Raymond Sheppard writes about the role of racism in the Lionel Desmond case. “In the African Nova Scotian community, after facing anti-Black racism and hate trauma, individuals and the community try to move on and we have been taught to rise above it. However, the effects of this kind of trauma run deep and do not just go away.”
Letter: Many media reports over the years have indicated that there are a number of homeless individuals, some living in shelters across Canada, who once served in the Canadian Armed Forces and are now in need of housing, mental health services, jobs, retraining and other supports.
In his quest to understand the Lionel Desmond case Raymond Sheppard finds out about the PTDS-like side effects of a malaria drug prescribed for Canadian soldiers who went to Afghanistan.
With Remembrance Day approaching, Raymond Sheppard wants us to reflect on the case of Lionel Desmond and all the soldiers who struggle with PTSD and racism without meaningful support from the Canadian Forces.
In 2017, Lionel Desmond, a young African Nova Scotian,shot and killed his mother, his wife, and their 10-year-old daughter. During his service in the Canadian Armed Forces Desmond, who after two stints in Afghanistan suffered from PTSD, faced consistent anti-Black racism. This racism has been a contributing factor to his PTSD, writes Raymond Sheppard.
The Canadian Navy in Halifax is a little too comfortable a place for racists, Islamophobes and xenophobes. First the Proud Boys, now that tattoo guy. You have to wonder what’s going on.
That Navy guy with an Islamophobic tattoo must remove it, but he will not receive any punishment because he had no ill-intent, a Canadian Armed Forces spokesperson tells us. That no co-workers or superiors ever formally questioned a tattoo that Muslim colleagues and others would consider hurtful is concerning.
The man photographed at a local Tim Hortons sporting a sizable Islamophobic tattoo is indeed a member of the Canadian Navy, a Navy spokesperson confirmed late this afternoon..
A member of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) observed at a local Tim Horton’s sporting a large Islamophobic tattoo on his forearm has been identified and is now being investigated by the RCN chain of command.
Stating the obvious here. Probation is not much of a punishment, and how come there was no sense whatsoever among the Halifax Proud Boys that they had to hide their shameful racist opinions?