Perhaps since the beginning of time, parents have wanted the
world to be a better place for their kids. I know it’s not a new phenomenon for
parents to be concerned about the state of the world. However, I have to say my
anxiety has certainly ramped up in the past few years. Maybe I spend too much
time on social media, and the real world has not really changed that much…but
it sure feels different now than it did a short while ago.
I hate to mention his name, because I am so tired of hearing
about the latest craziness, day in and day out, since the last American general
election. Unfortunately burying my head
in the sand isn’t an option when I have to live in a connected world, AND raise
two young kids in this atmosphere. So what’s changed?
I am fully aware that the world was a far from perfect place
long before DT became the so called leader of the free world. But we seem to
have entered a new era where a backlash against progress is gaining momentum,
and people seem to now feel free to openly show their racism, sexism and intolerance.
Hate is no longer something to keep
hidden, but should be celebrated and shouted from the streets, and of course on
Twitter, and the on line comments section of every Main Stream Media site. Not
everyone is open about their hatred, the Internet has created many “keyboard
warriors” that can spout hate from the anonymous safety of their basements and
living rooms. But there sure is a
plethora of it out there these days…in our face every day.
I guess I was naive to think that things were getting better,
and that my daughter would have it easier than my mother or her mother in our
society. We go back to 1921 in Canada,
1920 in the U.S. when some women were
given the right to vote, and the first female M.P. was elected… you would think
that in almost 100 years this would be accepted as a norm. Not if you’re Richard
Spencer, a white supremacist, who not only is a racist, but not surprisingly doesn’t
believe women should have the right to vote either. He believes America is for
White Men period. This guy was left to the fringe before Trump, but now is
being “normalized” by the mainstream media as the current U.S. administration
legitimises the fringe haters.
I grew up in a time where our leaders, not without their flaws,
took the higher road and challenged us to be better, challenged the ignorance, brought
education to counter fear of the new and the different. It was a time where borders and walls were
things we worked to tear down, not to build new ones. A Republican President even offered a
challenge to his cold war counter- part to “tear down this wall”. And it did
come down. Now we have Brexit in Britain,
and POTUS promising to build a wall along the Mexican border, and tearing up
international trade agreements. We now have
leaders openly challenging scientific theory with convenient opinions and conspiracy
theories. So called “leaders” are now
dismissing education and the educated as “elitists”. So apparently it’s now a bad thing to educate
oneself with recognised methodology. Are
we really going down the “facts don’t matter” road? We shouldn’t be too smug in Canada, Toronto
had its’ own taste of it with Rob Ford and Ezra Levant. The modus operandi of
this ilk, is that the message need not be true, but if repeated often enough
with conviction it would get normalised and treated as an “alternative fact”. Which of course is total bull shit, but the media
has repeatedly fallen for this trap. Giving
Alex Jones and Steve Bannon free prime time air time to spout their agendas is
proof of the media’s abandonment of journalistic principles.
I took my young son to Detroit last summer and in the Henry
Ford Museum I was able to talk to him about segregation and human rights,
showing him the bus Rosa Parks made famous, and water fountains marked clearly
for “whites” and “coloureds”. I was able to explain to him that the struggles
and protests were not about bus seats or fountains, but the right to be treated
equally. But today POTUS challenges people’s
right to protest peacefully as unpatriotic and treasonous, unless you are a white
supremacist.
We see the movie industry reeling from the bad publicity
that Harvey Weinstein abused his power for decades, exploiting and sexually
abusing young women. For decades it was
covered up and tolerated by many. Weinstein was not alone, nor is the movie industry. Excuses abound, and the comment sections abound
with belligerent messages blaming the victims, rather than the actual perpetrators. But then again, the current U.S. President
was caught on audio tape admitting to the same behaviour and he went on to be
elected to the highest office in the country. His chief opponent was a woman,
who faced incredible intimidation and misogyny throughout the lengthy campaign
and beyond. How do I explain that to my
daughter?
I find it very sad that women today feel the need to post
#MeToo and share their stories, for fear of sliding further backwards. I find it troubling that my black friends are
distrusting of our police, and are harassed for being of colour while driving “nice”
cars. I find it troubling that my
friends of various religions, feel increasingly vulnerable and segregated. The Quebec “Burka Ban” is a clear example of pandering
to fear and ignorance, instead of providing true leadership and education.
So as a parent, and largely a part of the silent decent majority (I
hope), I am finding I can no longer just sit quietly when the hate and ignorance
erupts around me.
