This past weekend there was a minor disturbance in the bowels of little old Halifax. Seems we have a statue in a park dedicated to Edward Cornwallis, who besides being the "founder" of Halifax was a bit of a, how do I put this? a feral beast that offered rewards for Mi'kmaq scalps. Actually decreed this. Nice eh? Fucking people, doesn't matter what generation it is there are douche bags through out them all.
So one can understand how indigenous people today could be upset with statues and schools and streets named after this clown and many others. Our entire country is littered with this type of objections glorifying and the original Canadians have a right to be upset about it. Not to mention all manner of large and small injustices that have stained the soul of our country when it comes to the deplorable treatment that indigenous people have suffered. Obviously we still have a lot of work to do.
Having said this I guess I question the action that this group of people wanted to take. In their words, the statue is coming down. They have had all they can stand and they won't stand anymore. I'll admit I am torn by this. On the one hand, I get it, as far as I, as a non native person, can get it. That statue symbolizes oppression and it stands there as a testament to his "greatness". It should come down. On the other hand, it isn't the only thing he accomplished in his life. He is woven into the history of the city the same as John A MacDonald would be for the country...and he was no saint either.
Do we run the risk of sanitizing our past in the name of reconciliation? Maybe there is a better way of achieving that outcome while addressing everyone's concern. It's our past, it happened and there is no denying it....maybe we can use this and other instances to educate, a way of ensuring this kind of thing doesn't happen again.
The Germans teach about the Holocaust and what their grandparents did during the Nazi regime. I'm sure that's not a comfortable subject at the dinner table over bratwurst and beer. So tell me Grandpa Wilhelm....were you a brown shirt wearing, goose stepping Nazi fuck back in the day? We learned today that you killed a lot Jews for being, well, Jewish...what do you have to say about that? If the Germans can learn to live with the shame that uncle Adolph brought on them, then so should we for all of our misguided attempts at assimilation and extermination.
It's uncomfortable and painful to think of our perfect little country being imperfect in some way, but again...that is our past. So, along with the smugness over Tommy Douglas and Terry Fox, we have to come to terms with Ryerson and Cornwallis.
The old adage that you can't know where you're going if you don't know where you came from certainly comes to mind, in addition, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Woven into our collective tapestry there are a lot of blood stained strands, we have to accept them as our past, learn from them and ensure that we never repeat them.
That's my two cents worth.
Ciao
D
Having said this I guess I question the action that this group of people wanted to take. In their words, the statue is coming down. They have had all they can stand and they won't stand anymore. I'll admit I am torn by this. On the one hand, I get it, as far as I, as a non native person, can get it. That statue symbolizes oppression and it stands there as a testament to his "greatness". It should come down. On the other hand, it isn't the only thing he accomplished in his life. He is woven into the history of the city the same as John A MacDonald would be for the country...and he was no saint either.
Do we run the risk of sanitizing our past in the name of reconciliation? Maybe there is a better way of achieving that outcome while addressing everyone's concern. It's our past, it happened and there is no denying it....maybe we can use this and other instances to educate, a way of ensuring this kind of thing doesn't happen again.
The Germans teach about the Holocaust and what their grandparents did during the Nazi regime. I'm sure that's not a comfortable subject at the dinner table over bratwurst and beer. So tell me Grandpa Wilhelm....were you a brown shirt wearing, goose stepping Nazi fuck back in the day? We learned today that you killed a lot Jews for being, well, Jewish...what do you have to say about that? If the Germans can learn to live with the shame that uncle Adolph brought on them, then so should we for all of our misguided attempts at assimilation and extermination.
It's uncomfortable and painful to think of our perfect little country being imperfect in some way, but again...that is our past. So, along with the smugness over Tommy Douglas and Terry Fox, we have to come to terms with Ryerson and Cornwallis.
The old adage that you can't know where you're going if you don't know where you came from certainly comes to mind, in addition, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. Woven into our collective tapestry there are a lot of blood stained strands, we have to accept them as our past, learn from them and ensure that we never repeat them.
That's my two cents worth.
Ciao
D
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