Boisclair won't apologize for "Slanted Eyes" remark

[CougarKing]

Whoa...here we go....

First US Gen. Pace doesn't apologize for the "homosexuality is immoral" remark. Then Boisclair says this "slanted eyes" remark.
(Oh well...it's turning out to be a week of blunt people...hmmm....)

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/03/15/3756490-cp.html

[MONTREAL (CP) - An unrepentant Andre Boisclair refused to apologize Thursday for using the term "slanting eyes" to describe Asian students.

The controversial description once again put Quebec's sometimes tenuous race relations at the fore of the provincial election campaign. The Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations called on Boisclair to apologize but the Parti Quebecois leader steadfastly rebuffed the request.

"I don't have any intention of apologizing," he repeated several times, saying it's a term he uses quite frequently.

According to a former Bloc Quebecois candidate who is now a member of the PQ, Boisclair's comments have caused rumblings within the party.

"It has caused problems for the PQ's candidates of Chinese origin because they have to defend Mr. Boisclair's comments in front of a community who is very angry at these comments," said May Chiu, who ran unsuccessfully for the Bloc during the last federal election. "He really complicated their lives."

Boisclair used the words on Wednesday as he talked about global competition from Asian economies like India and China and the number of young people who leave these countries to pursue studies in the United States.

"The reality is these countries are not just working to create jobs in sweatshops," said Boisclair, who spent a year studying at Harvard University.

"When I was in Boston. . I was surprised to see that on campus about one-third of the students doing their bachelor's degrees had slanting eyes."

Fo Niemi of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations called the remark offensive.

"It's a racist stereotype," said Niemi, who is of Asian heritage.

Chiu said the slip was out of character for a politician who normally is extremely sensitive to minorities.

"I just cannot explain how Mr. Boisclair could not have known that 'slanted eyes' has been used as a derogatory insult towards Asians since as long as I know," she said.

Walter Tom, a member of the Chinese-Canadian National Council and a resident of Montreal, called it "one of the highest insults you can hear."

Rather than seek an apology, the council asked Boisclair to "correct" himself.

"It is rather disappointing to hear Mr. Boisclair, and an aspiring premier at that, refer to students of Asian heritage in this manner," said president Colleen Hua.

But Boisclair was adamant.

"I have no intention of apologizing," he reiterated when asked about his choice of words.

Boisclair made the "slanting eyes" comment in French, using the term "yeux brides."

"I don't understand," he said in Quebec City on Thursday. "Maybe there's a nuance between the word in French and the word in English."

French-language media tended to ignore the original remarks on Wednesday, while their English counterparts did mention it.

Boisclair accused Niemi of waging a political fight against him.

The PQ leader said he has travelled to Japan, which he described as "a source of wonder to me."

Quebec has been embroiled in debate over reasonable accommodation of racial, cultural and religious minorities.

It's not the first time race issues have come up in the campaign for the March 26 provincial election.

The Action democratique du Quebec ditched a candidate for saying Quebecers should have more children to avoid being overrun by "ethnics," while the PQ defended a candidate who came under fire for a book that questioned the extent of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Niemi and Tom said they did not believe Boisclair meant to be insulting.

The former PQ cabinet minister has worked with the Chinese community many times over the years, Tom said.

"We don't question his goodwill or tolerance," he said. "The only thing is these are the kind of slips of the tongue that need to be eliminated."

Even Boisclair's chief political foes defended him.

ADQ Leader Mario Dumont joked about the comments.

"I'm told all the time I have slanting eyes," he said, laughing, before adding he does not believe Boisclair meant any disrespect to Asians.

Liberal Leader Jean Charest also came to the defence of his PQ opponent.

"Believe me, I find plenty of fault politically with Mr. Boisclair and I'm not shy about saying that," Charest said in Montreal.

But "I think I know Mr. Boisclair enough to know Mr. Boisclair did not use that term in a pejorative way."

Charest ran into problems of his own Thursday when he was confronted at a factory by an angry taxpayer.

Richard Levesque told Charest the Liberals have failed to deliver on a promise to cut income taxes by a billion dollars a year and have instead hiked fees and other taxes.

Charest said his Liberals have lowered income taxes in the past four years and would continue to do so in another mandate.

The outspoken Levesque was not convinced.

"Just like you said in your last mandate, that you'd lower taxes," he said at the factory in Varennes, Que., east of Montreal.

"I lost a hell of a lot of disposable income since you said that. It'd be better if you said nothing. It costs me too much money when you talk."

 

[Bobby Rico]

But Asian's DO have slanted eyes...how is that a sterotype?  A sterotype would be 'All those guys that know kung-fu' or 'eat noodles and rice'.  It's a freakin physical trait for crap sakes.

Or should we not call black people black anymore?  I swear, once that becomes politically incorrect, I'm building a rocket and moving to Mars...this planet can eat me.

