Solidarity Across Borders Rejects Racist Bill 21, Issues Call to Action!
Solidarity Across Borders stands in solidarity with the communities affected by the racist Bill 21 tabled last week by the CAQ government. We emphatically reject the dishonest rhetoric of state “secularism”: banning the wearing of religious symbols is a clear targeting of an already precarious and marginalized Muslim community (especially Muslim women), and is an expression of sexist, Islamophobic, anti-Sikh, and anti-Semitic hatred.
In a Euro-Christian settler-dominated society, secularism has become the default language of white supremacy. We have a long and dark history in Quebec of discrimination against Indigenous peoples, migrant, Black, and other racialized communities. Only the ideological justifications have shifted – where once these groups were oppressed on behalf of the “right” religion, today it is in the name of the secular state.
It’s particularly outrageous that the same politicians who lamented the January 2017 massacre at the Quebec City mosque, and almost immediately following the massacre at Christchurch, are now implementing legislation that endangers the lives of Muslims, migrants, and other targeted groups across the province, pandering to far-right and neo-Nazi groups and encouraging anti-Muslim racism, in particular. The actions of the CAQ are clearly connected to the broader rise of anti-immigrant, white supremacist populism we see across North America and Europe.
As a network of migrants and allies, Solidarity Across Borders is opposed to all forms of oppression, including ableism, ageism, homophobia, racism, sexism and transphobia. We oppose all forms of racism, including anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Semitism. We are an anti-colonial, anti-patriarchal and anti-capitalist organization.We call for open borders, for an end to deportation, detention, and double punishment, and for a Solidarity City here in Montreal.
We encourage everyone to take action wherever and however they can, as we are at a crucial turning point in this struggle. Join a human chain in front of your local school, wear the blue triangle or otherwise express your solidarity with your neighbours, come out to one of the several rallies being organized in the next days, make business as usual for this racist government impossible!
Here is a list of actions coming up:
1) Protest against the CAQ’s discriminatory anti-hijab law
Sunday, April 7 2019
12:30-1:30PM, leaving from Émilie-Gamelin Square (1500 Berri St, metro Berri-UQAM)
Organized by the Canadian Collective Against Islamophobia
For more info (mainly in French): https://www.facebook.com/events/1233267863517796/
JOIN SAB’ CONTINGENT THIS SUNDAY!
Come march with us! Bring your posters, march behind our banner to denounce the racist and xenophobic discourse that justifies Bill 21 and deportations alike. We will meet at the corner of Berri/ de Maisonneuve this Sunday at 12:15 (in front of the National Library) so we can regroup before joining the march. Please join us.
2) Mass Rally for an Inclusive Quebec
Sunday, April 14 2019
2-5PM, leaving from Émilie-Gamelin Square (1500 Berri St, metro Berri-UQAM)
For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/409968652895776/
No to Bill 21! Immigrants and Muslims in, Legault and the racists out!