Erasing Race in the Canadian Media: The Case of Suaad Hagi Mohamud

This article proposes a critical race theoretical approach to news discourse to counter the erasure of race in Canadian public discourse, using media coverage of the Suaad Hagi Mohamud affair as a case study. Between May and August 2009, Mohamud, a Canadian of Somali origin, was stranded in Nairobi, Kenya, because Canadian authorities voided her passport on the erroneous grounds that she was an impostor and consequently procured her prosecution by Kenyan authorities. While Mohamud’s case received extensive media coverage in Canada, much of the coverage failed to interrogate the possibility that her experience was racially motivated, despite facts that should have raised such concerns. Consequently, this article adopts a critical race perspective in discussing mainstream media coverage of the case and suggests alternative media discourses that engage with the race question in relevant cases.