In Ontario, Canada [not to be confused with Ontario CA. Ed.], child protection services are provided independent, non-profit organizations called Children's Aid Societies. They are regulated and (in theory) supervised by the provincial government under the Child and Family Services Act.
Across Ontario, there are 47 Children's Aid Societies. Nine of them are race-based, to assist the First Nations (= aboriginal people, or Indians as we called them in the un-PC days). Three are "faith-based" (= for children of specific religions), two Catholic and one Jewish.
According to the Ontario government's website, the functions of the CAS are to:
* investigate reports or evidence of abuse or neglect of children under the age of 16 or in the society's care or supervision and, where necessary, take steps to protect the children
* care for and supervise children who come under their care or supervision
* counsel and support families for the protection of children or to prevent circumstances requiring the protection of children
* place children for adoption
The left-leaning Toronto (Red) Star, which always has space for articles about how the white Christian community mistreats minorities, has an article today on a new group of black activists in Brampton (a suburb of Toronto in which white people are a minority) which is calling for the formation of an "African-Canadian" (= segregated) children’s aid society.
The Star decided to take a look at the racial mix of families and children being assisted by the CAS. Predictably, they found that "poverty and issues of neglect were driving factors" for all children who come into care. That's especially so, they say, with black families, with "racial bias and cultural misunderstanding on the part society workers and those doing the referring — schools and police being two of the largest — [being] part of equation.
Yas, yas, it's all the fault of the cops and the teachers, systemic racism, yada yada yada. Heard that before. What's interesting, though, about the Star's article is a "by the numbers" section, which Walt has copied below, with no further comment.
42% The proportion of children in the care of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto in 2013 who were black or have one parent who is black.
8% The proportion of people under 18 in Toronto who are black.
47% The proportion of black children in the care of the Toronto society with parents born in Caribbean countries.
20% The proportion of black children in the care of the Toronto society with parents born in Africa.
45% The proportion of black children who spent more than 12 months in the care of the Toronto society in the 2008 fiscal year.
20% The proportion of white children who spent more than 12 months in the Toronto society’s care.
Showing posts with label Caribbean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caribbean. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Caribbean black underclass in Britain
What follows was not written by a member of the British National Party or other "white supremacist" group. The author is Terry Tan, a Singaporean Chinese who has lived and worked in Britain for many years. In 1992 he wrote Culture Shock: Britain, part of the Culture Shock series.
Mr. Tan's book takes a fair, balanced and usually accurate look at life in contemporary Britain. He presents a thoughtful consideration of the racial conflicts found in Britain then, which are still evident now. Included is an assessment of the problems of the black community, which comprises, for the most part, people of Caribbean origin. The comments would apply equally to the black Caribbean ghettos of Toronto and New York. Parenthetical additions are mine.
One in three Caribbean families in Britain has a single parent. As incomplete nuclear families, misdemeanours occur frequently among the restless young who have little parental guidance. At a gathering of hundreds of thousands [e.g. London's Notting Hill Carnival or Toronto's Caribana] where beer flows and the spirit is high, restless youth can boil over easily.
When the family breaks down, troubles snowball and drugs take vicious hold of many black communities. Council [public or social] housing estates with a preponderance of single [i.e. single parent] families are particularly susceptible.
Most addicts are young, black and are not particular who they steal from and mug. The daily "fix" is their raison d'être and no one is spared. Family, friends, neighbours, white or black.
Black community leaders remain tight-lipped about the problem and any drug raids are seen as harassment by white policement....
Unfortunately, unlike in the Caribbean where extended families embrace single parents without reprobation, it is not the same case in Britain. A youngster growing up in a disruptive environment is likely to view society with scepticism and some anger.
In his book Behind the Front Lines -- Journey into Afro Britain, Ferdinand Dennis...concluded one thing. Black leaders must demand that their communities take greater responsibility for their own development. Only then will the crisis of all black famililes in Britain be recognized. Only then will cries of white harassment and other imagined putdowns be seen in their true light of racism-fanning.
Senator Daniel Moynihan said something similar about the Afro-American family way back in 1965. Almost half a century has passed, and the situation of blacks in the USA, Britain and Canada remains largely unchanged.
Mr. Tan's book takes a fair, balanced and usually accurate look at life in contemporary Britain. He presents a thoughtful consideration of the racial conflicts found in Britain then, which are still evident now. Included is an assessment of the problems of the black community, which comprises, for the most part, people of Caribbean origin. The comments would apply equally to the black Caribbean ghettos of Toronto and New York. Parenthetical additions are mine.
One in three Caribbean families in Britain has a single parent. As incomplete nuclear families, misdemeanours occur frequently among the restless young who have little parental guidance. At a gathering of hundreds of thousands [e.g. London's Notting Hill Carnival or Toronto's Caribana] where beer flows and the spirit is high, restless youth can boil over easily.
When the family breaks down, troubles snowball and drugs take vicious hold of many black communities. Council [public or social] housing estates with a preponderance of single [i.e. single parent] families are particularly susceptible.
Most addicts are young, black and are not particular who they steal from and mug. The daily "fix" is their raison d'être and no one is spared. Family, friends, neighbours, white or black.
Black community leaders remain tight-lipped about the problem and any drug raids are seen as harassment by white policement....
Unfortunately, unlike in the Caribbean where extended families embrace single parents without reprobation, it is not the same case in Britain. A youngster growing up in a disruptive environment is likely to view society with scepticism and some anger.
