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FM
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50 years later: How racism allegations against a Montreal professor turned into the greatest student riot in Canadian history

11:50 / 28.01.2019 National Post, Source -- https://theworldnews.net/ca-ne...-in-canadian-history

On Jan. 28, 1969, The Georgian, the student newspaper at Sir George Williams University in Montreal, published a special edition in conjunction with the Black Students’ Association. In it they blasted the school’s administration for failing to adequately respond to charges of racism a number of black Caribbean students had made against a biology professor, Perry Anderson. Among the allegations: that Anderson graded them unfairly and addressed them using honorifics, such as “mister,” whereas he would address white students by their first names. Anderson voluntarily stepped aside from teaching while the university set up a committee to investigate the complaints. But the students opposed the makeup of the panel and said the process amounted to a “kangaroo hearing.” “Should this travesty of justice continue,” an editorial warned, “the university could very well find itself the centre of an international storm.”

The next day, hundreds of students occupied a ninth-floor computer lab, the protest expanding to a seventh-floor faculty lounge as it continued through the subsequent days. A solution looked possible on Feb 10 when both sides reached a tentative agreement to restart the investigation, but the deal quickly fell apart and violence broke out. Protesters erected barricades in the stairwells and shut down the elevators. They trashed computers and tossed debris out the windows. Then a fire erupted inside the building. On Feb. 11 riot police moved in, arresting nearly 100 people. The incident, which caused almost $2 million in damage, came to be regarded as the largest student riot in Canadian history.

To mark the 50th anniversary, the National Post’s Douglas Quan spoke with Rodney John, 77, of Toronto, one of the six students who signed the original letter accusing Anderson of racism. The interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. 

https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/screen-shot-2019-01-26-at-4.15.01-pm.png?w=640

The front page of The Georgian student newspaper from Jan. 7, 1969.

What were the complaints against Prof. Anderson?

In the academic year, 1967-68, there were about 13 of us West Indians in a class of about 30 students. And we all had our individual issues with Anderson.

Our class went up north to collect specimens for biology class. Three of us got into an accident; the car was totalled. When I came to, I suffered from total amnesia. The midterm exam was the same month. I told Anderson and he would not make any allowances for me to write an exam late. So I could not write the exam.

What made it even more farcical was the experience of Terrence (Ballantyne, another student). He had a white lab partner. Terrence handed in his lab. His lab gets 7 out of 10. His lab partner borrows Terrence’s lab and copies it word for word. The guy gets the lab back and guess what? He gets a higher mark and doesn’t get any marks deducted for being late. Just imagine you have 13 students each with their own stories. This was a pattern.

What did you do?

A meeting was set up in the spring of 1968 at which we all met with the dean of students, the chairman of the biology department and the dean of science. It lasted over two hours. We were told they would investigate the matter.

When we got back to school in September, we were told the committee had determined our accusations were baseless and Anderson had been cleared. When we asked to see a copy of the report, nobody had a copy. Eventually it was stated the report had been sent to the principal. So we went to his office. He didn’t have a copy of the report either. What was told to us was it got lost in the internal mail.

What we were asking for was the right to have those issues be heard in a fair and unbiased manner.

How did you spend that fall of 1968?

From September, I did not attend any classes for the entire year. My time was taken up with the issue. What we wanted was an opportunity to tell our collective story before an audience.

I spent my days at the university talking. I would on occasion find myself on the cafeteria floor talking to a group of students. You come back three hours later, I’m still there.

In late 1968, the principal of the school agreed to form a new committee to hear the complaints. What happened?

The committee had two black professors, two white professors and one East Indian. The two black professors felt pressure at some level so they resigned from the committee.

On the one hand, as professors they were members of the university establishment. At the same time, being black, I suppose it was seen that the students would have more trust in their objectivity. They were in a difficult position. Within the student representation, there were radical members in the group. One or two of the students confronted the professors about how reliable they were going to be as arbiters. It caused the two professors to decide to withdraw.

After that you couldn’t come to a consensus on who should form the panel?

We could not come to an agreement. They were also not prepared to have a meeting that was open to the public.

What we were asking for was the right to have those issues be heard in a fair and unbiased manner. What we were doing was challenging the conventional order of how the world operated. And people never ever relinquish power voluntarily.

https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/0220_city_black_riot.jpg?w=640&quality=60&strip=allAftermath of the Sir George Williams University riot on Feb. 12, 1969. Montreal Gazette file

What was the reaction from the rest of campus?