 

[DSB]

I can’t believe anyone would even try to justify, (defend?), this kind of ignorance. 

DSB

 

[Shamrock]

But Asian's DO have slanted eyes...how is that a sterotype?  A sterotype would be 'All those guys that know kung-fu' or 'eat noodles and rice'.  It's a freakin physical trait for crap sakes.

Or should we not call black people black anymore?  I swear, once that becomes politically incorrect, I'm building a rocket and moving to Mars...this planet can eat me.

Just build your rocket now.

It may not have been a stereotyping comment, but it was racist.  Using an attribute to refer to people instead of referring to people is racism, doesn't matter if the utterer doesn't find it offensive.

 

[aesop081]

Boisclair is an idiot.........

that being said, i think its being over blown.  IMHO, its not like he used a racial slur.

"the majority of students on campus are french"

"the majority of students on campus are speedo-wearing poutine-eaters"

Can you spot the diffrence ?

Now why is it that what he said in the above incident ( about asians) offensive again ?

 

[Kat Stevens]

Boisclair is an idiot.........

that being said, i think its being over blown.  IMHO, its not like he used a racial slur.

"the majority of students on campus are french"

"the majority of students on campus are speedo-wearing poutine-eaters"

Can you spot the diffrence ?

Now why is it that what he said in the above incident ( about asians) offensive again ?

Yes I can, the first is accurate, the second is precise... ;D.  He didn't say they were Asian or Chinese, he said they had slanted eyes.  Would it have been right if they were redskins?  Darkies?  Yellow fellows?  All indicate racial traits, and all are equally wrong, and this from the least PC guy in the world... right ?  ;D

mod edit to fix quote box

 

[Bobby Rico]

I think saying that term is racist is WAY extreme.  Is calling a caucasian man 'white' or a negro 'black' racist?  Hell no, and if you think so then woah-momma, we're in trouble.  Serious, serious trouble.  Okay, for someone in the public service, I admit, it was probably not a good idea for him to use the term 'slanted eyes' but it's just a physical description.  If someone is fat, you call them 'fat'.  Okay, it's not polite, but it's not prejudice either, and I doubt any of you who have had the privilage of going through basic training, have ever considered your drill sergeants or instructors racist, bigoted or prejudice for them calling you something based on a physical trait.  People do it, it doesn't for an INSTANT mean they're racist.  I call people black, white, fat, skinny, lanky, broad, straight haired, curley haired, freckly, big-assed, flat-assed, chesty, man, woman, boy, girl and every other physical description you can just about come up with.  Does this some how make me prejudiced against all people under the sun?  If you think so, then again, I shake my head and pray to whatever god that may exist to stop this madness.  To say we MUST stop referring to people based on physical characteristics is an example of PC fascism if ever there was one.  Sometimes calling someone 'the short guy' is just easier than calling him 'that 5-foot, two-inch tall guy'.

Come on people, this is insane.  I don't for one feel the comment was racist in any manner.  I'm a mixed man myself.  I don't give a crap for one second if someone calls me mulato, brown, mixed, halfy, or whatever.  It's stupid to lose sleep over something so...PETTY.  And it's petty.  Very petty to call someone a racist or prejudiced for calling someone based on a physical characteristic.

Anyway, this is the last I'm going to say on this issue.  Disagree if you will...hell, call me a racist if you will.  Frankly, I know what I am, and that's a Canadian whose sick and tired of all this PC crap being jammed down my throat.

Rico out.

(edit- removal of American militarism)

 

[CougarKing]

But Asian's DO have slanted eyes...how is that a sterotype?  A sterotype would be 'All those guys that know kung-fu' or 'eat noodles and rice'. 

Bobby Rico,

Well stereotyping all Asians as being "slanted eyes", just because East Asians like Koreans, Chinese and Japanese are like that, can be annoying. People from the Indian subcontinent consider themselves to be from Asia, though this is more South Asian.

Then you have those in between like those in Indochina (Thailand, Vietnam. etc) as well as other Southeast Asian countries such as Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, some of whom might have "slanted eyes" because of some Chinese stock from all those overseas Chinese minority communities (called "Hua Qiao", mostly Cantonese or Fukienese-speaking), but most of whom are still more borderline Pacific Islander because their eyes are bigger and their skin more brown that it is "yellow".

Then we go on with talking about Central Asians, like Mongolians, Kazakhs...Siberians...we could do this all day...

But to our annoyance, the term "Asians" almost always means "East Asians" in North American/Western popular culture.

And BTW, I never called you "racist"...

