A Grievance Culture You Can Take To The Bank

With the Summer Olympics hoving into view, it’s time to ask whether the IOC is missing a big opportunity by not including Grievance as a new medal sport. Just imagine the competitors for the gold this year.

In Toronto, the Grievance competition is thriving as put-upon groups pile upon one another in a bid for the rapt attention of media and government. In a sublime example of the Rule of Unintended Consequences, the LGBT crowd is furious at the Toronto branch of Black Lives Matter. The promoters of the annual Gay Pride Parade had extended a grievance branch to BLM in recognition of how it had convinced Ontarians that problems in the black community were the fault of white people.

“Naturally, the LGBT crowd— who think they’re the most oppressed group in Toronto— were miffed. The nerve of BLM, trying to bully people in a good cause. Those would be the same LGBT folk who shame-walk Christian bakers and publishers who don’t believe in gay marriage through the media. ”

In any event, BLM was so moved by the invitation to be honoured guests that they immediately demanded that the float for the Toronto police be tossed from the parade. Cops being devils in the view of BLM, a group boasting dozens of absolutely furious members. When LGBT hesitated, a BLM apparatchik named Alexandria Williams said Pride had “a historical and current culture of anti-blackness… deeply embedded in the festival.” Suddenly, it was one sob sister to another in the war against The Man.

Naturally, the LGBT crowd— who think they’re the most oppressed group in Toronto— were miffed. The nerve of BLM, trying to bully people in a good cause. Those would be the same LGBT folk who shame-walk Christian bakers and publishers who don’t believe in gay marriage through the media. 

So now we have the spectacle of hurt parties fighting in the media to see just who is the most tortured group in the urban hell of Toronto. Lest you think the unseemly spectacle of BLM flipping the bird to the LGBT crowd will get them in trouble, fear not. The loving embrace of government is non-judgmental: the city is planning to honour BLM for its efforts at making g Toronto a more tolerant place. (You couldn’t make this stuff up.)

Meanwhile, down south in the slave ship known as Hollywood, a black actor named Jesse Williams took the bold step of using the BET Awards to call out racism. Which is as brave as calling out meat eaters at a vegan picnic. Accepting some hardware for his role in Grey’s Anatomy, Williams decried the torture of making high six figures a year pretending to be a black doctor.

“If you have critique for the resistance, of our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression,” said Williams. “If you have no interest in equal rights for black people, then do not make suggestions for those who do. Sit down.” If you know what this means you apparently have the BET decoder ring.

When groups protested that Williams was practicing reverse racism, Dr. I Play One On TV accused them of trying to make money off him. The show’s producer/ creator, too, was down with Williams on how racist it is to receive a lucrative BET swag bag for a few moments of gibberish. Shonda Woods tweeted, “In woods. Far from wifi. Get signal! What'd I miss? "Just because we're magic doesn't mean we're not real." @iJesseWilliams' speech. YES.”

Wonder how all the white liberals who voted for Barack Obama to bring racial harmony feel about all this. Wait. They love it. Having a TV meat puppet (whose mother is white) lecture them on his suffering shows just how far they have to go to be perfect peeps like POTUS. 

When looking at favorites for the Grievance Gold, don’t forget the veterans of the sport. No one has been at the fatuous grievance grab longer than Quebec’s nationalists. Cosseted by the federal state, Quebec nationalists keep the kettle just short of boiling by predicting extinction of their culture. Since the 1960s they’ve been playing on their victimization by English oppressers. Okay, not one Quebecker has ever been hanged, shot or gassed by the hated Anglos in 50 years (while FLQ terrorists did murder Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte). But is sure felt like nos citoyens were dying by the dozen.

Their latest cri de coeur involves the re-naming of a park in Montreal from Vimy to Parc Jacques Parizeau. Vimy, of course refers to the WW I battle where 3598 Canadians were killed in 1917 taking a German position that had been unassailable before then. It’s a sacred symbol of Canada coming of age. If you think that kind of thing is important, I mean.

Even though there were French Canadians who gave their lives that day, Vimy is part of the English imperialist construct of Canada. So out go dead soldiers. Welcome the lugubrious ex-premier of Quebec who famously called out les autres for the failure of his party’s referendum on sovereignty. The only thing ever killed around Parizeau was a mean plate of Coquille St. Jacques. 

But no matter. Quebec’s nationalists are to provocation what Michael Phelps is to swimming. Artists at work who know when to push the buttons in Ottawa then pull back quickly to protect their protected status as Canada’s most oppressed group. Mayor Denis Coderre and city council used a loophole in naming laws to change the Vimy name— with promise to name another park Parc de Vimy at some point in the future. Slick.

Finally, in a late move, Hillary Clinton has shot to the front of the grievance pack. Having been shown to have exposed state secrets on an illegal server, denied it all and then been exonerated by the FBI, the Democratic nominee for president is now portraying herself as a victim of a vindictive investigation from Republicans. 

A worthy challenger. Now if only the IOC could get this event in before August. Hey, Bill Clinton must know somebody he can talk to on his private plane…

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy

Bruce's career is unmatched in Canada for its diversity and breadth of experience with successful stints in television, radio and print. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, he is also the best-selling author of seven books. He was a featured columnist for the Calgary Herald (1998-2009) and the Globe & Mail (2009-2013).