We’re talking about an era of social change and development of a social consciousness. Many students were prepared to join the cause on that basis. At the height of the occupation you had anywhere from three to five hundred bodies involved. A great majority at that time were white students. But you also had black students who identified with the struggle. Racism was rampant in the community and the university was not insulated from that racism. And so you had a tremendous rippling effect.

What was the atmosphere like during the sit-in?

By this time, the incident had taken on a life of its own. There were six students who had signed the complaint. We were lost in a movement that involved hundreds of people. Try to imagine the flavour of Woodstock.

Ultimately, what happened was reflective of how social movements evolve. You have people who joined for their own particular reasons. It’s not always a hundred-per-cent equivalent but at least a common cause.

What led to the violence?

A meeting was held between the lawyer for the university, the lawyer who represented us and the six of us who were still around. It was at the hotel down the street. We signed it around one in the morning. At that time, it was assumed we were on the way to establishing a hearing committee.

I went back to the university to inform people that an agreement-in-principle had been signed. People decided to celebrate. By the next morning, a lot of people who had been around the occupation took off. I cautioned people we have to wait until the matter is signed by the principal. I knew it was not over. As the day went on, we learned the agreement was being blocked by various factions within the university.

When it was evident the agreement was not going to be signed, it had a dampening effect on people’s moods. The decision was then made to escalate the sit-in. The next morning, Feb. 11, I get a call back from Doug (Mossop, another original complainant). They had started putting up chairs to block off the top floors when the p

https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/mocz10.jpg?w=640&quality=60&strip=allRodney John says he looks back at the incident with neither pride nor anger. J.P. Moczulski for the National Post

So you weren’t in the building when the violence broke out?

I was at home. I got to the university around four o’clock. I was not allowed in. While I was waiting, I was escorted by two police — they drove me down to Pointe-Saint-Charles (another neighbourhood in Montreal), let me out, told me if they found me back at the university, I would be arrested. It took me two-and-a-half hours to walk back to the university. By that time, all hell had broken loose. Somewhere along the line, the fire started.

Did you fear for your safety?

I understood very clearly what it must’ve felt like to be a black in the southern United States and facing a lynch mob. That experience has been seared indelibly in my consciousness. There was a small group of us black students who were outside the building. You were surrounded by hundreds of whites. Between that group and the group of us was a line of police. And as we stood there, in that proximity, you had people shouting, “Let the n—–s burn!” Mississippi migrated to Montreal.

You’ve made some provocative statements about how you think the fire started.

The violence was perpetuated — I have no hesitation saying this — by the police and the administration. Are students going to start a fire when they’re locked in?

But there’s no proof of that.

It’s never been clarified. But you know, the original reasons for this whole event have not been clarified either. Who the hell wants to hear the truth when lies will suffice?

https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/mocz8.jpg?w=640&quality=60&strip=allRodney John eventually went on to get a PhD in psychology. J.P. Moczulski for the National Post

Do you look back on this episode with pride or anger?

None of the above. Time has a way of putting things in context. What I see is a sense of the absurd — that we had to fight so hard against the notion a professor was racist when the society was openly racist. You have a society where racism is part of the DNA of the community. All we wanted was for him to be not allowed to be so openly and blatantly destructive to our students’ careers.

One question I often get asked is: Have things changed over 50 years? If you look around, there’s still a lot of denial. You can’t go to the web on a weekly basis and not see the constant issues of racism and discrimination. In this time of Trump, racists have become emboldened. You have this paradoxical backward and forward movement. I realize that the fight against oppression never ends; it is a fight that has to be reviewed every generation.

Five of the six complainants went on to get postgraduate degrees. Rodney John obtained a PhD in psychology. Perry Anderson was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing and reinstated. In an interview for the 2015 National Film Board documentary Ninth Floor, Duff Anderson suggested his father was guilty of “cultural bias,” though not personal bias. Anderson’s family did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.

• Email: 9Cdquan@postmedia.com%22">dquan@postmedia.com | Twitter:

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[[Quote]]

Several of the protestors had privileged backgrounds, coming from wealthy West Indian families; among those arrested and convicted were Roosevelt Douglas, who later became Prime Minister of Dominica, and who was a son of one of the richest men in Dominica. Also arrested was Anne Cools, now a Canadian Senator. Deeply involved also was student Cheddi "Joey" Jagan, Jr., son of Guyana's prime minister.

