My friend James blogged the other day about the dubious quality of the list assembled for The Greatest Canadian. Especially considering the lack of women in the top 10 nominees. Surely women such as Nellie McClung and Emily Murphy belong somewhere on that top 10 list.
Then again…
This morning I read an article in The Globe and Mail that left me shaken, to say the least. Recently, these women were honoured by having their images put on the back of the new $50 bank note, and underneath their image is written a line from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and qual in dignity and rights.”
Now, you’d think a history teacher with my education would know most of the story behind Murphy, McClung, and the rest of the Famous Five. Unfortunately, I discovered things that actually shocked the hell out of me.
The author of the article goes on to reveal that these women may not have lived up to the billing that the Bank of Canada seems willing to grant them. Here are two excerpts:
Emily Murphy, writing under the pen name of Janey Canuck, and regularly appearing in Maclean’s and other publications, attacked Chinese immigrants, American blacks, Jews & other Eastern Europeans who had chosen Alberta as their home.
She wrote: “One becomes especially disquieted — almost terrified — in the face of these things for it sometimes seems as if the white race lacks both the physical and moral stamina to protect itself, and that maybe the black and yellow races may yet obtain the ascendancy.”
The article goes on to point out an even more disturbing fact about Ms. Murphy and Ms. McClung:
It was thanks to their efforts that the Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act was adopted in 1928. Mrs. Murphy and her pals toured the province making speeches promoting the benefits of sterilizing fellow Albertans who didn’t make the grade. The act stood until 1972; in that 44 year period, sterliziations of 4,725 Albertans deemed to be of lower genetic makeup were authorized.
Should I be surprised at these revelations? After all, these women are products of their historical times, and they are still notable for working to achieve rights for women in Canada, and succeeding with the Persons Case and other liberating laws. But, as author Deborah Yedlin quotes Lisa Silver, from Mount Royal College:
“Just because this line of reasoning puts it in historical context, it doesn’t justify it. If that was the case, we could rationalize slavery in the United States or the Nazi movement in Germany in the same way.”
My friend Garry pointed out a couple of points to me: yes, we DO rationalize such things. North Americans are also notorious for building up and tearing down their heroes on a regular basis — we’ve made deconstructing our icons an art form. Is there a right or wrong way to look at these revelations? Perhaps we should simply continue to debate and discuss, because ignorance is certainly no excuse, and there are many things from our past that we are justly ashamed of…
To be honest, I don’t know. But as someone who is passionate about the rights and dignity of human beings, these revelations are very disquieting to me. I’m not sure why I’m so disappointed to discover that such powerful Canadian historical icons as Nellie McClung and Emily Murphy were victims of the hateful stereotypes of the time…or even if I have a right to feel this way. Humanity is a species that struggles against its flaws on a daily basis.
But I’ll never look at them the same way again.
And now, on a happier note…the BIG REVEAL of the NEW DOCTOR WHO LOGO:
I like it. It’s simple, straightforward, elegant, and appeals across many tastes. The raging debates about the logo at Outpost Gallifrey are simply ridiculous. Would they prefer we went back to the 7th Doctor logo of the late 1980s? That was absolutely HIDEOUS!
But you can’t please everyone.
