CSA-SCS Statements

 La SCS condamne l’attentat terroriste anti-musulman de London, en Ontario

Black Caucus Statement

The Canadian Sociological Association strongly condemns the recent terrorist attack against a Muslim family in London, Ontario, which left four dead and one severely injured. We mourn alongside the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and we stand in solidarity with the Canadian Muslim community. This terrorist attack once more showed that Canada is not immune to the threat of home-grown terrorism and the presence of hate-motivated violence against minorities.

We urge all Canadians to condemn such acts openly, and to engage in conversations about the causes of such acts and possible actions to prevent them from happening in the future. We also urge everyone to reach out to, and offer support for, their Muslim friends, co-workers, neighbours, and classmates.

To engage in such conversations is more than an expression of sympathy towards the victims of a horrific terrorist attack in one Canadian city; it is also the expression of concern about the extreme danger of spreading hatred and using violence against other citizens. This is a great danger that will not remain limited to the Muslim community, but will rather endanger the whole fabric of Canadian society. As various Statistics Canada’s reports show – e.g., Statistics Canada (2020; 2021) – this danger is not a remote possibility, but it is already present in Canada, as manifested in the increase in hate-motivated crimes against various minorities and in the high level of anxiety and unsafeness expressed by members of such communities.

As sociologists, we can use our scholarship to demonstrate the magnitude and seriousness of the continued presence of hate crimes, racism, discrimination, and hate-motivated domestic terrorism, and their terrible consequences for the solidarity and peaceful coexistence of Canadians. Towards that goal, in the near future, the Canadian Sociological Association will organize several webinars and workshops as a forum to discuss these serious matters more broadly.

Speaking against the terrorist attack in London, Ontario, is not merely an act in defence of the victim family and the Muslim community; it is also an effort to draw the image of the kind of future that we envision for Canada.

The CSA Executive Committee

Black Caucus Statement on the London Terror Attack

This past Sunday, a White Canadian man used his car to run down a family of five in London, Ontario. Four of the family members were killed by his violence, and the sole survivor, a nine-year old boy orphaned in the incident, remains in the hospital with his injuries. Police have charged the killer with first-degree murder and attempted murder. They have also stated that this violence appears to have been a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate, and the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith and cultural identity. They were targeted because they were racialized as "Muslims."

Members of the Black Caucus of the Canadian Sociological Association know -- through our lived experiences and scholarly work -- that hatred and discrimination are common in our society. Violent crimes like this are both a tragedy and a terrible reminder that Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism are real, deadly and persist in our nation. That a family should be forced to bear such a devastating cost for the systematic and structural ills of a settler colony that has yet to reckon with its foundational truths is a horror we cannot imagine. If the nature of the underlying problem is ignored, and the violence is written off as "not who we are," then another violence is done.

This past year, the Black Caucus has repeatedly denounced the escalating hate that is targeting racialized communities. For a significant proportion of our members and our larger communities, Black and Muslim are intersecting identities. Black Muslim Caucus members are understood variously as thugs on our streets and terrorists in our houses of worship. We cannot stand idly by as our brothers and sisters are murdered because of the function we are made to serve in the White Canadian imagination.

As we collectively mourn the victims of this heinous crime, we must reaffirm our shared commitment to a praxis of anti-Islamophobia in our activism, scholarship, organization, and lives. This commitment entails actively confronting and denouncing all forms of hatred, violence, discrimination, and white supremacy. As members of the Black Caucus, we stand committed to these principles and in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.   We also support the upcoming federal Emergency National Action Summit on Islamophobia (The Toronto Star, June 14, 2021)

The CSA Black Caucus

La Société canadienne de sociologie condamne l’attentat terroriste anti-musulman de London, en Ontario

La Société canadienne de sociologie condamne fermement la récente attaque terroriste contre une famille musulmane à London, en Ontario, qui a fait quatre morts et un blessé grave. Nous partageons le deuil des familles et des proches de ceux qui ont perdu la vie, et nous sommes solidaires avec la communauté musulmane canadienne. Cette attaque terroriste a montré une fois de plus que le Canada n’est pas à l’abri de la menace du terrorisme d’origine intérieure et de la violence motivée par la haine à l’égard des minorités.

Nous demandons vivement à tous les Canadiens de condamner ouvertement de tels actes, et d’engager des conversations sur les causes de ces actes et les actions possibles pour éviter qu’ils ne se reproduisent à l’avenir. Nous demandons également à chacun de tendre la main à ses amis, collègues, voisins et camarades de classe musulmans et de leur offrir du soutien.

S’engager dans de telles conversations, c’est plus que de témoigner d’une sympathie envers les victimes d’une horrible attaque terroriste dans une ville canadienne; c’est aussi de faire part de son inquiétude face au danger extrême de répandre la haine et d’utiliser la violence contre d’autres citoyens. Il s’agit d’un grand danger qui ne se limitera pas à la communauté musulmane, mais qui mettra plutôt en péril l’ensemble du tissu social canadien. Comme le montrent divers rapports de Statistique Canada, par exemple, Statistique Canada (2020; 2021), ce danger ne constitue pas une possibilité lointaine – il est déjà présent au Canada, comme en témoigne l’augmentation des crimes motivés par la haine contre diverses minorités et le niveau élevé d’anxiété et d’insécurité exprimé par les membres de ces communautés.

Comme sociologues, nous pouvons utiliser nos connaissances pour démontrer l’ampleur et la gravité de la présence continue des crimes haineux, du racisme, de la discrimination et du terrorisme intérieur motivé par la haine, ainsi que leurs terribles conséquences sur la solidarité et la coexistence pacifique des Canadiens. C’est pourquoi la Société canadienne de sociologie organisera prochainement plusieurs webinaires et ateliers afin de discuter plus largement de ces questions sérieuses.

S’exprimer contre l’attaque terroriste de London, en Ontario, n’est pas seulement un acte à la défense de la famille de la victime et de la communauté musulmane, c’est aussi un effort pour peindre le portait de l’avenir que nous envisageons pour le Canada.

Le comité exécutif de la SCS