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Rye remembers Holocaust with racism forum

By Karen Snider 

As part of Holocaust Education Week, Ryerson is hosting a panel discussion to educate students on the perils of hatred and racism.

Topics such as race and racism in the lives of young people of mixed race and newspapers’ portrayal of diversity will be discussed at Ryerson’s Community Forum, which is being held next Tuesday in Jorgenson Hall.

Sociology professor Jean Golden will be presenting a seminar on biracial people, how they identify themselves and the issues they face.  This topic is important to Golden because her 8-year-old daughter is biracial.  Golden says she began researching the topic three years ago out of her own interest and concern for her daughter.

“The emergence of the middle group [biracials] is forcing people to look at what race means,” said Golden.  “It’s time to get off of racist identification.”

She hopes she can help people understand what race is.  She believes education is key to preventing racism and other forms of hatred.

Though the forum is part of Holocaust Education Week activities, organizers decided to expand the theme of anti-Semitism to include racism and homophobia.

“It is a mistake to see the Holocaust as just a Jewish issue,” says forum organizer and psychology professor Tammy Landau.  “There are other groups who are targets of hate and we can all learn from these experiences.”

A presentation on Canada’s refugee policies will be given by York University professor Irving Arabella.

Holocaust Education Week runs Oct. 29 to Nov. 9.  The forum will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 3 in Jorgenson Hall, room A250.

Discussions will be led by Arabella, Golden, early childhood education professor Gloria Roberts-Fiati, social work professor George Bielmeier, and politics professors Anver Saloojee and Janet Lum and journalism professor John Miller.

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