Miklos Legrady, Toronto,
In a local comic strip, a child chastises his shamefaced father for never having done anything to change the name of Toronto’s Dundas street; the father didn’t even known that Dundas was a racist oppressor. But then, why pick on Dundas? In the 18th century all British aristocrats were racist oppressors. As were Japanese aristocrats, and so were the ruling class of every shade or colour in every nation on every continent in history. Racist oppressors all, as those who paid attention in history class will remember. We assume the justice warrior who drew that cartoon feels morally superior when shaming and blaming others ; among the political left there are those who would dominate their peers under the guise of identity politics. We must question ourselves.
The first BLM-George Floyd protest torched the local precinct police station, the locals angry at racist cops killing them, Then Pink Rose Antifa and other revolutionaries fought fascism in this election cycle by staging protests… at which they admit some were extremists who set fires, broke windows torched buildings. Kids will be kids and free spirits and all; Antifa and friends handed the Senate to the Republican party, they scared middle America with those Fox TV clips of torched cities in the news everywhere, and we know Middle America votes red when you scare them. So beware the historically illiterate, dangerous to us all; those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Left wing revolutionaries painted the Senate red, gave it back to the GOP, repeating the past instead of changing it.
A study of human evolution shows an upward ramp of moral and ethical progression. There was a time when might was right, when killing was ok if you paid the weregild, while slavery was universal and almost none questioned it. Social evolution means there has been a moral and ethical development over centuries, hence historians warn we cannot judge the past by light of today’s morality; things have changed. At the turn of the 20th century, feminists made the case for universal human rights; the Suffragettes proposed political rights based on one’s humanity and not on one’s gender, wealth, strength or power. In the 1960s the civil rights movement created genuine positive change, eventually placing Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020, while Obama became president in 2009 and served two terms.
Today’s change parallel the 60s … huge peaceful George Floyd – BLM protests in cities all over the world, people speaking out about our own lives and politics… to change the standards, behavior and financial codes that create poverty and oppression, that allow such as the neglect of Canadian First Nations people.
However while some seize the moment to burn, others seize it to shame, guilt, and degrade others. Pointing the finger is always an attempt to manipulate and dominate . It pretends to the highest moral principles but the real desire is to oppress, when it is positive behavior and inclusion that create positive change. A few days a week for the las t four years, I’ve been looking after a boy now five years old. I’ve seen the strength and integrity a child develops when you consistently treat them with respect. Works with our peers too.
The paradox of the tolerant society is that it must be intolerant of those who would destroy it from within; that’s the exception that prove the rule.
Volume 35 no. 1 September / October 2020