[[Unquote]]

Sir George Williams affair

Source --- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...orge_Williams_affair

The Sir George Williams Riot (also referred to as "The Sir George Williams Computer Incident")[1] was a 1969 event at Sir George Williams University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, now a part of Concordia University. It was the largest student occupation in Canadian history, and resulted in $2 million of property damage.[2]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Sir_george_william_1970.jpg/1006px-Sir_george_william_1970.jpgThe Henry F. Hall building in 1970

LocationMontreal
DateJanuary 29, 1969 (EST)
TargetThe Henry F. Hall Building

The Sir George Williams riot has been labelled as a riot when in fact it originated as a peaceful protest until the police arrived to remove protesters occupying the computer center in the Henry F. Hall building. The roots of the conflict go back to 1968 when six West Indian students accused biology professor Perry Anderson of discrimination because of unfair grading.[3] These accusations were laid against Anderson in May 1968. There was no meeting held to discuss the incident and to find a solution. Eight months later, students took matters into their own hands by organizing meetings, sit-ins and peaceful protests.[4] There were also additional events happening at the university and in the city of Montreal that contributed to the festering crisis and its destructive conclusion.[5]

In October 1968, a few months before the riot, Montreal hosted two conferences on the position of black people in society. The first conference was hosted at Sir George Williams and organized by black alumni and some professors and other members of the university. It was intended to engage Black organizations across Canada represented by Black leaders from Halifax to Vancouver. According to "Expression", a quarterly publication of the Negro Citizenship Association Inc (Conference Issue Winter 1968), the purpose of the conference was to examine the "problems in the Canadian society with reference to Black people." The second, "The Black Writers Conference," was hosted at McGill University. This conference was focused on "the ideology of Black Power and Black Nationalism". The two conferences held weeks apart and at the two different venues reflected formal agreements to disagree on priorities and span of action: domestic versus international. Both of these conferences contributed to the tensions at Sir George Williams University.[6]

Other elements that contributed to the riots were a series of miscommunications between the students and the university administration, and the nature of the university itself, which was an institution that encouraged non-traditional educational philosophy, openness and accessible higher education to a wider range of students from different backgrounds and different social standings.

Overview

In Montreal, the estimated population of black people was 7,000 in 1961 which increased to 50,000 in 1968. McGill University was the first choice of University for many students but since they had a strict admission policy and had a quota for Jewish students, they could not be easily accepted. Sir George Williams University had a more lenient admissions policy and accepted students from various backgrounds. Classes were offered during the day and night, which was convenient for students. Sir George Williams University was very popular among foreigners.[7]

Beginning on January 29, 1969, over 400 students occupied the university's computer lab. The occupation was sparked by the university's handling of racism allegations against professor Perry Anderson at the school. Fed up with what they considered to be intransigence on the part of the administration, black and white students left a meeting and occupied the university computer lab on the ninth floor of the Henry F. Hall Building.[citation needed]

Most of the occupation was quite peaceful: the police were not involved, and negotiations continued. Some claim that the computer lab was not damaged, except for several million computer punched cards that were sent fluttering to the street below; but a Canadian Broadcast Corporation documentary shows smashed computer tape drives and extensive fire damage. The damage was listed in millions of dollars. It is unknown who caused the fire. The police accused the occupiers of the damages, while the occupiers accused the police of setting the fire as an easy way to get all the students out of the room without physically entering it. Other students also claim that they saw police locking doors and exits that were normally open and police confiscated fire axes from students the day before the fire was set.[8]

A negotiated settlement was reached on February 10 however the riot police were called in to remove the protesters illegally occupying the computer center on February 11 after approximately 100 protestors refused to leave. These protestors and their ring leaders barricaded themselves in the computer lab and started to break windows and threw phones, computer tapes, punched cards and other objects from the 9th floor of the Hall building into the streets creating a hazard for pedestrians. A fire broke out in the computer lab, forcing these protestors out of the building; 97 of them were arrested. Once in custody, they were divided by race. The computer lab was destroyed, resulting in over $2 million in damage. The charges against most of the rioters were eventually dismissed however the ring leaders of the riot were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two years to four months.[citation needed]

Several of the protestors had privileged backgrounds, coming from wealthy West Indian families; among those arrested and convicted were Roosevelt Douglas, who later became Prime Minister of Dominica, and who was a son of one of the richest men in Dominica. Also arrested was Anne Cools, now a Canadian Senator. Deeply involved also was student Cheddi "Joey" Jagan, Jr., son of Guyana's prime minister.

Aftermath

The riot was covered extensively by the Canadian media: all of the television networks filmed the event live from outside the university. The occupation became a key event illustrating the widespread disaffection and rebelliousness among the nation's youth during the 1960s.

