Congratulations, to the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) for establishing the Centre of Mennonite Studies at UFV. This will be an exciting place to learn about the history and contributions of Mennonites in Canada. I look forward to my next visit at UFV.
Just as I was starting to forget about the last racist email, which shared with you on June 5th. Another appeared on my desk this week. I was quite disturbed to read the language of hate. I thought we ended this discussion and was prepared to move on to other worthy topics. His letter definitely deserves a response from me. I feel it is important to expose issues of this kind because we cannot hide the fact that racism still exist in our communities and sweeping it under the rug won’t do it justice. For the record, this will be the last time; I will be publicly entertaining any comments of this nature. So if you’re looking to get your hate message published your knocking on the wrong door. I am not a springboard for readers to vent their cruelty. Again, if you disagree with me you’re comments are still welcome. If you’re comments are racist you know the answer.
This individual, who claims he is originally from India, but not from Punjab, goes a rampage of Sikh hate. I have censored many parts of his letter and here are just some of his thoughts. “ Week after week you trot out the same Sikh stories. Tell me do the Sikhs pay you to do this? You are like their mouthpiece. Come Christmas and you trot out one column about your white friends. Sikhs should make an effort to assimilate to some extent into this country and get out of the ghetto mentality. You just have to take a look into the Criminal Code of Canada and see the number of Sikhs who figure in it. Stop brainwashing your kids into thinking that the Kota Maru was somehow Canadians fault and the Sikhs were entitled to be here. Be thankful they let you stay. The Americans will not tolerate this diversity nonsense. ”
This is only a portion of what he said in his page response. Here is my rebuttal. First mistake: I don’t trot the same old Sikh stories every week. I believe in balance and have proven that over my 14 years. Second mistake: Sikh’s don’t pay me for this and I am not their mouthpiece. I am paid by CanWest. Third mistake: I don’t trot one column about my white friends at Christmas. I do it all year. Actually, I was offered to write for another paper and they only wanted me to only focus on Indo Canadian subjects. I turned it down. Fourth mistake: Sikhs have already assimilated in our community long ago. Fifth mistake: Many Sikh’s are law abiding citizens. The last time, I went to teach tennis at the prison, Sikh’s appeared to be a minority in the criminal justice system. Sixth mistake: I never brainwashed children about the 1914 incident. Kota Maru is actutally spelled Komagatu Maru. Seventh mistake: I am thankful, Canada let me stay because, I was born here. Eighth mistake: Americans do celebrate diversity.
What have we accomplished here. Nothing. This is exactly, why we need to raise the bar in this discussion. If you focus on the negative, you’ll find the negative. Building an inclusive, diverse community takes inspirational leadership and as a community newspaper we are taking steps toward establishing this. So, you can add this to your list of things to do this summer as 102 following last Friday’s edition. The Abbotsford/Mission Times is officially presenting, “ Building an Inclusive, Diverse Community.” If you are between the ages of 14-26 and enjoy writing we would like to hear from you. Your answer must be 300 words or less and must answer the following question: What have you done or what can you do to make our community more inclusive? The deadline will be early September and all responses can be emailed to me at the address below or dropped off at The Times office on Peardonville. Awards will be handed out during the Multicultural Festival on Sept 26. To promote multiculturalism in Abbotsford, Festival Organizer Musleh Hakki skydived on Canada Day and presented a Proclamation to elected officials.
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