I haven’t written about anything important for a
while; sure, I’ve mentioned my opinions, but those don’t count. Today will be
different.
I
have seen a fundamental shift in the paradigm of Canadian thought over the past
few months. Or at least a changing of the prevalent thoughts. Since Trump began
his campaign of xenophobia and ignorance, many here in Canada began to parrot
his ideals. Hate crimes became more common, and racist thoughts became
vocalized. A person running for head of the federal Conservatives is even
trying to mirror Trump’s campaign. We, the strong North true and free, watched
a megalomaniac come to power and decided that he had some good ideas.
We,
a nation that is still trying to earn back the trust and respect of the First
Nations people, decided that now would be a good time to turn our backs on
others simply because of their skin and beliefs. My feeds on social media are
constantly assaulted by people who believe in this. People who are not willing
to label themselves as racist because they know intrinsically that racism is
bad, yet they still hold on to the tenets of it. Simply put, if you rail
against people because of their religion or skin colour, you are a racist.
There is no other word. You can call yourself the Alt-Right in a vain attempt
at rebranding, but deep down everyone knows alt-right is just a way of saying
Nazi without the historical baggage.
We
are a nation that fought, bled, and died to stop the original Nazis. We fought
to stop the people purporting genetic purity and race classism, and now our
closest neighbour and ally has elected one to lead its country. And we as a
nation are thinking maybe that’s a good thing.
This
past year I have been called a white traitor and a traitor to Canada by my
fellow Canadians. I have been spat on by people I once respected, all for saying
that we should allow refugees into Canada. I was mocked by Christians I
attended school with for saying that I am a feminist, and sent death threats
for having the audacity to come out of the closet. I have straight friends who
still use the word “fag”, and every time they say it, all I can think of were
the times I was told to “go kill [myself], fag” or that someone was going to
kill me for being a “fucking fag”. They’ll never understand how much it hurts
to hear them say something that I associate with hate and death. Unfortunately,
I believe that hate speak will be on the uptick the next couple of years as the
racists and the ignorant feel more and more validated. People like this already
believe that they are right and that they speak for us, and the more they
believe that, the truer it will become. Hate is always louder than love. Love
is the quiet actions in the night, whereas hate is the fire that burns bright.
We
are being surrounded by those flames, not yet engulfed, but surrounded all the
same. The flames, for now, are stretched thin in their efforts to surround, and
if we act now we can snuff out those flames before they become a bonfire.
I
use the term we in this because we are a country united. The thoughts of
neighbours reflect upon us to the world, and if my use of the word we upsets
you, stand up and act so that the world knows that we disagree. Stand up and
act so the world knows that we are still Canada.
We
are better than this. We are better than the hate and racism that is spewing
from our gutters.
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