No secret I despise Poilievre; I see him as a Trump sycophant catering to the basest of Canadians, the racists and self-serving knotheads who showed themselves, brilliantly, during the pandemic.
Be that as it may, this coming election is ripping the false faces off of family and friends, and, for me anyway, it is devastating. People I had respected, people I had liked and counted as “friends” pulling aside the smiles, making me realize that I seem to be a poor judge of character. How did I miss the racism, the hypocrisy? 😳
Find a Poilievre supporter and scratch the surface. Usually, they are anti-immigration among a myriad of other dog whistles BUT, and that is the big old “BUT”, their anti-immigration only seems to extend to those folks who are not melanin-challenged. Those folks who don’t attend church on Sunday, opting for a mosque, for a temple.
The biggest disappointment was from a long time acquaintance, rabidly anti-immigration and blaming Trudeau, immigrants for everything and then some. Oh, this individual listed a whole whack of Poilievre talking points, that were, actually, quite easily, debunked. However, it appears having the debate was not an option and any views not jiving with this individual’s faulty bulleted list was enough for name-calling. Ironically, this person IS AN IMMGRANT, but not from one of “Those” countries.
I’ve worked in transport, in various areas, all my life and I’ve seen the racism within the industry rise to unprecedented levels. I’ve left discussion groups as a result. Yes, I did try to counter the slurs and the misinformation but these people do not want to understand, do not want to look at facts, the only thing seen is the skin colour and usually, the religion although most of them seem to think that Sikh’s are Muslim and the other way around. They can’t find India, Pakistan, Ghana or the Middle East on a map but are experts, apparently, on the cultures.
The thing is, this individual SHOULD know better, working with folks of differing cultures as well but once the blindness of racism becomes a part of character, “Should” is no longer an option.
I am prepared to cut this diatribe from my life, it serves no purpose. I don’t need to learn how racists think, I have seen how it works over and over, in my lifetime. While, for many years, they had to hide their ugliness, Diaper Don, Bernier and Poilievre seem to be giving them license to expose themselves. Fine, it allows the rest of us to avoid the filth and keep on creating an inclusive society.
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