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Racism at Swiss Chalet

9/10/2010

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How do you  combat the kind of prejudice that is so ingrained, the perpetrators don't even know they are so?  How do you gently nudge narrow-minded, well-established thinking forward towards a more open-minded framework?

Eating our dinner tonight after an exhausting week, I was disheartened to overhear the folks at the next table discussing a local journalists' take on the Toronto airshow...  they were dismissive and rolled their eyes over said journalist's suggestion that for our many Canadians who arrive from other lands (lands where the terrors of war are alive and well today, not just in history books) the airshow presents a frightening obstacle to recovery.

I was dismayed at our restaurant neighbours' thoughtless dismissal of this argument because I know it to be a valid one.  My own grandmother was a WW2 survivor, and she told me many a horror story of the decimation of her beautiful and historical European hometown during the ravages of a never-ending war.  The untold stories of starvation, death of children, rape by strangers and countrymen alike would suggest themselves only periodically in the sad, sad eyes that grew even sadder as she suddenly became silent, remembering this friend or that family member, or a favourite building or article from the home that hadn't been seen or thought of in decades.  I remember when the annual airshow approached, my grandmother would become particularly sensitive, as her undiagnosed PTSD flared up with every fighter plane that roared overhead.  She once commented, "We had to hear that noise every day, along with alarm raids, for 6 years straight -- wasn't that enough?"

The dismissive comments of our table neighbours were clearly made by people who--although they had perhaps served overseas for a time -- were given the gift, the opportunity of returning home to their families, their houses and community buildings still standing, and a country still in one piece.

I wish I had the patience, the tolerance, the empathy to speak kindly to them, and invite them to explore further the very real trauma a loud, noisy event like the 3-day airshow causes tcausualties of war who come to our fine country for peace and restoration.
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    About Vera...

    Vera & her Sons, April 2021
    After writing for several teacher and multiple birth publications, including ETFO's Voice Magazine, Multiple Moments, and the Bulletwin, Vera turned her written attention to prolific blogging for some years, including BiB,  "Learn to Fly with Vera!"  and SMARTbansho .  Homeschooling 4 was her travel blog in Argentina.  She now spends more time on her Instagram (@schalgzeug_usw)  than her blog (pictures are worth a thousand words?!) 
    DISCLAIMER
    The views expressed on this blog are the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of her family members or the position of her employer on the the issues she blogs about.  These posts are intended to share resources, document family life, and encourage critical thought on a variety of subjects.  They are not intended to cause harm to any individual or member of any group. By reading this blog and viewing this site, you agree to not hold Vera liable for any harm done by views expressed in this blog.
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Vera C. Teschow, OCT, M.Ed., MOT
Toronto, ON & St Peter's Harbour, PE
www.verateschow.ca 2021
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