The Case for a Common-Sense Rainbow

Far too often, because of the sheer bulk of mass media, being white has been defined as what it is to be ‘White in America’ or ‘White in Britain.

Written by Jeff Pearce

Mar 1, 2019

Canadian activists demand an end to white supremacy during an anti-racism protest held at the United States Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, on Aug 22, 2017. OBERT MADONDO

In late March of last year, the national television network in my country, the CBC, aired its annual talk program, Canada Reads. Billed as ‘a battle of the books,’ it collects a small group of celebrities who debate their reading choices until one final book is selected as the winner. Full disclosure: as a writer, this is the kind of pseudo-intellectual show I despise. It’s book chat for people who want to be told what to read and who like to congratulate themselves on their good taste. Nevertheless, we had a viral moment from the show in its finale: one of our top R & B singers, Jully Black, championed a young adult novel called The Marrow Thieves that has an irresistible hook: After the devastation of global warming, Aboriginal peoples—what Americans stubbornly continue to call ‘Indians’—are hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which supposedly holds the key to the power to dream.

For context, you need to know that Canada—currently enjoying a PR love affair with the world over Justin Trudeau, our LGBT tolerance, our welcoming of refugees, our legalizing marijuana—has an appalling record in terms of how it has treated Native peoples. Most of them live in terrible poverty, many in remote areas with lack of access to potable water and other resources, and many suffer from alcohol and substance abuse. Authorities in the past ripped families apart, condemning children to what are called ‘residential’ schools where they experienced horrific abuse. Scores of Aboriginal women have been murdered while our police have often been slow to investigate.

Black’s fellow panellist, Jeanne Beker, is a TV personality who made her name reporting on fashion, and she apparently commented in a previous episode that the book was ‘too dark.’ Black wrote later that she considers this was ‘the first hint of colonial privilege’ that she would bring up later in the debate. To cut to the chase, when Beker had the chance on live TV to talk about Marrow, she discussed the theme of healing. Black seemed to lose patience with this and commented, ‘There’s healing, and then there’s action with the healing… And yes, we celebrate, and we heal, and we kumbaya, and—’

And there was a tense exchange, voices riding over each other. Black argued at one point, ‘There’s a lot of people who sit in their cottages and their homes and don’t have an experience like others, and think, ‘Well, let me swipe my Visa card and make a donation, but I don’t live this experience.’ What are we doing to change the current circumstances?’ She brought up the Pope refusing to apologize for the abuse of Aboriginal children by the Catholic church, adding, ‘Yes, we forgive. I believe in Jesus—’

And it was at that point that Beker exclaimed, ‘Why are you attacking me, Jully?’

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About the Author

Jeff Pearce

is the author of Prevail: The Inspiring Story of Ethiopia’s Victory Over Mussolini’s Invasion. He is currently working on a new book about African history.

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The Case for a Common-Sense Rainbow