Pubdate: Thu, 02 Sep 2004 Source: Mirror (CN QU) Copyright: 2004 Communications Gratte-Ciel Ltee Contact: http://www.montrealmirror.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/267 Author: Kristian Gravenor Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Emily+Murphy NEW $50 SLAMMED AS RACIST Canada's $50 bill will soon be replaced by images that have been attacked as racist and elitist, depicting portraits of the Famous 5 (Judge Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby and the Montreal-born Henrietta Muir Edwards). Starting next month, the women's rights activists from Alberta will appear on the bill alongside Quebecoise activist Therese Casgrain. While the five won major gains in the legal status of women in Canada, they were also hostile to Asian immigrants and supported the sterilization of the less-bright among us. Calgary Sun columnist Michael Platt describes them as "white supremacists," pointing out that "Judge Murphy, in her 1922 book on drug abuse, The Black Candle, claimed narcotics are a conspiracy by blacks and Asians to bring about the degeneration of the white race." But Frances Wright, whose Famous 5 Foundation lobbied for the bill, thinks differently. "The good things the Famous 5 did greatly outweigh any mistakes that they might've made," she says, explaining that The Black Candle was written after Wright consulted 500 "police chiefs, judges and politicians in the British Empire about the growth of drugs in the world. We believe they are the pre-eminent democratic champions of Canada, because they're largely responsible for Canadian women's right to vote and run for office." Says Fo Niemi of local anti-racist Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, "We can celebrate what these women did but we still have to acknowledge their racist past, which is a reflection of their times." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake