Calling out the racism
Benns' Belief
Roderick Benns is the publisher of The Advocate. An award-winning author and journalist who grew up in Lindsay, he has written several books including Basic Income: How a Canadian Movement Could Change the World.
I guess I’ve never understood racism. I don’t understand the fear that leads to it, nor why we would put up obstacles to relating with another human being.
The Lindsay of the late 70s and 80s, when I grew up, was not the most accepting place to be for differences. I’m guessing it wasn’t the worst place, either. Of course, these are just the observances of a white man in reflection. I cannot know the experience from any other standpoint, other than as a young boy who listened to background intolerance, whether within his own family structure or peer group, and who learned to intervene as he found his voice. But I can’t imagine the lived reality for the people who were subject to such racism.
This is a call to action about the racism our city is seeing of late, especially online but sometimes in person. And let’s be clear about something. If you start off an online post or a conversation with “Now, I’m not racist but…” I’m pretty sure you’re about to say something racist.
The town I describe from my childhood was preternaturally white, with only a sliver of ethnic diversity. The Kawartha Lakes of today – and especially Lindsay – is growing more diverse with each passing week as people discover our proximity to the Greater Toronto Area and the incredible beauty and lifestyle they can have here.
The perpetrators back then, in my world, were small-minded boys and girls (mostly boys, though) who obviously didn’t have the push-back from their parents or peer groups to teach them this was unacceptable. These are the same people who have grown up and gotten their Masters in Message Boards, sharing their prejudice on social issues affecting our town and region.
This is what is happening too often of late, particularly directed toward our growing Indian population, whether international students, small business owners, or families recently settled here from the Greater Toronto Area.
All racism is foul, but online racism is grimier. It’s the dirty business that anonymity brings, a coward’s way of finding some perverse way to matter. With each thumbs up given they are emboldened by their bigotry and reassured by a clan of faceless hordes.
The interventions by others are welcome of course. It is heartening to see well-thought-out responses, and there are many. But there are still too many voices – a minority, no doubt – who use their free platform to share latent or well-formed hatred.
The Globe and Mail recently reported that only one in five Canadians talks to strangers. They are three times happier than those who don’t, according to researchers at Simon Fraser University.
So, if you find yourself triggered by racial differences, maybe start a conversation with a stranger, but obviously only if the moment seems appropriate and organic. (Tip: Don’t ask where they’re “really” from if they tell you somewhere in Ontario, like Toronto, Ajax, or Newmarket.)
There’s an inflection point that occurs when being exposed to something new leads to normalization. This is a journey, not a destination. But if we speak up when we see injustice, and if we eschew silence when we see discrimination, we can make this journey just a little bit better and our community that much kinder.
