TORONTO, December 11, 2003 – The following York University experts can comment on 1) racial profiling in light of the Ontario Human Rights Commission report on racial stereotyping and 2) on Canada’s softwood lumber deal with the United States.
1) Racial Profiling
Carol Tator, a course director in the Department of Anthropology, has worked on the frontlines of the anti-racism and equity movement for over twenty-five years. She joined the Urban Alliance on Race Relations in the late seventies, serving as president and acting executive director for several years. She has written (with Frances Henry) The Colour of Democracy: Racism in Canadian Society (2000) and Discourses of Domination: Racial Bias in the English Language Press (2002).
Frances Henry is one of Canada's leading experts in the study of racism and anti-racism. She published the first study of attitudes towards people of colour and has consistently pioneered research in this field. She has written (with Carol Tator) The Colour of Democracy: Racism in Canadian Society (2000) and Discourses of Domination: Racial Bias in the English Language Press (2002).
Livy Visano, an associate professor and coordinator of the Sociology programme at York's Atkinson Faculty of Professional and Liberal Studies, specializes in law, culture, and inequality, with a focus on critical criminology. His current projects include an exploration of the intersections of racial profiling and the essence of law and the impact of the media on delinquency comparing school and street youths.
Andrea Davis is an assistant professor in the Division of Humanities and teaches courses in Cultures of the Americas. She can comment on responses to violence in the Black community and police profiling.
Joseph Mensah, a social science professor, can discuss research he has done that shows black people are subjected to racism in the workplace.
2) Canada – U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement
Daniel Drache, associate director of York's Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, says that Canada got a raw deal in the recent Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement, despite Canada having won a victory at the WTO on the wrongful imposition of duties. “The agreement allows Washington to keep approximately half of its duties on Canadian softwood Imports and allows the U.S. to impose quotas that go against the spirit and letter of the WTO,” says Drache. “The new prime minister should scuttle the agreement and stay the course with the WTO. The E.U. followed this strategy on the U.S. illegal imposition of tariffs on steel imports and was forced by the E.U. and other countries to back down and remove the tariffs.
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To arrange an interview or for additional experts, please contact:
Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, x22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/150/03
