Daily Chicken Scratch

Sunday, January 27, 2008

WHO YOU CALLING 'CANADIAN'!



Is "Canadian" the new black? Perhaps – that is if you're a racist speaking in code.

Recent revelations that the term "Canadian" is being used to replace racist names for black people have got a Texas assistant district attorney into trouble and have left others wondering what exactly it means to be labelled a Canadian in the American south.

Long derogated as weak-kneed liberals with lax laws and funny monopoly money, Canadians have carried a negative connotation in certain regions of America – but not as a replacement for the N-word.

Earlier this week a columnist with the Houston Chronicle uncovered an email from Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent who, in a congratulatory note to a junior prosecutor, used the word "Canadians" to describe blacks on a jury.

Trent wrote of the prosecutor in a 2003 email: "He overcame a subversively good defence by Matt Hennessey that had some Canadians on the jury feeling sorry for the defendant and forced them to do the right thing."

Trent's email remained unchallenged by colleagues who received the email, despite there being no actual Canadians on the jury.

It's nice to see that the "stars at night don't really shine too bright deep in the heart of Texas." There is nothing I can say here because the story alone proves how much of a moron this Assistant District Attorney truely is. Did he think he was being clever when he referred to these people as 'Canadians'. Did he think that nobody would question as to which jurors were Canadians in a U.S. Court of law? It is nice to see that things in Texas don't actually progress they just regress.

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