It is essential that, as this exchange gets recounted in Anglophone media, it gets translated correctly. The woman used an extremely racist term that excludes everyone whose family does not date back to *1759 or earlier* from ever being accepted as Quebecois. #cdnpoli
Souche = stump. When Anglo media translates it, they often go with "old stock Quebecois", but the term is far more racially charged. "Québecois de souche" is about purity of bloodlines - anyone whose family doesn't date to New France. Especially not non-white Quebecois. #cdnpoli
You don't have to speak French to see where they draw their inspiration from, given how often Trump is mentioned in this article, but they go further: "In the United States, it's the white man [who is threatened]. In Québec, it is the Québecois de souche."
journaldemontreal.com/2016/11/13/pro…
journaldemontreal.com/2016/11/13/pro…
"A stump [souche], is a tree that's no longer a tree. It's a piece of the trunk with only the roots remaining. It's a piece of a trunk on which there will no longer be any leaves, any flowers, any fruits. A stump is a dead tree." #cdnpoli
lenouvelliste.ca/opinions/pour-…
lenouvelliste.ca/opinions/pour-…
I am reminded of what Pierre Elliott Trudeau said before the 1980 Referendum after Rene Levesque mocked his middle name for being too Anglophone. The logic of "Quebecois de souche" rejects anyone whose bloodline isn't pure New France going back to 1759:
collectionscanada.gc.ca/primeministers…
collectionscanada.gc.ca/primeministers…
Let me reiterate: the term "québecois de souche", as used by that woman, is so exclusionary that Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the most Quebecois of Canadian giants, does not count as québecois de souche. And neither does his son, Justin.
