“What? Nobody got shot?”: Representations of Caribana violence
In order to combat the violence that is allegedly associated with the Caribana festival, there have been many suggestions put in place to try and solve the “problem”; however, the proposal and announcement of closed circuit television/surveillance cameras was the one seen to work by both politicians and law enforcement officials. With the hopes to enhance public safety and security this initiative was brought forward by organizers as well. We can see how newspaper articles use authoritative sources like the police force or the chief of police to back up their biased claims. As stated in one article entitled, “For the first time, Toronto Police will turn own cameras on Caribana: If tape does not capture crime it will be erased.” The following quote can be found in the text of the article:
Toronto police will be keeping an electronic eye on revellers this weekend’s Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana) celebrations with a new fleet of closed Circuited cameras they plan to specifically set up for the festival. (Patrick A9).
The above quote from the National Post article shows how violence and Caribana are linked even though the article goes on to state that the violence in question happened on Yonge street, long after the festival was over. The wording used in this article only wants to perpetuate the negative biases associated with the festival.
Conclusion
In light of the evidence it seems clear that the media is intent on painting Caribana as a threatening, violent festival. The question is why? Why does the press misrepresent the largest money-making festival in Toronto? Annemarie Gallaugher in her essay “Constructing Caribbean Culture in Toronto: The Representations of Caribana” suggests that just as barricades now line the streets of Caribana, so the oppositional coverage of the event in the press purposely creates barriers to understanding for white dominant culture. She continues, “Thus the preferred meanings and definitions of Caribana … contribute to the reproduction of social and racial inequalities which the dominant culture is still … trying to deny.” (405) In other words, Caribana, as the product of a group that is marginalized on purpose, can not be allowed full acceptance, because to accept and understand it would mean accepting and understanding the black migrants who created it. And it seems that the dominant white culture, multicultural rhetoric aside, has no real interest in pulling the black community out of the margins that they have drawn for them.
August 2nd, 2009 at 8:29 am
Pride has never has a homocide where millions of people gather each – just like Caribana – but unlike Pride looking at pure stats, statistically Caribana party-goers are more prone to be violent.
August 4th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
@ Seth. You missed the point. (or proved the point) Completely. We are talking about representations of violence.
The gay pride parade is used as a counter point to highlight how violence is portrayed in the media. It is pointless to compare the two as festivals because they are different kinds of events.
The point is not which festival attracts a more violent crowd, the point is how ‘the story’ of Caribana can not be told without some mention of violence, whether or not any violence even took place.
The question is why does the media work to portray Caribana as inherently violent even when nothing happens?