Toronto – One week after launching a province-wide Task Force to study racism on Ontario campuses, the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario received a racially-motivated death threat in the mail. Inside an anonymous envelope delivered last week were two newspaper clippings, one a photo of Task Force panelist Hildah Otieno, an international student from Kenya and the other a racist editorial cartoon that met with controversy when it was originally printed in the New York Post and that depicts two police officers shooting a monkey. On the pictures were hand-written epithets such as “REFUGEE DOG”, “KKK” and “DIE N____ DIE.” A police report was filed and an investigation is underway.
“Receiving a hateful letter wishing death upon me and members of my community was a very upsetting experience,” said Hildah Otieno, Ontario National Executive Representative of the Canadian Federation of Students. “There is no way that threats and insults are going to intimidate students out of confronting racism. We won’t back down.”
“This is a deplorable act and speaks volumes about the importance of the work that we are doing to challenge racism,” said Krisna Saravanamuttu, Vice-President Equity of the York Federation of Students and the Ontario Students of Colour Commissioner of the Canadian Federation of Students. “When we launched the Task Force some media outlets reacted with surprise, asking if racism still existed. This hate mail is stark evidence that, yes, it does.”
The Task Force on Campus Racism was launched by the Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario on February 18 and will include hearings on campuses across the province during the month of March, including one at the University of Toronto later today. The purpose of the Task Force is to collect verbal and written statements about experiences with racism on college and university campuses with the goal of releasing a report containing strategies to combat racism within the post-secondary education sector.
“Unfortunately, on campuses across the country many racialised students, faculty and staff have their own stories about experiencing racism, prejudice and discrimination,” said Sandy Hudson, President of the University of Toronto Students’ Union and National Students of Colour Representative of the Canadian Federation of Students. “We need to work together to challenge racism and send a message that this kind of bigotry has no place on any campus or in any community.”
The Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario unites more than 300,000 college and university students at 35 students' unions across the province.