Baltimore and the Brushes

Darren’s weekly musings

April 26^th-May 2^nd

Standing up for good

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." - Albert Einstein

Like many of you, I have watched the riots that are taking place in Baltimore this week.  But I think missed in the news of the week were the stories of two homeless men who were brutally murdered in Winnipeg.  Their only crime was that they were homeless.  The killer seemed to think it was fine to kill these folks because they lived on the street.  The killer did not find worth in their lives.

A few weeks back we heard about the murders of university students in Kenya.  Gunmen went through the university and killed any student who could not recite verses of the Qu’ran.  The dead students, almost all of them Christian, were felt to be expendable by the extremists.

The women who went missing on Robert Picton’s pig farm in BC were someone’s child, sister, wife or mother.  They were targeted by Picton because they were poor and worked on the streets.  Picton took advantage of their vulnerabilities and murdered them because he thought they were without value.

Many people, people who I would call judgers, place values on others because of their ethnicity.  In this way of thinking a Cambodian might be more important than a Peruvian.  Some judgers place values on race.  Some judgers place values on a person’s gender or sexual orientation. Judgers see certain jobs and professions are valued while other jobs are vilified.  Other judgers value the opinions of those who dress to certain norms all the while disregarding the opinions of those who dress alternatively.   For these judgers there is a certain pecking order and everyone is pegged their place by whatever prejudice the judger uses.  This way of thinking to me is wrong.  It is evil.  It is meant to bring disharmony to the world and not unity.

The other night, I watched some of the local Baltimore tv newscasts on line as they reported on the riots.  One newscaster was quick to condemn all of the rioters as criminals who were intent to destroy his city.  He too was a judger, tarring all people with the same brush.  However another newscaster quickly jumped in.  He said that yes a few of the protestors were only there to commit mischief for mischief’s sake.  But many of the people out there were protesting peacefully.  Many were concerned about police relations with the black community.  Many loved their city.  The other announcer was the voice of reason in the midst of hate.  May we all come to realize that we are not just homogenized parts of the groups we belong to  but that each person is to be valued and loved for who they are.  Blessings.

Who do you say I am?

Darren’s weekly musings

April 19^th-26^th

Who do you think I am?

This morning I heard an interview with a man who was talking about the racism that exists in our society.  The myth is that in Canada we have no racism.  The myth goes even further, given that Toronto is the most multicultural diverse city in the world, that Toronto must be the most accepting city in the world.  But the man being interviewed said that since he is black, he gets followed around when he goes into certain high end stores- just like he can’t be trusted.  He has been refused entry to clubs in town- and it was just not one random act, he has been refused entry on many different occasions.  And he has been stopped by police several times and carded, just because he was black.  The man said he felt like a prisoner in his own community.  He says without a doubt that racism exists in our city.

I remember working as a scrutineer in a very close British Columbia provincial election.  I dutifully took my seat behind the deputy returning officer and polling clerk.  I had done this kind of volunteer work before and was obeying all of the rules.  The scrutineer from the other main party was a teenage girl.  She had not read all the rules.  When people came to our booth to cast their vote she would say to me, “Oh that person is very well dressed.  Therefore they must vote this way.”  “That person is in raggedy clothes.  Obviously they vote this way.”  I told her to stop doing this as our role was merely to observe the vote and we were not to talk about various political parties.  Eventually, she was reprimanded by the deputy returning officer.  But this young girl had figured that she could size up who people were, what they were all about, and who they would vote for just by the way they dressed.  Levis wearers would vote one way.  Vera Wang wearers would vote another in her mind.

When I speak, I speak as Darren.  It is wrong to think that because I think a certain thing, all people from my home town of Moose Jaw will think the same thing.  Because I voice my opinion on a certain subject, it is wrong to think that all left handed people, or all people from Ontario, or all United Church ministers, or all 51 year old gay men with Austrian, French, Scottish and Cree heritage think the same way I do.  The young girl at the voting poll that day was so wrong.  You cannot judge others by what they wear, by what colour their skin is, by what accent they speak with.  People are more than the sum of their parts.  Our society must stop using assumptions based on perceived differences to judge others.  We need to  end practices like carding that presume guilt on the basis of skin colour.  Blessings.

New home of my weekly posts

Since I won't be at Asbury and West after June 30th, this will be the new site of my weekly musings.