"Common Sense": how common is it? It is my perception that a significant number of people share a certain understanding of the way people should behave. A lot of common-sensical ideas are enforced by laws (i.e. don't steal, kill etc...) and some are unwritten standards of behaviour (i.e. don't pick your nose in public...).
You would think that most people, especially in North America, especially in Canada would share a certain degree of common sense. Well it turns out, this belief system is not as streamlined as I thought. Let's take a trip to Manitoba, shall we?
An 8 year old is currently being taken out of her mother and step father's custody for, get this, coming to school with Neo-Nazi and racist symbols (think swastikas) drawn on her body and relaying graphic instructions of how to kill people of colour. Although her parents are openly associated with white supremacist groups, they deny encouraging their daugther to commit violent behavior against racial groups. Here's the full story in all of its glory.
This type of behaviour would be typical of WWII Germany where millions of lives where taken at the hands of an ignorant nation. Considering it's 2009 in one of the most liberal countries in the world, how much did this couple think they could get away with? And how common is this blatant display of hate?
Though this case is extreme, it is definitely not isolated. We constantly see manifestations of hate all the time; pre teens are comitting suicide because they are being teased, police partake in racial profiling, states such as California deny granting legal unions to same-sex couples. All of these demonstrations of hate bring us two steps back when we try to take a step forward.
What are people afraid of?
No comments:
Post a Comment