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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Shiftless Canadians

posted by on January 29 at 12:29 PM

I’m not even sure what to say about this

It was a routine e-mail from the boss sent to congratulate a junior prosecutor in Houston, Tex., who had won manslaughter convictions against an intoxicated driver.

“He convicted Mr. Sosa of a double intoxication manslaughter, got a weak jury to give him 12 years in each, and then convinced Judge Wallace to stack the sentences,” Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent wrote in an office-wide memo. Then came the odd part: “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.”

The e-mail was sent in 2003 but came to light only this month as part of an unrelated controversy with his office, forcing Mr. Trent to defend himself against accusations of bigotry—not because he offended the people of Canada, but because “Canadian” has apparently become a code word for blacks among American racists.


RSS icon Comments

1

This is what you get when your nation is ruled by frat boys.

Posted by Fnarf | January 29, 2008 12:40 PM
2

Nobody ever questioned why there were multiple Canadians on a jury in Texas?

Nevermind, anyone who saw it probably knew exactly what it meant.

Posted by Mike of Renton | January 29, 2008 12:46 PM
3

my parents call lesbians canadians, but they learned that from their lesbian friends.

Posted by um | January 29, 2008 12:47 PM
4

A guy on Def Comedy Jam this weekend said "Monday" was the new slang white people use for the n-word, "because no one likes Mondays". He was an ethnic, but not black, comedian and it took the crowd a while to figure out if it was funny or not.

Posted by skweetis | January 29, 2008 12:49 PM
5

So I'm a black lesbian? Cool.

Posted by Ken | January 29, 2008 12:50 PM
6

Yeah, I first heard that one when I was a server in the south - people complaining about too many Canadians in their section. I was naive and baffled, and looking for maple leaves.

Posted by StotheL | January 29, 2008 12:58 PM
7

Nifty, so that's why I support Obama, because I'm black?

Neat!

Funny story, my next-door neighbor and I both made Sergeant at the same time in the Canadian Army - he actually is black and Canadian, and we have the same accent, so maybe there's something to it.

Maybe that's why my sister Sue was so good at basketball ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 29, 2008 12:58 PM
8

I have Canadian friends, and it's an undisputable fact that some Canadians are, in fact, black.

Posted by Olo | January 29, 2008 1:00 PM
9

Well, my secret code word for Canadians is "Jungle Bunnies," so I guess it all evens out.

Posted by HJB | January 29, 2008 1:10 PM
10

oh, so that makes the Academy Award nominated South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut song, Blame Canada, an ode to racism!

Posted by michael strangeways | January 29, 2008 1:10 PM
11

Suddenly, several of my grandpa's rants make a lot more sense to me.

Posted by hillside_hoyden | January 29, 2008 1:11 PM
12

This is funny in that something that has been around for years has finally hit mainstream. I've heard The Blacks referred to as Canadians for at least 10 years.

I love the comment about Mondays. Race humor is always funny.

Posted by Mike in MO | January 29, 2008 1:11 PM
13

My inlaws use this coword all the time.

Posted by cbc | January 29, 2008 1:15 PM
14

ONTARIO!!!

Posted by um | January 29, 2008 1:23 PM
15

would that disqualify obama? in the minds of those people, i'm guessing yes. and that's just loonie.

Posted by infrequent | January 29, 2008 1:23 PM
16

@9 - but that's because Canadians like sex and aren't afraid of cuddling.

Seriously, Yanks are so frigid in contrast ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 29, 2008 1:26 PM
17

Wow... I've never heard of that. How do you think that code word came about? Do racists also hate Canadians?

Posted by Julie | January 29, 2008 1:27 PM
18

Unfortunately, the prosecutor failed to publish his memo in English AND French, as required by longstanding tradition. Quelle catastrophe!

Posted by OklaHomo | January 29, 2008 1:28 PM
19

And Fnarf @1. I would say that our nation is ruled by one frat boy in particular. The Frat-Boy-in-Chief, if you will.

Posted by Julie | January 29, 2008 1:30 PM
20

We can call racists "Wednesdays" because they're so slow.

Posted by chocotaco | January 29, 2008 1:32 PM
21

Ugh... I was fine with being a nationalist bigot, but the thought of people misinterpreting it as racism makes me sick.