In his book Behind the Front Lines -- Journey into Afro Britain, Ferdinand Dennis...concluded one thing. Black leaders must demand that their communities take greater responsibility for their own development. Only then will the crisis of all black famililes in Britain be recognized. Only then will cries of white harassment and other imagined putdowns be seen in their true light of racism-fanning.
Senator Daniel Moynihan said something similar about the Afro-American family way back in 1965. Almost half a century has passed, and the situation of blacks in the USA, Britain and Canada remains largely unchanged.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Haiti: what is to be done?
A reader e-mails (walt.whiteman@yahoo.com) to suggest that rather than waxing pessimistic about Haiti (see yesterday's post), Walt should offer some kind of solution. Let's look at that idea in the light of history and sociology.
Haiti has been independent, in name at least, since 1804, when it threw off the yoke of French colonialism. The population of Haiti, predominantly slaves imported from Africa, defeated French troops, ending a long fight for independence and emancipation. Haiti became only the second independent republic in the western hemisphere, the first being the USA.
The slave rebellion resulted in the death of 100,000 blacks and 24,000 of 40,000 white colonists. Significantly, the revolution unleashed a massive multiracial exodus. French and Créole colonists fled along with the slaves they still held, as did numerous free coloured people, some of whom were also slaveholders who took their slaves with them.
That left Haiti an essentially African country which just happens to be on the wrong side of the Atlantic. In its 200-plus years of existence, Haiti has been led -- or misled -- by a very African succession of "big men": kings, presidents, even an emperor or two.
Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, a Latin American country. In the article I referred to yesterday, The Economist points out that one difference between the two countries is that Haiai has seen just two democratic handovers of power, compared with a dozen (being generous in use of the term) next door.
Which is to say that one of Haiti's fundamental problems is a dire dearth of political leadership. It is not so absurd as it might seem, then, to suggest that hiphop "artist" Wyclef Jean could be suitable to be Haiti's next president. He couldn't do much worse than his predecessors.
It's also worth noting that not all of the French colonies in the Caribbean thought they were capable of running their own show. Guadelupe and Martinique remain French possessions to this day, although they are now legally regarded not as colonies but as "overseas departments" of metropolitan France. Unlike Haiti, the two islands are peaceful and relatively prosperous.
So too is the independent Dominican Republic. It's not exactly rolling in pesos, but it's patently better off than the republic on the western part of Hispaniola. Visitors who've seen both at the same time say it's like two different worlds on one small island.
To sum up, I don't believe the Haitians were or are or ever will be capable of governing themselves in an honest and competent manner, hence my pessimism. All the foreign aid and expressions of goodwill in the world aren't going to bring them to the status quo ante, let alone the average standard of living of other Caribbean nations.
So what is to be done? In a word, nothing. We first-world taxpayers have given Haiti billions of dollars in aid and support, the larger part of which has been unused or wasted. See yesterday's post for some discouraging statistics. Giving more isn't going to help.
Walt says, leave them alone. Let them pull themselves up by their own bootstraps...or not. Either they will survive, like Ghana, or become a failed state, like Somalia. The Haitians' future is in their hands, not ours.
Haiti has been independent, in name at least, since 1804, when it threw off the yoke of French colonialism. The population of Haiti, predominantly slaves imported from Africa, defeated French troops, ending a long fight for independence and emancipation. Haiti became only the second independent republic in the western hemisphere, the first being the USA.
The slave rebellion resulted in the death of 100,000 blacks and 24,000 of 40,000 white colonists. Significantly, the revolution unleashed a massive multiracial exodus. French and Créole colonists fled along with the slaves they still held, as did numerous free coloured people, some of whom were also slaveholders who took their slaves with them.
That left Haiti an essentially African country which just happens to be on the wrong side of the Atlantic. In its 200-plus years of existence, Haiti has been led -- or misled -- by a very African succession of "big men": kings, presidents, even an emperor or two.
Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, a Latin American country. In the article I referred to yesterday, The Economist points out that one difference between the two countries is that Haiai has seen just two democratic handovers of power, compared with a dozen (being generous in use of the term) next door.
Which is to say that one of Haiti's fundamental problems is a dire dearth of political leadership. It is not so absurd as it might seem, then, to suggest that hiphop "artist" Wyclef Jean could be suitable to be Haiti's next president. He couldn't do much worse than his predecessors.
It's also worth noting that not all of the French colonies in the Caribbean thought they were capable of running their own show. Guadelupe and Martinique remain French possessions to this day, although they are now legally regarded not as colonies but as "overseas departments" of metropolitan France. Unlike Haiti, the two islands are peaceful and relatively prosperous.
So too is the independent Dominican Republic. It's not exactly rolling in pesos, but it's patently better off than the republic on the western part of Hispaniola. Visitors who've seen both at the same time say it's like two different worlds on one small island.
To sum up, I don't believe the Haitians were or are or ever will be capable of governing themselves in an honest and competent manner, hence my pessimism. All the foreign aid and expressions of goodwill in the world aren't going to bring them to the status quo ante, let alone the average standard of living of other Caribbean nations.
So what is to be done? In a word, nothing. We first-world taxpayers have given Haiti billions of dollars in aid and support, the larger part of which has been unused or wasted. See yesterday's post for some discouraging statistics. Giving more isn't going to help.
Walt says, leave them alone. Let them pull themselves up by their own bootstraps...or not. Either they will survive, like Ghana, or become a failed state, like Somalia. The Haitians' future is in their hands, not ours.
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