(On a sidenote, maybe it's time you bought that car... ;D)

 

[medaid]

*shrug* I can see how some people would find it offensive, wether it be a physical trait or not. I don't really care, I have slanted eyes  ;D sometimes people even say 'hey MedTech, open them eyes, are you awake?!' Meh, what ever. However, as a political figure, that is the last thing that should be coming out of his mouth. But hey... I agree we have gone a little TOO PC. It's come to the point where a THIRD party can take offence on YOUR behalf. If you and a friend were calling each other 'honky' 'chink' (I say those two because that's what I call my friend, and that's what he calls me, it's ALLL goood  ) and we don't give a damn, but tubby comes along, and goes 'WO WO WO!!! You cant call him that! I'm offended!' now we're both in trouble. See how messed up things are getting these days?

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Nonetheless I will like to remind everyone that making racial remarks of any kind of offensive and is in violation to this sites Guidelines and if it continues Warnings will be issued. Are we clear?

Army.Ca Staff

 

[medaid]

Roger.

 

[canadianblue]

I'd think that saying people are slanted eyes sounds abit derogatory, it's like calling someone a vanilla face.

Either way, Boisclair is an incompetent leader, and I have a feeling that we'll end up seeing either a PLQ or an ADQ minority government in a few weeks.

 

[aesop081]

Nonetheless I will like to remind everyone that making racial remarks of any kind of offensive and is in violation to this sites Guidelines and if it continues Warnings will be issued. Are we clear?

Army.Ca Staff

"the majority of students on campus are speedo-wearing poutine-eaters"

Its funnier when i say it in person.........specialy when i'm having poutine as i am typing it

 

[CougarKing]

Its funnier when i say it in person.........specialy when i'm having poutine as i am typing it

:rofl:

Well, you didn't have to bring that horrifying image to mind...  speedos!!

 

[aesop081]

:rofl:

Well, you didn't have to bring that horrifying image to mind... : speedos!!

I would never wear a speedo.....but i'm not above poutine

anyways...back to track

 

[Remius]

I think saying that term is racist is WAY extreme.  Is calling a caucasian man 'white' or a negro 'black' racist?  Hell no, and if you think so then woah-momma, we're in trouble.  Serious, serious trouble.  Okay, for someone in the public service, I admit, it was probably not a good idea for him to use the term 'slanted eyes' but it's just a physical description.  If someone is fat, you call them 'fat'.  Okay, it's not polite, but it's not prejudice either, and I doubt any of you who have had the privilage of going through basic training, have ever considered your drill sergeants or instructors racist, bigoted or prejudice for them calling you something based on a physical trait.  People do it, it doesn't for an INSTANT mean they're racist.  I call people black, white, fat, skinny, lanky, broad, straight haired, curley haired, freckly, big-assed, flat-assed, chesty, man, woman, boy, girl and every other physical description you can just about come up with.  Does this some how make me prejudiced against all people under the sun?  If you think so, then again, I shake my head and pray to whatever god that may exist to stop this madness.  To say we MUST stop referring to people based on physical characteristics is an example of PC fascism if ever there was one.  Sometimes calling someone 'the short guy' is just easier than calling him 'that 5-foot, two-inch tall guy'.

Come on people, this is insane.  I don't for one feel the comment was racist in any manner.  I'm a mixed man myself.  I don't give a crap for one second if someone calls me mulato, brown, mixed, halfy, or whatever.  It's stupid to lose sleep over something so...PETTY.  And it's petty.  Very petty to call someone a racist or prejudiced for calling someone based on a physical characteristic.

Anyway, this is the last I'm going to say on this issue.  Disagree if you will...hell, call me a racist if you will.  Frankly, I know what I am, and that's a Canadian whose sick and tired of all this PC crap being jammed down my throat.

Rico out.

(edit- removal of American militarism)

I don't think Boisclair is a racist.  The comment isn't racist.  It's ignorant.

Boisclair is running for office to head Canada's 2nd biggest province.  His party has a long way to go to convince visible minorities that they can properly represent them. Minorities as a whole for that matter (ask the english in that province) Remember Jacques Parizeau's comments after the last referendum?  
So yeah, maybe a big deal should be made about this.

 

[GAP]

Ever since he has been elected leader of the PQ, Boisclair  seems intent of making the party irrelevant. To date, I would venture he has put them back at least a decade in support, and then he comes out with this...

 

[Shamrock]

Critically read Heart of Darkness 1, then try to spot the instances of racism.  Apocalypse Now doesn't count.

Then read Chinua Achebe's Conrad the Bloody Racist 2.

1 Heart of Darkness is in the public domain.
2 Conrad the Bloody Racist isn't & I can't vouch for this being a lawful reproduction.

 

[Bobby Rico]

Just for clarification, my rant wasn't directed at anyone in this thread, but at the article itself. 

And to Crantor, yes I definitely agree it was an ignorant comment, something that someone in his position really shouldn't have made.  But nothing beyond ignorant though.  Certainly not something to crucify a man for.

 

[observor 69]

Gee haven't you guys heard, the only safe target a comedian can ridicule is a white male.
And if he's married all the better.