{"id":80910,"date":"2022-02-17T17:05:05","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T22:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=80910"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:10","slug":"indigenous-black-protesters-treated-differently","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/indigenous-black-protesters-treated-differently\/","title":{"rendered":"Black and Indigenous protesters are treated differently than the ‘convoy’ because of Canada’s ongoing racism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Black and Indigenous protesters are treated differently than the 'convoy' because of Canada's ongoing racism\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

This article is republished<\/a> from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by The Conversation<\/a> from various sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the beginning of the supposed \u201cfreedom convoy\u201d in Ottawa on Jan. 28, there have been complaints about the failure of the police and government to protect its citizens from verbal harassment, noise pollution and, in some cases, hate speech<\/a>. Experts have connected the convoy to white supremacist ideologies.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a national state of emergency<\/a> on Feb. 14, invoking the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history. Ontario Premier Doug Ford called a provincial state of emergency<\/a> on Feb. 11. However, the convoy had grown for days before these actions were taken. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The convoy protest began as a statement against vaccination requirements for truck drivers crossing the border between Canada and the United States. But trucker unions have distanced themselves from the convoy and said that 90 per cent<\/a> of their members are vaccinated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two questions immediately come to mind. Why did it take so long for police and governments to protect Ottawa residents and businesses from reportedly volatile protestors? And if the convoy was organized by Black and Indigenous groups<\/a>, would the response by both the police and government have been more severe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canadian historian David Austin has explored the politics of race and protest in his book Fear of a Black Nation<\/em><\/a>. Given his analysis of police responses to Black protest in Montreal during the 1960s, it is clear that the failure of the police to protect the residents of Ottawa by controlling this protest earlier is a part of the legacy of colonialism in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protest and Black Lives Matter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Putting these events in the larger context and history of social protests for equity, and recognition of rights by racialized groups in Canada, these concerns have some legitimacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to the tolerance the convoy was given, the Canadian state via its police forces has demonstrated a low tolerance to Black protests in the fight for equity and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n