Erasing Symbols Of Racism Is Not Erasing History, It's Removing The Skew...

Hi.

Ahhhhhhhh sunsets. 

A beautiful reminder that time passes. The sunsets on careers, on childhood, on all kinds of chapters in our lives.

It's about damn time that the sun sets on racist ideals.

The ridiculous mindset that one race is somehow superior to another in any way, shape, or form needs to come to an end once and for all.

Keeping statues, flags and other symbols that glorify, and celebrate people and a time that should carry nothing but shame is ludicrous.

I don't understand the arguments against it. 

One is that it will somehow erase history.

First, the history being taught is skewed to make colonialism look good. That we were somehow doing the indigenous peoples in different countries favours by landing ashore on their homelands and completely destroying their ways of life, subjecting them to every horror imaginable. Then,  compounding that by committing even more horrific acts by forcing people to come to the continent to be enslaved for generations.

If history was taught as it actually happened, accepted in all of its ugliness, flags, monuments, and slapping names on things either wouldn't have happened at all, or would have been taken down long ago. 

If history was taught as it actually happened,  monuments would celebrate the real heroes. The abolitionists, the freedom fighters, First Nations leaders. The flags would represent equality for everyone. The buildings would be named for people who fought for that equality. 

Eliminating symbols of racism is not erasing the history, it's removing the skew.

Another is the argument for freedom of speech or expression.

This, as a writer, is something I hold very dear. It's the backbone of any democracy, really. 

The thing is this.

When free speech or expression involves anything that requires taxpayers money to either purchase or maintain, it needs to represent ALL of those taxpayers. To be a person of colour, a taxpayer in the United States and have to see, every single day, monuments, flags, building and military base names honouring, actually honouring people who facilitated and/or boisterously participated in the worst of your nation's history, the worst of what happened to your ancestors. I can't imagine a world in which I could accept that. I'm not a person of colour. I can't pretend to know what it's like to walk the world in the skin of a person of colour. But even I, looking out from the cocoon of white privilege that society has bestowed upon me, can see how grotesque that is.

The fact that these racist abominations still exist is embarrassing.

In Canada, we have our own shame. We are not immune. We have our own monuments that need removal, our own history that needs to be taught correctly and completely. We too have shined up our history books to make ourselves feel better.

The whispers of a real conversation have started. 

It needs to be followed up by systemic change. 

Police are supposed to protect and serve the people of their communities.

Protect them. Not be the ones they need protection from.

Serve them. Help them. Not be the ones from whom they need saving. 

More stringent vetting of applicants. More vigorous training in de-escalation, communications, mental health assessment, decency.

But. But. But.

Racist systems don't exclusively exist within police and the way they do their job. It reaches far beyond justice systems.  Racist systems live and thrive in workplaces, mortgage companies, retail stores, schools, in healthcare, parks, on pretty much every street. 

How many times have you been in the presence of someone who makes a snide remark about someone "not speaking English" incredulously even when they aren't the ones being spoken to? 

How many have heard derogatory statements trickle off the tongues of people we know?

How many have witnessed harassment for no reason other than not being white?

How many of us have stood up and called it out every single time?

I know, in the past, I haven't, I know going forward, I will.

I have to.

We have to.

Racism can't be allowed to exist.  It just can't. We can't let it.

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Meanwhile, Corona lives on. It doesn't care what else is going on.

Spikes have already begun to happen as things open up.

Stay vigilant. Stay safe.

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May we find a way to own our part of history, accept it, then do our best to create a better tomorrow.

May we educate ourselves to embrace the best ways to help, the best ways through the pain and sorrow.

May those who fear change take a moment to ask themselves why.

May their fears give way to reason, to enlightenment, to reality, a reality they can no longer deny.

May those that don't, finally see that humanity comes in many colours, none better or brighter than the rest.

May they see how completely screwed up it is to think otherwise, how some delusional sense of superiority has created this whole mess.

May we all be better at calling it out, saying what it is, stomping it at every turn.

May we recognize the only reason to fight against equality is...

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