Winnipeg Adult Education Centre

My rant is about The Winnipeg Sun and their columnist Tom Broadbeck.  I have only ever read The Winnipeg Sun, but three months ago, I swore it off and promised to only read The Free Press.

On my occasions, Tom Broadbeck wrote negatively about The Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) and other First Nations organizations.  He complained when these organizations stepped forward when a First Nation problem arose.  Tom would write that he was so sick of the SCO constantly crying racism when something happened to their people.  Little does he know that they, and other First Nations people, cry racism because they have been a victim of it themselves, or someone else near them, has.

Then, in the comment section of The Winnipeg Sun, people write into comments on other columns and they write awful things about First Nations’ people.  They complain that “Indians” should get over this “it’s our right thing”.  Stop blaming others for “their problems”.

I got so frustrated.  One time, when Tom Broadbeck put his two cents in about when the SCO stepped in complaining about the lack of police investigation in the case of a young woman gone missing, he referred to the young woman as nothing more than a “prostitute”.  True, she may have been a prostitute, but she had a name, she was a somebody, and for him to label her as simply a “prostitute” was wrong.  I was appalled and so angry with what he was saying that I wrote in to him telling how I felt about his column and why I felt the way he did.  He quickly reacted to my email and judging by his column many others have written in about the same column telling him he was wrong for writing what he did.  He squashed my voice, made me look dumb and twisted my words around.  He is constantly siding with police, squashing First Nations’ voices and ranting that First Nations peoples are wrong.

I just got the feeling by reading all his columns, comments in his “raise a little hell” blogs, that it’s all racist people who read his column and they praise what he says.  I’m so sick of his ignorant stuff, sick of the ignorant readers that comment on his blog.  I don’t regret swearing off that newspaper one bit.

It seems this man has a bias.  He’s only projecting one side of the issue, the police and his own.  He doesn’t put the First Nations’ views into account, and if he does, it’s only to say basically that our views are wrong.  The comments that people put in, don’t understand anything about what we go through.  I know it’s their right to freedom of speech, but maybe the publishers should think twice before publishing certain things.

This man, Tom Broadbeck, praises the police attempts of investigations even when you know the whole thing sounds flawed somehow. 

This is also what bothers me.  I have experienced firsthand police brutality at age 15.  Many of my family members and friends have had their taste of “police justice”.  Being called down, being beaten into making a confession, being harassed, having stupid questions asked of you are what I and many First Nations’ people have had to endue.  When it comes to living in the low income areas it’s even worse.  He doesn’t know firsthand what it’s like being in those areas and to experience things like that.  It’s easy for him to look from the inside in and judge things and make remarks and write columns, but he doesn’t know what we are dealing with.  Maybe he should stop writing about things he doesn’t know about.

When a person is murdered by police it’s a big thing and when a First Nations person is, the head Chiefs HAVE to make a big deal, because we know that the system has flaws.  That’s why the big honchos step up to the media and demands answers.  They know that the police force has problems, that there is labeling being done and all they want to do is make sure the investigation is being done fairly and thoroughly.

I just want to make this clear; I don’t think the whole police force is flawed, or that every police officer is racist and rude.  I also don’t think that every First Nations person has experienced police brutality or racist officers, but the majority of First Nations people have had some bad experience.

I am just going to end it like this: I will not read The Winnipeg Sun till that ignorant fool Tom Broadbeck is fired or quits.  His columns and blogs are rude and hurtful.  There is no doubt In my mind that he is racist and has a bias.  I’m DONE with looking at that newspaper.

by Niki Fontaine