Sixteen lives were ultimately ended on a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team that was traveling on a Saskatchewan highway on Friday, April 6.
In the weeks since, support from around the province, across Canada and over the border has been nothing short of incredible and overwhelming; shows of solidarity and symbols of support in all forms, as well as a GoFundMe online crowdfunding campaign that raised an earth-shattering $15 million before it stopped (officially) taking donations.
In the face of a shocking and numbing epic tragedy, people banded around the families and friends of these sixteen people in a way that probably hasn鈥檛 been seen before, and who knows if it鈥檒l be seen again.
But then there was the tweet that made the blood boil of anyone who decided to read it.聽 The comment made by someone who decided to use the massive showing of support to further an agenda at the most wrongest of all the wrong times.聽 I know 鈥榳rongest鈥� isn鈥檛 even a word, but just this once, forgive the archaic grammar.
A freelance writer and self-described activist named Nora Loreto, whose work has appeared in the likes of 惭补肠濒别补苍鈥檚 magazine, took to her Twitter account to say the following after support for those grieving was starting to make headlines:
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to not get cynical about what is a totally devastating tragedy, but the maleness, the youthfulness and the whiteness of the victims play a significant role.鈥�
Ms. Loreto wrote this on April 8, just a little over 48 hours after the crash and before any families could even begin to think about burying their dead loved ones.
Well, Nora, I don鈥檛 want to appear 鈥渃ynical鈥� either, but I almost have to give you points for this tweet.聽 Even through a mindset that is appalling, attention-seeking and downright childish, you STILL managed to be racist, sexist and horrifically callous to scores of grieving people whose fractured minds and hearts hadn鈥檛 even registered that their loved ones were no longer living.
I believe it鈥檚 at this point where the 鈥榮arcastic slow clap鈥� would be justified.
I also believe this person gives a lot of us in the media a bad name with this kind of online behavior, but I also don鈥檛 want to make it about me.
Loreto goes on to suggest in other comments that her point was about wanting 鈥渏ustice and more鈥� for other grieving parents and communities.
In short, she was hoping to 鈥渟tart the conversation鈥� about other hot-button issues such as race, gender and diversity facing Canada and just decided to use the horrific deaths of 16 people as a kind-of springboard to jump into such a chat.
I don鈥檛 even really have any issue with the actual meat of what she鈥檚 talking about because those are legitimate discussions that are to be had in this day and age, but what made my blood boil about her comments was the arrogance that shone through in them, the horrific timing of them, and the senseless way that she chose to draw attention to her cause.
What Nora and others like her on the 鈥榟ard left鈥� side of the Canadian political/lifestyle spectrum fail to realize is that you don鈥檛 get a pass on saying such things because you claim to represent those who may be oppressed.聽 Any sort of race or gender-baiting only works to destroy your own credibility.
When this tragedy happened, no one looked at it through any sort of race or gender filter.聽 People didn鈥檛 see a 鈥渂us full of white people鈥�; they saw dads, brothers, uncles, sons, a sister, a daughter, and altogether, sixteen lives who should鈥檝e gone on down that highway to that hockey game that night.
There鈥檚 a lot to be cynical about in this world these days, but the aftermath of the Humboldt Broncos tragedy showed us that people are generally good, and in the event of such loss and adversity, people just want to find a way to help.
I suppose we just have to realize that in the event of any major crisis or tragedy, there's always going to be that ONE person who has to use it as a soapbox to try and spread a message at the absolute worst possible time, and who comes off as taking a horrific and heartless cheap shot at people who are at their most vulnerable; all in the name of 鈥渟tarting a conversation鈥� and probably sticking to the belief of 鈥渁ny publicity is good publicity.鈥�
The world will see more tragedy.聽 We鈥檒l likely see it again in this province at some point in the future.聽 But do me a favor, okay?
Don鈥檛 be 鈥榯hat person鈥�.聽 Don鈥檛 be Nora.
For this week, that鈥檚 been the Ruttle Report.
