The Face of Racism in Isolation

When I don't have anything to write about, I turn to Facebook; it can usually inspire me to write something.  It has been a year since six Muslim men were murdered in Quebec City and the outpouring of hatred of islamophobia.  Then the news cameras left the city and out of the light and the islamophobia has continued strong than ever.  What does that say? 

It says we need to change the culture of the Quebec.  Quebec is an island of French language and French culture in a sea of English that is Canada and North America.  That meant for the longest time that they were alone and seperate.  They created an identity for three hundred years cut off from France.  They did things their own way.  They built an industry of French language services in the 20th century, radio, television and movies.  News papers for centuries.  Literature.  Montreal was different, there was always a large English presence and migration is attracted to the cities, the bigger the better.  But the rural parts remained a monoculture.  Even Quebec City was mostly just French.  But who would want to live in Quebec City, I mean it is located there for reasons of control of the mouth of the St. Lawrence river in the time of sailing ships, but for no other reason.  It is so cold there that the ocean water their freezes every year.  There are farms their, but there are better places to farm.  There is not the site of a major natural resourse. So most people going to the province go to Montreal.  But not all of them.  There are ten thousand Muslims there among half a million people.

It is considered a safe place away from major crime, unless you are Muslim.  Three years ago there were 7 incidents of hate crimes against Muslims.  21 the next year, and in the year of the attacks, 42.  It seems that people are emboldened by their fellows.  It is like it is okay to hate Islam in Quebec.  Historically, Quebec took the idea that it was apart from the rest of Canada, and the things that Canada did were not their concerns.  They did not see any of the World Wars as a concern for them, three hundred years away from France, abandonned, they did not see a connection to them either.  They were more insular than the States.  Minorities Are very small in Quebec outside of Montreal and where the English live, and the North.  The North where the natives live.  

Small towns in the rest of Canada are no better.  There are hot heads in every community.  In small towns they in small numbers.  In bigger centers they are in small numbers too, relative to the size of the whole but overall, they can add up to large numbers.  If they are 1% of all insular populations, then that would mean that their would be almost half as many in Quebec City as there are Muslims.  Moreover, what about those that just have racist views—insular groups have a lot of those, because of lack of exposure.  My own sister might would have been classified as a racist in her twenties, until she became exposed to the people she was racist towards.  The difference between an insular community vs a inclusive.  

The solution is clearly education.  Maybe if you are convicted of a hate crime, you need to spend a week in a classroom with ten of your friends with ten of your hated group talking and playing sports, sharing their meals and learning their ways.  I say ten of your friends, because it would mean that your social group would be included.  Understanding.  Seeing the similarities and not the differences.  There are always more similarities than diffences.