I have been privileged to live in two vastly different cultures. The one I was born into would seem strange to most of you. We lived physically, emotionally, and culturally, separated from the “English,” which was anyone not of “our kind.” Then, moving away as a young adult, I thrust myself into a world that I had only ever read about.
The world of the “English,” or what most of you would call simply being alive in Canada, in the Western World, allows more space for the individual. You don’t have a name for it because the things we take for granted don’t get a name. I prefer “your” world. I have “culturally-appropriated” the culture most of you wouldn’t recognize as a separate culture.
The culture I have adopted was more tolerant of difference, more tolerant of other cultures, religions, professions. There is more opportunity to experiment, to fail, to meet and befriend different people. These things may sound trivial to you but that is because you haven’t had to fight for them.
However, not all is well among the people I have adopted. Perhaps my experience has made me more aware than some about possible clouds on the horizon.
An example of this is our current “cancel culture” that basically shuns anyone with a different opinion. Cancel culture reminds me of the shunning in my home community. Anyone who doesn’t fall into line with the culture guardians’ ideas are harassed, or ignored, not allowed to speak, etc, whatever it takes to shut them down. Who are these guardians? Who appointed them and who gave them the authority to disappear people? At least where I grew up we knew who the guardians were, because we saw them in church each Sunday, in the places of honour.
In my home community, one thing that gave the guardians social license to rule was their ability to define correct behaviour, another was to divide. Anyone different or not following the guardian’s rules was seen as “other” and therefore not to be trusted.
There is potential for this happening in Canada. Dividing people by race is especially dangerous. The anti-resource activists who blockaded and nearly shut down our country this past winter claim to speak for Indigenous peoples, yet most Indigenous people work in or support the industry.
Americans, more than Canadians, speak of the Black vote, or the Hispanic vote. It seems that political strategists think it is helpful but they likely use it as a tool to divide people and keep them fighting with each other so they don’t examine their policy platforms.
We like to think that we are above such behaviour, but are we really? What about people reporting on their own neighbours? Physical distancing is important, but reporting your neighbour for sharing a beer across the fence? Or for having a driveway conversation with a friend or even for having several people drop in?
Even if someone is having a party in their house, you don’t know the circumstances. It is very likely the same people that decide to see their friends from six feet away (or less) are the same ones that would happily help you out if you needed it.
To sum up, please help to keep my adopted culture thriving. Love your neighbour, no matter if they are a different colour than you or they have friends over during the pandemic or vote differently. Do your part to spread kindness and tolerance for opposing viewpoints, because otherwise, we will be ruled by guardians and we lose freedom of choice.
You have it richly.
I had to leave my family to get that.
