Blood: everything is about it.
In northern B.C. last month, a 22-year-old member of the Heiltsuk First Nation was denied entry to a First Nations basketball tournament: Although he was adopted as a baby, he didn't meet the league’s blood quantum requirements.
Recently, in downtown Toronto, a young man was kicked and beaten in front of his Yonge St. apartment, spilling blood on the ground, for “looking gay.”
And all over the country, newcomers from specific countries in Africa and men who have sex with men are still barred from donating blood to the Canadian Blood Services.
For this issue of the Ethnic Aisle we wanted to look at blood, in its entirety. It's a bodily fluid that some cook with and others organize their family traditions around. Blood is inheritance, science and violence.
What do you see in blood—and in the questions we’ve raised about it? As always, we’d like to hear from you: find us on Facebook, email us at ethnicaisle at gmail dot com or send us a tweet @ethnicaisle.
An interview with professor OmiSoore Dryden.