Posted by UNPAID BLOGGER | January 29, 2008 1:34 PM
22

I was wondering why there were no Canadians at the last Thunderbirds game I went to, even though they were playing Moosejaw...

Posted by now I get it | January 29, 2008 1:37 PM
23

So now if you say "54 - 40 or fight" are you threatening black people?

Posted by mikeblanco | January 29, 2008 1:44 PM
24

Damnit they caught us...

Posted by Can't we have our secret words without you finding out? | January 29, 2008 1:45 PM
25

Julie @19: precisely.

Posted by Fnarf | January 29, 2008 1:52 PM
26

When a friend of mine in the army used to visit during leave, he would joke about how among Airborne Rangers at Fort Benning, "Canadian" was a common code for black. It was apparently a way of making vile comments without having explicitly said an offensive word. So, I'm not at all surprised by this article.

Posted by Jon | January 29, 2008 1:53 PM
27

so does that mean that the "n" word is now a derogatory term for people who live north of the border?

Is this a Freaky Friday example of bigotry?

Posted by michael strangeways | January 29, 2008 2:14 PM
28

@23 - actually, yes, you are, because my next-door neighbor from Trail is still in the Canadian Army, and he's black, so 54-40 or fight is threatening black people.

Power to the People!

0
+

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 29, 2008 2:23 PM
29

Does this mean our favorite actress is black? Or is she Canadian?

Oh man, we are so confused now ...

Posted by Fans of Freaky Friday | January 29, 2008 2:26 PM
30

Is Obama Canadian enough? If he'll have a Molson's and watch Hockey Night in Canada with me, he should totally be the candidate.

I can't vote though because I'm Canadian. And by 'Canadian', I mean Canadian. There's probably no point voting if you're 'Canadian' since neither party seems to care, but if you're Canadian then you can't vote at all.

Posted by left coast | January 29, 2008 2:42 PM
31

this reminds me of that standard joke that i used to hear in highschool on the east side of the state:

what do you never want to call a black person that begins with an "n" and ends with an "r"?

Neighbor.

this land is fucked for sure.


Posted by lineout fan | January 29, 2008 2:43 PM
32

@ 4... he was "an ethnic"...???

So what, white people don't have an ethnicity now?

Posted by SDizzle | January 29, 2008 2:50 PM
33

Hey, that makes me a black lesbian too. I didn't realize how many other black lesbians there were here. Does that make me a triple minority or something? Do I get a prize? Hook a sister up!

Posted by bearseatbeats | January 29, 2008 3:23 PM
34

Most Canadians would be proud to have a real drink (e.g. 6 to 7 percent alcohol) with Obama, whether it's hard cider or beer.

Or whiskey. Good Canadian Whiskey.

We black lesbians need to stand up for each other.

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 29, 2008 3:28 PM
35

A shout out to all my sisters. Who let the dogs out? Woo woo. That Mit Romney is some cracker.

Posted by left coast | January 29, 2008 4:12 PM
36

Why do I feel the almost uncontrollable urge to apologize to somebody about this?

Posted by TeamCanada | January 29, 2008 4:41 PM
37

@18: Tres drole. Rire haute voix!

Posted by RainMan | January 29, 2008 6:55 PM
38

So, does the joke about why Canadians like doing it doggie style still work?

Posted by pete | January 29, 2008 9:25 PM
39

I have heard this as a bartender. The stereotype is that Canadians don't tip and neither do blacks. So instead of saying something like, "I had this four top of blacks, so I knew I was going to get stiffed..." just change it to Canadians and everyone feels "comfortable".

Posted by PdxRitchie | January 29, 2008 11:46 PM
40

In the 70s in NYC, "canadians" meant Jewish. How times don't change!

Posted by Trailrnr | January 30, 2008 5:06 AM
41

For the record, the joka about Canadians and doggie style has nothing to do with race. Canadians like doing it doggie style so that both of them can keep watching the hockey game.

Posted by Pete | January 30, 2008 6:09 AM
42

Gosh, I feel so fortunate that I have no short term memory and I'll forget this nonsense ever existed.
.
That said, in most of the world "Murr'can" is a much stronger insult depicting all the xenophobe- imperialist-cultural-elitist frat boys and their chums - and no snarky code needed.

Posted by fred34 | January 30, 2008 6:20 AM

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