The school board in Prince George, B.C. has decided to
change the name of their new school from a simple name that appears to reflect
the street that it is on, to an Indigenous name. I suspect that the decision
was made in the spirit of reconciliation (more on that in the next blog). Some
people are, of course, pleased with the name change. Other people are less than
pleased. While I have not read any of the comments that have been posted - the
media and public leaders have labelled some of those comments as racist. To be
clear - there can never, ever be any occasion when making a racist statement is
okay. In our society, we should not be
having this conversation. We should all know in our bones that racist comments
are hurtful, unfair and just plain wrong. We should also learn to use the
English language correctly.
A person just stating
the belief that they do not want a name to be changed because the present name
has some significance to them or that it reflects who they are and their
experiences ( their culture) - is not a racist statement. Racism is defined as
"having the belief that some races of people are better
than others; showing this through violent or unfair treatment of people of
other races" (https://www.oxford learnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/racist_1?q=racist).
Saying "I like the old name because I went to that school and my kids now
go to that school and therefore the name means something to me" is not a
racist statement.
An
individual is allowed to express an opinion about what is important to them. That
in itself does not make the opinion right - it is just an opinion. Sometimes
those opinions are different than someone else's. We need to be able to express
our thoughts, not in terms of saying someone else's thoughts are wrong because
of who or what they are, but because that is how we feel. When we feel that
people are open to how we feel, we are encouraged to be open to their feelings.
However, when we characterize other people's comments with such inflammatory
labels as racist or sexist - we stop the debate. The person is either shamed
into silence or gets angry, but there is no defence to such a label. One cannot
prove a negative.
I have no doubt that some, perhaps even many
of the comments being made in Prince George are racist. We should all be
embarrassed and ashamed of those people - and angry at them. But I also am sure
that there are many people in Prince George who liked the old name for that
school and felt pride in it. By denying them the right to articulate that pride
- we deny them the right to participate in any discussion of how to right the
wrongs of the past. Unfortunately, I think when we also push people away from a
reasonable dialogue, all too often inappropriate labelling can polarize people,
pushing down pathways they could never have found on their own.
We are all responsible for ensuring that we
use our words correctly We need to start being aware of the dangers of using
polarizing words that will separate people from each other. If those who talk
about correcting the wrongs of the past are sincere -we need to be so very
careful that we do not leave people behind in that process. If we are ever
going to achieve any sort of reconciliation then we need to include everyone in
the process.
Shaming someone is never an invitation to belong.
