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August 22, 2003
Meaningless apologies
Editorial
Former First Nations leader David Ahenakew has repeated comments
of the sort he was figuratively pilloried for late last year and
for which he issued an apology. In a May interview with a reporter
for the national arts and politics publication This Magazine,
Ahenakew was circumspect only in his choice not to name the race
he claims controls the world's media.
"When a group of people, a race of people can control the world
media, then there's got to be something done about that," Ahenakew
was quoted as saying. He didn't need to name the race.
Since the comments were first publicized, Ahenakew has not come
forward to deny he made such comments, so we assume the report is
accurate. Which raises several questions: Should a public apology
be offered (or accepted) if it doesn't represent a demonstrated
change of heart? And, should we expect an individual whose offensive
views have presumably evolved over a lifetime, motivated by who-knows-what
influences, to change those attitudes just because he got caught?
Is Ahenakew solely to blame for this apparent back-sliding?
Yes, Ahenakew must take responsibility and be held to account for
his appalling views. But the incident reflects a flaw in the way
we as a society deal with such cases.
Last winter, when Ahenakew first came to our attention over his
pro-Holocaust remarks, the former Saskatchewan native leader apologized
and many Canadians put the matter behind them.
There is simply no easy solution when ideas like Ahenakew's emerge
from their darkness. It reflects a failure of him as an individual
to develop the fair-minded values expected in a civil society. But
it also represents a failure of society to inculcate our values
in Ahenakew and others like him. In accepting his apology last winter,
we let him and ourselves off the hook.
No more apologies from Ahenakew. They mean nothing. Let us instead
use his words to motivate us to fight against bigotry wherever we
find it. That, at least, might mean something.
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