1)Nathan states, “Essentially, this student was bullied by a racist, and then attacked violently.”
1a)I would like to ask Nathan and anyone who agrees with him what “Essentially” means here. How does Nathan know the other student was a racist (this all hangs on the expletive Chinese note in the paper?)? I am not even sure what “bullied means here, I think I would also like to ask where the article says that the Korean boy was “attacked violently”. I would like to ask if anyone thinks the courts ought to rely on newspapers and heresay (yes all you would be lawyers, I appreciate that there are some heresay exceptions) to determine a person’s guilt or innocence).
2)Nathan continues, “
opps…that wasnt supposed to post–i was deleting something (one of the brackets?) and whamo –but whatever…i think you get the point. there are endless silly, and essentially (i couldn’t resist) random, statements in Nathan’s letter–>like “travesty of justice at several levels” and “arrest warrant for assault” and “exercised caution by using his non-dominant left hand” and “local Crown and police officials who have essentially harassed this victimized student and his parents” not to mention signing the letter with his creds-and I use the term loosely.
it is a newspaper!!! goofy how worked up people get from a one-sided account in a newspaper…
ps-apparently the school board has “[stood] down” according to this: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090504.wkeswick0504/BNStory/National/home
last comment,
sorry for the mess i’m writing then talking on the phone at work then writing and it has come out like a shotgun,
with apologies
Holy leaps of logic from the article to the letter!
I lol’d. I rarely lol.
What’s the big deal? This happens in Korea every day!
In Korea, regardless of who starts the fight, all that matters is WHO IS MOST HURT.
All these people want to help out some Korean kid. What about your fellow expats that live in Korea?
There are many foreigners here in Korea that act in self-defense, only to end up being sued.
Like Robert I’m not sold on the racism angle, but institutional stupidity would be a easier sell. The government, justice and education bureaucracies provide daily examples of such head-up-ass thinking and action.
For the benefit of the American readers, Mr. Levant is a wanker of the first order and should be beaten senseless daily on pure principle. But Canadians being Canadians, this isn’t done and some equally self-righteous, left-progressive prick gets to torment him instead. Too funny.
Why is it institutional stupidity in Canada and racism in Korea?
The fact that this even made the paper, is being discussed and dealt with is the difference between stupidity and actual racism.
At least the kid’s parents could open a bank account, get an international bank card and a cell phone in their own name.
Juicy, (if you were being serious and not sarcastic, I wasn’t sure) it’s so clear what racism means now. Thanks for the enlightenment.
While it’s not clear whether the kid was actually racist, as a racial epithet was alleged, this would fall under the category of a hate crime, and should be investigated as such.
Of course, it could well be just be another of those groundless cases of yet another Korean playing the race card. Tom Coyner may wish to comment on that.
#16 ^above. Nice of you to accuse “another Korean playing the race card” without even checking into the story.
The accusation of slurs was corroborated by the Korean kid’s classmates. A day after the event, the cousin of the kid with the broken nose, screamed “you broke my cousin’s nose, fucking Chinese!”. Unfortunately for him, a teacher nearby overheard it, and the school suspended the student.
But I find this ridiculous how this was overblown by the media. The police had to get involved because the lad ended up in the hospital. But after the investigation, they should not have charged the Taekwondo kid. And the school should have used their brains and should not have suspended the boy.
Funny. I was not even sure if your initial question was sincere.
And after all this, the two boys are back in class, as if nothing ever happened. All charges dropped and the school repealed the suspension. I bet nobody’s going to mess with the Korean kid ever again.
And the saga ends.
My oh my, I’ve never seen such big deal and drama over a lousy school fight.
Thanks for the link, Robert–I really hope something can come out of it.
I also thought I would respond to several good points from the commenters.
1a) Regarding the racism angle, in general I do not detect much institutionalized racism in urban Canada (if anything, it’s the reverse!). However, Keswick is located in an area that has been home to numerous racially-motivated attacks. I remember the news reports when they occurred, and they were very disturbing. At the moment, the most detailed references I can find to them are in the Toronto Star. Apologies for that–the article more or less comes across as coming from the perspective of the Human Rights Commission, which was investigating the attacks. I don’t actually like the Toronto Star, but the facts of what happened in the attacks on Asian fisherman are mentioned and recounted correctly.
1b) The Premier of Ontario is a Liberal Party leader, and the Liberal Party cares very much about issues like racism. Had the Premier been a Conservative, I would have emphasized the right to self defense angle more. As it is, I think there’s a little bit for everyone. But for the record, what I have read of this incident seems to support the view that there is likely some level of racism which has affected the education and police systems there.
A goat with an I.Q. Impressive.
It was a sincere & dead-serious question initially – but with the answer I got I thought to myself, “월척”.
Nice signature block, chum.
Nathan Bauman, B.A., M.A.
I wanna be like you.
