November 18, 2016
Toronto, ON—The Filipino Canadian youth Alliance of Ontario and its’ sister organizations, the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario and SIKLAB Ontario, continue to stand in solidarity with the struggle against racism, xenophobia, sexism, ableism, islamophobia, homophobia and amongst all else that purports the culture of hate and oppression. As Trump’s influence warrants the recent outcrop of white supremacist groups and the intensification of hate crimes all over Canada, we cannot forget the role the state has in perpetuating police brutality and the criminalization, displacement and marginalization of Indigenous Peoples, communities of colour and the poor. Prejudice and discrimination runs deep in the legislative, executive and the judicial branches of government, but as progressives, our strength is in our genuine solidarity to fight hate and oppression with our culture of resistance and liberation.
Like many transnational working class communities, Filipino Canadians have been faced by decades of systemic racism through a discriminatory and exclusionary immigration system that routinely detain and deport transnational workers and their families. Neoliberal labour and employment policies, such as the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, keep these workers grossly exploited, temporary and disposable. Transnational workers have also been made to be hated scapegoats and blamed time and time again for the failure of capitalism to provide meaningful and stable livelihoods for everyone in Canada. This is but one example of the many profit-driven and anti-people neoliberal mechanisms the state has been using to create divisions amongst Canadians along racial lines.
With the rise of hate crimes, fascism and white supremacy hastened by Trump and his supporters, our collective responsibilities to stand united as purveyors of social justice bare all the more weight as a necessity, and for the most oppressed and vulnerable members of our communities, it is a matter of survival. Judge Bernd Zabel, Kellie Leitch of the Conservative Party, and even Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party have praised the election of Trump into the presidential seat. This clearly shows that these “leaders” not only lack the political grit to denounce one of the world’s most powerful and dangerous head of state and his display of blatant bigotry, but sanction what Trump represents by virtue of their political, institutional and societal positions.
The electoral victory of Trump does not mean the defeat of progressive politics. All of us– people of colour, women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, Muslims, LGBTQ, and as part of the working class– it is up to all of us to defend and fight for the safety, rights and entitlements of our communities. In solidarity, we will continue to do so with a heightened sense of purpose and a strengthened resolve to organize and make racists afraid again!
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For more information, contact
Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance
416-519-2553
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