The more that headlines show us the horror of the hate to the south of us, the more we hear folks asking: “What can we do about all of this insanity?”
There’s no easy answer to that question, and we won’t pretend to be experts.
What we do know, however, is that we can’t pretend the insanity isn’t happening. We can’t pretend it could never happen here, as though the 49th parallel represents some mystical force field holding back intolerance, bigotry and hate.
It’s here already.
If you’ve been keeping silent, now’s the time to find your voice.
Now’s the time to call out hate and intolerance in all its forms – whether that’s an off-handed slur by your racist uncle or an offensive Facebook discussion started by a casual acquaintance.
Don’t just ignore the slur. Don’t just scroll past the discussion.
Engage it. Take it on. Confront it. Do so politely and gently, if that’s your style, but whatever you do, stop pretending that casual hate, casual ignorance, casual bigotry is OK because, well, Uncle Josiah has always been like that and you can’t change him anyway.
Maybe you can’t change him. But you’ll never know if you don’t try.
Now’s the time to make yourself seen and heard. Attend a rally. Write a letter to the editor. Write to your politicians – civic, provincial and federal – to make it clear Canadians want their leaders to stand up in defence of the inclusivity and diversity we pride ourselves on as a nation.
Now’s the time to educate the next generation. Teach your children – in age-appropriate ways – that there are people in the world who hate others just because of the colour of their skin or the religion they practise. Teach them that hate is not acceptable. Teach them – by word and by example – that the world is a diverse place, full of people of all races and cultures and religions and gender identities and backgrounds, and that people are people, no matter what.
Now’s the time to educate yourself. If you don’t know what all the fuss is about, find out. If you don’t know how the events of the world are affecting your neighbours, your friends, your co-workers, ask. Discuss the issues. Read informed and intelligent articles. Share the information you find so others can be informed too.
And above all, don’t live in denial.
Don’t stick your head in the sand and tell yourself this will all go away.
It won’t.
Not unless we all work together to make it so.
