Canadian City Opens Up Vaccine Appointments - But Not If You're White
Last month, the mayor of Oakland, California, announced a privately funded initiative to give low-income families of color a monthly payment to help deal with the stress of poverty. Several weeks ago, two Harvard Medical School professors outlined a plan for Brigham and Women’s Hospital to offer “preferential care based on race.”
These aren’t isolated events. They are simply the latest examples of a trend that’s taking root across the country — offering priority for medical care and other forms of public assistance to people of color to combat the systemic racism the left claims is so entrenched in American culture.
It hasn’t taken long for this trend to show up across the border in the Canadian port city of Hamilton, Ontario.
Over the weekend, Hamilton public health officials announced that “COVID-19 vaccine appointments are now available for Black and other racialized populations/people of colour.”
COVID-19 vaccine appointments are now available for Black and other racialized populations/people of colour ages 18+ who live in postal codes L9C, L8W, L8L, L8N and L9K at the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at FIRSTONTARIO CENTRE, Friday to Sunday this coming week.
— City of Hamilton (@cityofhamilton) April 24, 2021
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday that Hamilton Public Health had “released its plan to prioritize people of colour in its COVID-19 vaccine rollout.” The report said the move came after “pressure from the group advising public health to prioritize racialized, disabled and low-income residents.”
According to the CBC, “city data showed nearly half of all COVID-19 cases in Hamilton self-identify as a member of a racialized community, but people of colour make up less than a quarter of the city’s total population.”
Needless to say, the idea of prioritizing medical care based on a patient’s race wasn’t well received by many social media users, who took to Twitter to express their dismay.
One commenter pointed out the obvious, “Imagine this same tweet but with ‘white’ instead of ‘black’ and the outrage it would cause.”
“How is this not pure racism!!!,” asked another.
Another commenter correctly noted: “This is the very definition of systemic racism.”
“What about proof of racialization?” another respondent asked. “Wouldn’t want any black-passing whites slipping through the cracks ya know… I propose a test.”
Yet another had more questions:
“How do we tell who is “racialized enough” to be eligible?” the commenter asked. “Perhaps a bureau of racial purity? Racial passports? Maybe just stitch symbols onto people’s sleeves to make identifying them easier. Wonder if this has ever been tried before. Surely it can’t go wrong.”
Canada is its own country, of course, but racism is racism, no matter what side of the border it takes place on.
The Ontario city’s move sounds all too similar to the race-based anti-poverty program in Oakland that was announced in March and the “preferential care” system at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, reported by The Federalist earlier this month.
Aside from the legal questions they raise — at least in jurisdictions under the United States Constitution — it has to be said that these practices show the racial double standard has now reached the point of insanity.
Equality is one thing, but granting superiority to people of color or any group of people will not end well.
If conservatives don’t stand up to this pure nonsense in the U.S., it won’t be long before the Founders’ grand experiment with democracy is over.
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