Seouldout, GED
2) Useforstuff claims that one solitary article in one newspaper seems a weak basis for taking a position on this issue. In general, school fights–when they get reported by local newspapers–inevitably are misreported. However, the Globe and Mail is the nation’s second largest broadsheet, and one of the oldest. Furthermore, I had also read an editorial in the Globe rival, the National Post, another of the largest conservative daily broadsheets. I’m pretty sure that both these papers would have done their homework on the “facts” of this case before (for the Post) staking an editorial position on it, and (for the Globe), putting it on the front page of their weekend edition (Saturday, May 2nd, bottom right in my British Columbia edition).
Useforstuff’s other question
Well, that’s my summary of: “The white student threw the first punch, hitting the 15-year-old in the mouth.” A sucker-punch in the mouth may not be a curb-stomping, but it certainly qualifies as a “violent attack” by definition.
Useforstuff’s other points aren’t really worth addressing further, and his comments–complete with numerous ellipses, red herrings, and false starts–about “endless” and “random” comments seems entirely a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Finally, even though I very much like all this attention, I’d prefer it if this were less about me and more about what actually happened in Keswick.
Nathan B are you by any chance, any of the following : gay, gay turned Christian, a Korean American, an adopted Korean, a Korean Ajossi, an Obama supporter, a Kyopo Bitch who speaks English? Come on, You must be…
I don’t get why these people decided to settle in some Canadian hick town anyway. Imagine if the press didn’t pick up on this story. This kid would have been suspended, expelled and charged with a crime for standing up to a racist bully. Any chance of a good education and promising future wiped away. End of story.
And yuna cold cocks Nathan Bauman, B.A., M.A.
Who would’ve seen that comin’?
#20. “what I have read of this incident seems to support the view that there is likely some level of racism which has affected the education and police systems there.”
I fail to see how racism has affected the education and police system. Institutionalized racism is rare in Canada. Ontario has a “zero tolerance” towards violence in schools. If you are violent (no matter what the reason), you are out, suspended or even expelled. Whether or not it was self defense does not matter. The Korean boy broke the nose of a student requiring hospitalization, therefore under the rules, the police and the school have the right to get involved to punish the boy. The attacked boy is expected to walk away and report the violence to his teacher, not counter with more violence.
Now I’m not trying to defend this system which I think goes overboard and does not address individual special circumstances as in this case.
If you think about it, it’s no different from the Korean law which punishes people who causes physical damage to someone, even if it was in justified self defense.
And people wonder why first generation immigrants form ethnic enclaves. Guess what, it’s a bit scary out there when you’re the only immigrant different colored person out of the entire district. I personally know a korean couple who suffered badly directly as a result of their decision to settle in a rough italian neighborhood in staten island.
Of course, I wouldn’t dream of denying that this works the same way in Korea for non-koreans and minorities.
Honestly, threads like these make me sick to my stomach. But I’m not getting how this situation can be defined as “institutional” racism.
Would it be racism, should the courts rule in favor of the Korean student, be directed toward the detriment of White people? By punishing someone who uses an allegedly racist word? I’m unclear here–and I feel like any poster here using the “RACIST” card, is essentially carelessly dousing a fire with lighter fluid. Squirt-squirt-squirting without really knowing what they’re doing.
I had known institutional racism to be laws that prohibit exclusion of a certain group, like the old land ownership requirement to vote in the U.S. in the 19th century or modern-day Malaysia.
I’ve read all the articles I could find on this incident with great interest, and the only thing seriously disturbing to me is the way the principal reacted to the incident. There will always be bullies as long as there are kids (or adults, for that matter), and they will prey on the weak, minorities or not. The police, for their part, can’t simply close a case where a kid’s nose was broken. But the principal was in a position to exercise at least some discretion and look at the totality of the circumstances. I would have completely understood if she’d given each boy the same punishment, since, even in self defense to bullying, breaking someone’s nose is a pretty big deal. Instead, after suspending both, she went ahead and recommended to the board that the Korean boy be expelled, not just from her school, but the whole school district (or whatever they call it over there). Whether her prejudices lie with favoring a bully over the victim, a local boy over an “outsider,” or a white person over a minority, it seems that she may have the propensity to side with the strong over the weak. I know how this works because when I was kid I had this unfortunate streak of bullying a poor kid, and when he complained, out teacher just assumed that he was either making it up or just being a sissy. It’s easy to blaim the victim when they’re the more asocial, unpopular type, as many bullying victims are.
Whether the principal is racist or not, someone should look into her behavior. After all, racism is just a subset of tyranny of the majority, and given the way the student body reacted, I wouldn’t be surprised if school officials had been less than sensitive to the plight of the minority (racial or otherwise).
cm:”Nice of you to accuse “another Korean playing the race card” without even checking into the story. The accusation of slurs was corroborated by the Korean kid’s classmates.”
