Pro-gun doctors’ group disbands amid accusations of racism

On June 8, the Halifax Examinerreported论医生在加拿大枪支控制争论中的作用。在那篇文章中引用，是斯科鲁克的家庭和紧急医生迈克尔阿克曼博士，斯科克克斯科斯科斯·斯科特国家副总裁（CARADIAN射击体育协会（CSSA），以及枪支安全和责任的医生联合创始人（DFSR）。

Ackermann在6月3日的电话采访中告诉审查员，2019年的DFSR，“基本上是回应”和柜台Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns, which works for increased gun control in Canada.

6月1日，DFSR网站展示了该集团有九名成员，尽管Ackermann表示，它有44名成员“报名，”，其网站上市的人只是“大多数声乐”成员。

By June 4, the DFSRwebsite已被带走。所以有它Facebook page和推特account— @docs4firearmssr.

今天，Halifax审查员了解到，枪支安全和责任的医生不再是。

In response to questions about the disappearance of the DFSR online presence and accusations about a meme it had posted, Ackermann told the Examiner that Doctors for Firearm Safety & Responsibility has “disbanded under accusations of racism” that he said are “totally unfounded.”

“Its members feared the effect of a media witch hunt on their professional careers and chose to close down,” Ackermann wrote in an email.

The racist meme

It all began with this racist meme that the Doctors for Firearm Safety & Responsibility posted on May 17.

The meme was noticed by Doctors for Protection from Guns and others who tweeted about it.

Alerted to the meme by Doctors for Protection from Guns, on June 3, Semir Bulle, a medical student and co-president of the Black Medical Students’ Association at the University of Toronto, tweeted out the meme and a thread from Doctors for Firearms Safety & Responsibility, asking: “Are these really my future colleagues?”

His tweet also included the list of DFSR member doctors from the (now disappeared) DSFR website, which prompted others on the thread to tag Queen’s and Western University, where physicians on the list had affiliations.

西部大学的舒勒科学学院几乎立即回答：

This content is racist and offensive and goes against the values of our organization. Schulich Medicine & Dentistry does not tolerate racism in any form and we are investigating this matter.

On June 4, Queen’s University Faculty of Health Sciences also replied:

健康科学学院，其中@queensugme.是一部分，不会以任何形式遏制种族主义，我们非常认真对待这一点。我们目前正在调查这个问题。

与此同时，DFSR - @ Docs4FirearMSR - 发出了一系列推文，否认它对MEME负责：

1 \我们注意到我们的Facebook页面已受到损害。我们调查的同时，我们在临时删除了它。我们同样令人沮丧的是，而不是通知我们的进攻职位，我们的许多同事传播指责和谴责。

\2 Offensive material like this has never been a part of our communication strategy as demonstrated by our Twitter feed. Our counterparts at @Docs4GunControl seem to have led this reaction which is disappointing and strangely opportunistic.

3 \我们没有发布这些攻击性消息，他们不代表我们的小组的价值观。

但是，第二天，DFSR的网站和Twitter帐户以及其Facebook页面完全消失，没有解释。

Then a couple of DFSR members spoke up, contradicting the DFSR-tweeted denials that it had posted the “offensive messages.”

6月4日，在Erstwhile DFSR网站上出现在枪支安全和责任的九名医生九名成员名单之一的医生之一，肯尼德·雷德博士谴责Twitter谴责团队和他自己的关系。

Reid, an associate professor and the division chair of thoracic surgery in the Department of Surgery at Queen’s University in Ontario, acknowledged that it was a “hateful post,” but stopped short of apologizing for the meme, saying only that he was “sorry that so many people were hurt” by it:

I acknowledge that racism is prevalent in Canada and a recent posting from a Facebook page of the group Doctors for Firearm Safety and Responsibility exemplified that. I am ashamed that I was formerly associated with a group who had a member who felt that /2

张贴一些本性是适当的。这是生长的种族主义，对许多人显然有害。虽然它被淘汰了，但显然不会抹去MEME中所示的团体的伤害，并且不会让那种可怕的行为消失。/ 3.

I am truly sorry that so many people were hurt by this hateful post. As a white male, I will never be able to fully understand all of the challenges that racism brings to those affected by any prejudice and I admit I have a lot to learn in that regard. /4

这是一个叫醒我的叫醒人员变得更受教育。

此外，在反映我整体推特活动的反映中，很明显，我的“喜欢”某些推文的活动是粗心和不粗心的。/ 5.

Finally, to my medical colleagues, residents, and students, I regret that the Queen’s name became associated with this whole issue by virtue of my involvement with that group.

Dr. Michael Ackermann defends the post

The Examiner sent an email to Dr. Ackermann asking for his views on the meme, and whether DFSR, which he co-founded, intends to issue an apology.

He replied with the news that DFSR had disbanded and that he is “not in a position to comment or opine on the group’s view of the meme nor what if any action was taken other than the group disbanding.”

阿克曼继续说：

I am willing to offer a personal opinion about the chilling of discourse and weaponisation of the accusation of racism.

I will first clarify a few things about the meme itself. I have attached the graphic for clarity.

The graphic depicts three men and one woman. The three men are in threatening poses, two brandishing weapons and one with gang tattoos. The facial expressions are all those of predatory violence. The woman is obviously a sport shooter, engaged in her chosen discipline. The gangsters are definable by their behaviour. The sport shooter as well. The text asks why Trudeau conflates the sport shooter with the gangsters.

That is ALL.

I find it totally reprehensible that this has been morphed into a race issue by certain people opposed to the DFSR group and the lawful ownership of firearms by Canada’s safest people, and I will be damned if I put up with undeserved smearing by those who would silence us by false accusations of racism.

Of the three gangsters, one is White, one Asian and one Black. Or perhaps I should change the order for fear of appearing racist? Maybe the Black man should be mentioned first? But then THAT would be construed as racist, so maybe the Asian man? But then…that would be construed as racist.

谷歌“内城帮犁”，看看你得到了什么照片。谷歌奥林匹克空气步枪射手，看看你得到了什么。现实是它的。

Ackermann结束：

I am beyond disappointed that our group so readily folded in the face of a challenge like this. By doing so we are abdicating, and allowing the opposition to have their way unopposed by Truth. Of course, speaking Truth to power has always been a dangerous thing, as ethical journalists and political activists have known for as long as there have been journalists and politics. So regardless of my disappointment, I do understand their reasons and I support my colleagues in their decisions.

Here are a couple of links to Aesop’s Fables for further clarity:The Wolf and the LambThe Man, the Boy and the Donkey

无论如何，这就是我要说的一切。

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