Conquering Racism and Conquering Covid
Jun. 6th, 2020 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blogcutterI was quite surprised at the number of people who showed up in person at the anti-racism marches yesterday afternoon. Surprised too at the near-unanimous media praise and acclaim for these brave marchers risking life, limb and lungs in the midst of a pandemic, all to condemn racism and police brutality and support those whose skin colour has had a profound and lifelong negative impact on their day to day lives.
Are these marches unambiguously a Good Thing? At the risk of being branded a racist and a bigot, I'm going to say no. As with most things in life, the situation is far more nuanced than that.
But first the good news. At the Ottawa march at least, the event was peaceful. Given the various conflicting black community groups and anti-racist factions behind the scenes and the controversies over who was and was not welcome to attend, I had a real fear that things might escalate into violent confrontations. That didn't happen. People looked to be in good spirits, the police were present but kept to the sidelines. Street closures and re-openings appear to have taken place in an orderly fashion, once the route was made known. The Prime Minister was there, which also sends a powerful message. I don't know if the Mayor attended or not in the end - he was one of the people whom the organizers, No Peace Without Justice, had stated ought not to have been formally invited but was welcome to attend "as an individual".
And yet, I'd say many of the demonstrators were technically breaking the law, and certainly were violating established protocols. The law in Ontario banning gatherings of more than five people, for starters. In addition, not everyone was wearing a mask or practising physical distancing. How many additional cases of COVID-19 will we see in the aftermath of these marches? Surely events like this one belong to the final stage of re-opening, not the first stage.
It's all very well to be outraged about what happened in Minneapolis or Toronto or Halifax or anywhere else. Indeed, we SHOULD be outraged and I think nearly all of us are, whether we showed up to a march or not.
But I think something is seriously askew when we feel we mustn't criticize those who flock to mass protests like this one, however noble the cause, while meanwhile the parent whose kids (the least likely demographic for becoming ill with the virus) dare to play on the swings and slides at the local playground is slapped with a hefty fine!
Let's remember too that many of those injustices which are perpetrated right in our own back yards - or at least in our local parks and playgrounds - also have a racist component to them. For example, the case of Obi Ifedi, who was with his seven-year-old daughter in Michele Heights Park when a bylaw officer deliberately tripped him up, punched him in the mouth, handcuffed him, called for backup and slapped him with a fine of over $2000! The head of bylaw enforcement initially denied anything untoward had happened at all, although now there is apparently to be some sort of an "internal investigation" into the matter. It looks like the fine will be withdrawn. But the bylaw officer will NOT face criminal charges. We don't know if he will be fired or demoted. And to add insult to injury, we don't even know his name!!
So please, folks - let's be measured and reasonable about all this. Let's start by allowing smaller gatherings - friends, lovers, extended family or small groups of colleagues or other acquaintances Let's at least open up a few more venues where physical distancing is very feasible and masks or other protective measures may be used if needed. I don't understand, for example, why the farmers' market at Lansdowne Park could not be open for actual browsing, even if they have to limit the number of people there at any one time. Even with larger indoor spaces like museums, art galleries, cinemas, theatres or concert halls, surely we're getting to the point where we could open them for timed entry by a limited number of attendees? Nobody would be forced to attend if they feel they are particularly vulnerable!
It's not the way I ideally would have liked it to happen, but perhaps there's a glimmer of hope here. We've had a mass protest by thousands of people right here in sleepy little Ottawa, it was orderly and peaceful, and the sky didn't fall in. Maybe now the powers that be will see that we can start to relax the rules a bit?
Are these marches unambiguously a Good Thing? At the risk of being branded a racist and a bigot, I'm going to say no. As with most things in life, the situation is far more nuanced than that.
But first the good news. At the Ottawa march at least, the event was peaceful. Given the various conflicting black community groups and anti-racist factions behind the scenes and the controversies over who was and was not welcome to attend, I had a real fear that things might escalate into violent confrontations. That didn't happen. People looked to be in good spirits, the police were present but kept to the sidelines. Street closures and re-openings appear to have taken place in an orderly fashion, once the route was made known. The Prime Minister was there, which also sends a powerful message. I don't know if the Mayor attended or not in the end - he was one of the people whom the organizers, No Peace Without Justice, had stated ought not to have been formally invited but was welcome to attend "as an individual".
And yet, I'd say many of the demonstrators were technically breaking the law, and certainly were violating established protocols. The law in Ontario banning gatherings of more than five people, for starters. In addition, not everyone was wearing a mask or practising physical distancing. How many additional cases of COVID-19 will we see in the aftermath of these marches? Surely events like this one belong to the final stage of re-opening, not the first stage.
It's all very well to be outraged about what happened in Minneapolis or Toronto or Halifax or anywhere else. Indeed, we SHOULD be outraged and I think nearly all of us are, whether we showed up to a march or not.
But I think something is seriously askew when we feel we mustn't criticize those who flock to mass protests like this one, however noble the cause, while meanwhile the parent whose kids (the least likely demographic for becoming ill with the virus) dare to play on the swings and slides at the local playground is slapped with a hefty fine!
Let's remember too that many of those injustices which are perpetrated right in our own back yards - or at least in our local parks and playgrounds - also have a racist component to them. For example, the case of Obi Ifedi, who was with his seven-year-old daughter in Michele Heights Park when a bylaw officer deliberately tripped him up, punched him in the mouth, handcuffed him, called for backup and slapped him with a fine of over $2000! The head of bylaw enforcement initially denied anything untoward had happened at all, although now there is apparently to be some sort of an "internal investigation" into the matter. It looks like the fine will be withdrawn. But the bylaw officer will NOT face criminal charges. We don't know if he will be fired or demoted. And to add insult to injury, we don't even know his name!!
So please, folks - let's be measured and reasonable about all this. Let's start by allowing smaller gatherings - friends, lovers, extended family or small groups of colleagues or other acquaintances Let's at least open up a few more venues where physical distancing is very feasible and masks or other protective measures may be used if needed. I don't understand, for example, why the farmers' market at Lansdowne Park could not be open for actual browsing, even if they have to limit the number of people there at any one time. Even with larger indoor spaces like museums, art galleries, cinemas, theatres or concert halls, surely we're getting to the point where we could open them for timed entry by a limited number of attendees? Nobody would be forced to attend if they feel they are particularly vulnerable!
It's not the way I ideally would have liked it to happen, but perhaps there's a glimmer of hope here. We've had a mass protest by thousands of people right here in sleepy little Ottawa, it was orderly and peaceful, and the sky didn't fall in. Maybe now the powers that be will see that we can start to relax the rules a bit?