And, as we all know, kids never lie.
cm:”A day after the event, the cousin of the kid with the broken nose, screamed “you broke my cousin’s nose, fucking Chinese!”. Unfortunately for him, a teacher nearby overheard it, and the school suspended the student.”
Well puts to rest the so-called “anti-Korean prejudice” myth. Who has even heard of Korea?
cm:”And after all this, the two boys are back in class, as if nothing ever happened. All charges dropped and the school repealed the suspension. I bet nobody’s going to mess with the Korean kid ever again.”
You mean the Chinese kid, right?
Well, all’s well that ends well, I suppose. Final score: China: 1; Canada: 1; Korea: 0.
Wow Mizar5, that’s a real big chip on that shoulder of yours. Did a Korean boy beat you up for fun?
“And, as we all know, kids never lie.”
The Taekwondo kid was the only Asian kid in class. The rest were white. The lone Asian kid was a top notch student with stright A 90+ average, but he was not very good socializing. The white kid apologized to the Korean kid, and the white kid’s parents issued a comment to the press, they were sorry and disappointed that their son acted in racist manner. They admitted it. So is the white kid lying too?
#27
I fail to see how racism has affected the education and police system. Institutionalized racism is rare in Canada. Ontario has a “zero tolerance” towards violence in schools. If you are violent (no matter what the reason), you are out, suspended or even expelled. Whether or not it was self defense does not matter.
The United States Marines used to have a proverb concerning the use of napalm to wipe out entire villages suspected of harboring Charlie: kill ‘em ALL and let God sort ‘em out. The ham-fisted zero-tolerance school policies are a bit like that. The proper figures of authorities who should be in charge of handling these cases should be those who are closest to the situation, parents and teacher, NOT the police, lawyers, provincial government, the Premier, or the Nanny State. This is how things would have been handled in the not too distant past. Today, due to trigger-happy litigation and general state of social cluster-fuck in the West abetted by the dawn of Political Correctness, the concept of a “teacher with authority” elicits a horse-laugh and parents have become useless. The bigger the government is, the less equipped it is to handle minute, local affairs and you can’t get any more local or minute than a common schoolyard brawl. This is a basic principle of Federalism.
Boys fighting at school is a natural state of boys and for the most part should not be taken too seriously. In fact I submit it is beneficial and helps builds character. I say this as an Asian-American who grew up in the Bronx and faced my share of racially-charged bullies.
Now I’m not trying to defend this system which I think goes overboard and does not address individual special circumstances as in this case.
If you think about it, it’s no different from the Korean law which punishes people who causes physical damage to someone, even if it was in justified self defense.
Ninja apples to mutant green oranges. When certain aspects of adult Korean society resembles a grade-level schoolyard conflict between bullies and wusses, there’s a big problem.
Gee whiz, NK, sounds like you’re the one with a chip on your shoulder. Did a Chinese kid beat you up?
“The white kid apologized to the Korean kid, and the white kid’s parents issued a comment to the press, they were sorry and disappointed that their son acted in racist manner. They admitted it. So is the white kid lying too?”
No, it’s just as I said: all’s well that ends well. The impressionable young kid got a lesson in ethnic diversity, the Korean kid is not in trouble, and the Chinese get the credit for all of it.
A classic Mizar5 zinger! But why no mention of a logical fallacy? I was enjoying remembering all of the funny terms that I had to memorize when I taught spoiled little Gangnam children how to peruse persuasive reading passages.
Touche t_song, cleverly using the opponant’s force against him!
ziiing!
Just a thought, but if this kid had been practicing judo (yudo) or aikido instead of Tae Kwan Do, there would have been no broken nose.
#34
Gee whiz, NK, sounds like you’re the one with a chip on your shoulder. Did a Chinese kid beat you up?
Yes, Mizar, there were Chinese kids beating me up in the Bronx during the 80s. WTF? Whatever…it’s all ancient history now. These days, I have much bigger fish to fry…na’ mean?
#30 timmy
Nails down the whole issue! Well put!
# 36,
Nah, Hapkido. He could have popped the bully’s arm out of socket, then then school nurse would have had to have put it back into socket.
I should remember to deal with two things I forgot to comment on.
When I first returned to Canada, I tutored quite a number of Korean high school students. Several of these did tell me about racist incidents involving students and teachers in their schools which were ignored by administrative officials even after events were brought to their attention. I was actually quite shocked at what they said, because the schools I went to as a boy would have dealt with these types of incidents. I’m not at liberty to say more.
–
And, as a minor footnote,
My summary of what happened has a good deal more validity than Brendon’s summary of me as calling the Premier of Ontario a racist. Brendon, you didn’t really think you’d get away with that one, did you? And to be fair, this is par for the course with you here. (And that’s coming from someone who agrees with you more often than you likely realize.)
–
Even a single school representative by definition represents in some significant respect the interests of the public being served by that school.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/630369
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