You would think that a worldwide pandemic would wake people up to the important things in life: like, we’re all in this together. But, no. Right in the middle of this crisis we’re reminded that there are those who still see others as different, as less than, as inferior and unworthy of respect. Discrimination, in all its abhorrent forms, has burst back into the open, with the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protests which have followed that murder, aside from the hijacking of some by rioters, looters and agitators looking to spark worse violence, have been peaceful, but angry, as they should be.
All over the world, protests have taken place in solidarity with the American protestors, and the condemnation of the murder has been remarkably widespread and unanimous, Except, of course, for the racists minority (oh, I hope they are the minority!) who see nothing wrong with murdering unarmed people, as long they’re of a different colour or ethnicity. Let me, in passing, say that as a Christian, the actions, words and behaviour of Donald Trump are contemptible, hypocritical, vulgar and deeply offensive. He does not reflect anything that Jesus would accept. Hatred in all its forms is directly opposed to Christianity, no matter how much it has been degraded by some claiming to act in his name.
When Justin Trudeau was asked to comment on Trump, he was eloquently silent for 21 seconds before talking about racism in this country. But everything he said was a direct criticism of Trump and his minions. It was good to hear because Canada is far from immune to the same troubles as the States. The Guardian newspaper in Britain published a story last week about the unarmed individuals here that were killed by police. An article in this issue describes the treatment of indigenous children by the government. No, we are very far from perfect in this regard.
It may be that few incidents of racist behaviour have been reported in North Grenville, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen. Racist, misogynist, bigotted and other despicable attitudes often go unreported for various reasons. I remember that the Irish always saw themselves as victims of racism over centuries, until Ireland became more multicultural. Then the racist attitudes, the ignorance and suspicion came to the forefront and had to be faced head-on. That may happen here too, as time goes by. But let’s not wait for that to happen before we start educating our children, and ourselves; before we begin thinking and talking about why people hold such views and what can be done to change our minds. Because, let’s be honest, we all have some of those feelings, some of the time. None of us are perfect in that regard.
Racism has many faces, some of them quite innocent on the surface. Recently, in England, a family wanted to have the gravestone of their dead mother inscribed in the Irish language. It simply read, in translation: “Always in our hearts”. The Anglican diocesan tribunal rejected their request, saying that an Irish inscription might arouse political “passions”. The church itself has condemned that decision, but the attitude behind it exists.
In Vallejo, a city 30 miles north-east of San Francisco, a young 22-year old was shot dead by police a few days ago, even though he was on his knees and had his hands in the air. The police officer who shot him was sitting in his unmarked car, didn’t even get out, just shot the man five times because, he claimed, he thought he had a gun in his pocket. Sean Monterosso was Latino.
How many other examples can be given? Dozens? Hundreds? The answer, my friend….
Throughout this pandemic and its restrictive regulations, the word has been: “we’re all in this together”. We are encouraged to be kind, to help each other out, to be respectful and caring. And, for the most part, people have been all of those things. So why can’t we carry that over into other areas of life, other times and places? I am a white male, but I remember times when I was looked on with real hatred because I was Irish in the wrong place. I remember living in Belfast in the 1970’s when your neighbourhood labelled you as one or other kind of person: republican or unionist, catholic or protestant. I knew it had nothing to do with religion, it was all politics and allegiances. It seems we are geniuses at finding reasons to hate one another, to discriminate and disrespect one another.
We’ve been faced with many challenges to our humanity, to our very existence, over these past months. Now, we’re faced with challenges to our humanity, to our willingness to treat one another with respect and honour and integrity, regardless of race, colour, orientation, religious affiliation, or any other thing that might make us seem different. I think it’s long past time that we, as human beings, grew up. We need to find a way to make sure that this, too, shall pass. We shall overcome.
It seems we are no better than when we came out of our caves, from the stone ages, attacking and killing different tribes of people because we didn’t know them, we didn’t trust them and they might have entered our turf. We haven’t grown at all. It’s a sad state of consciousness.