Gangs and Sterotypical Perceptions..

The wrong kind of attention
By KenHerar
Nov 11 2005
Every week it seems that a member of the Indo-Canadian community is headlined in the media for the wrong reason.Whether it is a gang-related shooting or a series of stories on abandoned brides, there definitely exists a perception problem. I think the majority of those from my community would agree.These unfortunate incidents have to be covered in the media for everyone's safety and as a matter of public information.As the Indo-Canadian community grows here in the Lower Mainland, this stereotypical perception we carry as a community must change. Negative lifestyles aren't exclusive to Indo-Canadians.The majority of Indo -Canadians are law-abiding citizens who don't engage in criminal activity. The minority of the people who do are the ones who grab headline after headline.This message then becomes the reflection of the community, which often paints everyone with the same dirty brush.Many members of my community are concerned about this image problem. The challenge remains: How can we change this?Efforts have been made by the Sikh community in developing outreach organizations like VIRSA, to discourage youth from entering criminal activity, which is seeing encouraging results. Is this enough?I believe a more aggressive campaign needs to be implemented through the media by the Indo-Canadian community to change the damage that has been done in the past decade.I often hear whispers or quiet voices that lurk in rooms or in hallways about issues of violence within the Indo-Canadian community. I don't think people want to raise their families in a place where their children are disadvantaged right from the start.Building partnerships through various media and sharing positive stories hopefully will build a trend that will shape peoples' perception, helping them view everyone as individuals, regardless what community they come from.We can't let this negative culture continue to further divide our society.Countless success stories can be told by individuals who have come from opposite sides of the globe and who built a life for themselves with their families in Canada.I challenge the media to do this: Instead of covering negative incidents, do a series on some of the positive contributions made by the Indo-Canadian community.There are numerous generations of Indo-Canadians who have made significant impact in our communities, including pioneers who have been here more than 50 years.
Ken Herar is a columnist with The Abbotsford News.
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