200606 sea change

june 6

   in the days of covid 19 i have wondered if or when we would see riots and violence as fear and tension built up. in an april post, 200419 fear, i queried whether or not we might wake up to a new world of oppression and dictatorship following the pandemic. i did not expect to wake up to the reality that we already have oppression, which i, at least, have not been seeing clearly. it is the oppression of our countrymen and women who, because of the colour of their skin, or because they are women or because of some other difference, are denied choices, jobs, good wages and homes. (i also did not expect to see so soon the dangerous authoritarianism that our border-country's leader is spouting.)

  because the pandemic has put our lives on hold and we have the time, or because the death of mr. floyd was the last straw, our world is awake at last. we are seeing protests of anger, not at the pandemic's impact but at another huge and destructive disease that people have been fighting for hundreds of years.

  like the feminists who say "you've come a long way baby", from the virginia slims ad, and in so doing, accept that we are on a continuum towards a future equality, we have been complacent about the continuum towards racial equality as well. (the slogan itself, "you've come a long way, baby", generously marketing a cigarette especially for women, is heavy with the systemic feminism that we are still combatting, baby.) 

  let's demand an end to the slow and brutal struggle against racism, through teaching and training, by calling politicians, police, teachers and bankers on their racism, as individuals and as part of the system, every time we see an injustice. put in place trained and unbiased judges and decision-makers who will fight every day to confront and stamp out prejudice.

  the pandemic has forced us to look at - to see, another problem we have known for decades: that residences for the elderly and long-term care are short-staffed and underfunded. i mention it here because the caregivers and support staff in residences and the senior care sector are mostly non-white and female. 

  it is time for big brave changes, to say out loud that we want to change the world. let's put our money where our mouth is, decide that we can holiday close to home, we can skip getting a new car or even A car. we can wear last year's fashions for a couple more years and make sure every canadian has a warm coat and boots for the winter, and shelter, and food to eat. decide that we want those taking care of our loved ones, both the elderly AND our children, to be paid a living wage and not have to work two jobs to make ends meet. we can demand that our taxes be spent equitably through-out our city and country, so that EVERY school, not just the wealthy neighbourhood academies, has money for sports, for enough teachers and full curriculums. we can use our resources, healthcare, and infrastructure wisely and sparingly, and spend the money where it's needed, not let it slip into the already well-lined pockets of the wealthy through tax loopholes and favoritism.

  time to stop teaching children racist, sexist and exclusionary ideas, time for us to start modeling and speaking aloud equality of race, sex, and sexual orientation. when we are training our police force, when we are voting for government representatives, when we are deciding where to invest, with thoughtful choices, we can cut a path to a new world.

  we have spent the last three months expressing our belief in putting human life ahead of the economy. let's stick to that. life matters. black lives matter. let this be the "sea change" that the world needs, to face the challenges of this pandemic, our climate crisis, and the inequalities in the lives of the all humans around the globe.