A Quebec Woman's Post Exposing Racist Social Media Comments After "Religious Symbol Ban" Has Gone Viral
Content warning: this article features an image that exposes comments that include expressions of racism, misogyny, and threats of violence.
A few weeks ago, the provincial CAQ government passed into law a measure, labelled Bill 21, that prohibits public sector employees in influential positions from displaying religious symbols. Much media attention has been paid to how this will affect Muslim women, especially those that serve as public school teachers. The law will also affect Jewish and Sikh populations, for whom religious garments can be important components of faith.
Though the provincial government claims that a commitment to secularism, and not Islamophobia, has motivated the new law, expressions of racism have been unfortunately common in public discourse.
This week, a viral post from a Quebec women has exposed the vitriol that has accompanied the passage of Bill 21.
TL;DR A viral post exposing racist comments below a video of an interview featuring a Quebec teacher shows that expressions of hatred are still unfortunately common.
According to Narcity Québec, Marika D'Auteuil compiled the most disgusting comments "that were left behind in a video of an interview on the Denis Lévesque show with a teacher wearing the veil explaining her situation."
Some of the comments express violent inclinations.
These comments may be upsetting to some readers.
"I'm not racist but..." D'Auteuil writes, ironically quoting the refrain too often used by racist people to justify racist comments. "Maybe it's not such a good idea to refuse competent teachers, eh?" she continues.
The vile comments she captures do not deserve to be reproduced in text here. Read them above at your own discretion.
D'Auteuils post has already garnered almost 1,000 reactions and 1,800 shares on Facebook. Over 1,400 comments continue the conversation below the post. Most of them share in D'Auteuils condemnation of the racism expressed below the video.
Narcity Québec points out that "comments and hate crimes can be reported to the authorities. The SPVM, for example, has several resources to do this."
[rebelmouse-image 26893520 photo_credit="SPVM" expand=1 original_size="789x343"] SPVM
You can consult them here.
Protests have been almost daily sinces Bill 21 passed in the National Assembly.
Stay tuned for more news.