Assistant professor Perry Anderson was suspended for the duration of the crisis. He was reinstated on February 12, 1969, and on June 30, The Hearing Committee appointed to the case found that "there was nothing in the evidence (before them) to substantiate a general charge of racism". He was found not guilty of racism towards the six complainants.[9]

The Computer Centre riot forced a number of changes on the Sir George Williams University: Student representation on university decision-making bodies was established and university procedures and policies were revamped and modernized. In April 1971 Sir George Williams adopted University Regulations on Rights and Responsibilities and the Ombuds office was established.

The Sir George Williams riot also raises the question of racism in Canada. When the fire broke out during the destruction of the computer lab and many protesters were still in the building, white passerby yelled ″Let The ******s Burn″. This incident sparked interest and raised questions internationally.[10]

Film

In February 2014, director Mina Shum and producer Selwyn Jacob began shooting in Montreal on a National Film Board of Canada feature documentary entitled Ninth Floor, about the Sir George Williams Affair. Filming coincided with the 45th anniversary of the incident.[11][12] The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, on September 12.[13] The film focuses on individuals who were connected to the incident, and how it shaped their lives. The film shows the events at the time, and follows up on the lives of those involved decades later.

References

 

 

  • Forsythe, Dennis (1971). Let The ******s Burn. Black Rose Books. p. 3.
  • Mills, Sean (2010). The Empire Within: Postcolonial Thought and Political Activitsm in 1960s Montreal. McGill-Queen's University Press.
  • Forsythe, Dennis (1971). Let The ******s Burn. Black Rose Books. p. 7.
  • Forsythe, Dennis (1971). Let The ******s Burn. Black Rose Books. pp. 78–81.
  • Pruden, Keith (2004). The Georgian Spirit in Crisis: The Causes of the Computer Centre Riot. Concordia University Department of History. pp. 3–4.
  • Forsythe, Dennis (1971). Let The ******s Burn: The Sir George Williams Affair and It's [sic] Caribbean Aftermath. Black Rose Books. pp. 58–61. ISBN 0-919618-17-0.
  • David Austen, "All Roads Led to Montreal: Black Power, the Caribbean, and the Black Radical Tradition in Canada", The Journal of African American History, Vol.92, 2007, p.517 JSTOR 20064231
  • series: Turning Points in History; episode: "Sir George Williams Computer Riot"
  • http://archives.concordia.ca/computer-riot
  • David Austen,All Roads Led to Montreal: Black Power, the Caribbean, and the Black Radical Tradition in Canada,The Journal of African American History, Vol.92,2007,521
  • "Documentary to explore 1969 Montreal student protest". Halifax Chronicle-Herald. The Canadian Press. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  • Brownstein, Bill. "The view from The Ninth Floor". Montreal Gazette. 20 February 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.

"Ninth Floor documentary looks back at Montreal's 'Computer Riot'". CBC News. 2015-09-18. Retrieved 2015-10-20. What came to be known as the Computer Riot — a violent protest and sit-in against racism at a Montreal university — is the subject of a new National Film Board documentary that premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is called Ninth Floor.

 

FM
Last edited by Former Member

This is Canadian racism for you.  A man or woman will smile with you, take your money for services rendered or talk about the importance of equality/diversity with you but when he or she has to act in important situations like marking a colored person's paper fairly in a course required to get into medical school, promoting a colored person over a white person, giving a colored person a job over a white person or allowing his white daughter to date and marry a Brown or deep brown South Asian then the racism of these Canadians come out. The next Prime Minister election in Canada. Prashad will be voting race.  He will be voting for the Silk because the Sikh's election to head the NDP has brought out the hidden racism of many white NDP members against people of color leading them.

Prashad
Last edited by Prashad

What the articles did not say is this.  The course that the Professor taught was a prerequisite for getting into medical school.  If you get a low mark in that course then you can kiss your chances goodbye of getting into medical school.  The Professor may have realized his importance in the lives of these students of color who were trying to get into medical school. So he may have acted to deprive them of the opportunity to get into medical school.

Prashad

Having dual citizenship -- example Canadian and Australian; Canadian and German; U. S American and Canadian; U.S American and Mexican, etc., -- one indeed can live and vote in each country.

While there are benefits to have dual citizenship, there are also numerous conditions which the person must MUST adhere to and abide with the laws of both countries.

For example; one with U.S citizenship and that of another country MUST pay income tax to BOTH countries. Another is when a person is serving in the armed services at a certain level in another country; that person will immediately loose his U.S American citizenship; etc..

FM

I wonder if Joey Jagan has read the National Post article. I recall the student protests at Sir George Williams University made front page news in Guyana because Joey was involved.

FM

People in Guyana just do not understand or want to understand what happened during the incident.  Many of them think that Joey was some crazy man who broke up university computers and set fire to them in Canada.

Prashad
Last edited by Prashad

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