聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Currently in the world there is an anti-Muslim rhetoric, which seems to be pervading every aspect of life and creating hostility amongst people 鈥� humans.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I think one of the biggest things I took away from post-secondary was the ability to enter a discussion calmly. In university, I learned that an opinion is just that, an opinion, and in a discussion a difference of opinions simply means you might learn something. It doesn鈥檛 matter if you agree or disagree with each other by the end, but being open to seeing something from a different perspective can give you a better understanding of a situation or topic.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 like Atticus Finch tells us in 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird,鈥� one of my favourite books: 鈥淵ou never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view鈥� until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A few years ago there was discussion around whether or not the RCMP should allow Sikhs to wear their traditional turban - dastaar. To be honest, at first I thought to myself, 鈥淣o, the uniform is the uniform. It鈥檚 rooted in tradition and is symbolically Canadian.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Then I began reading further on the topic and thinking about what it means to be Canadian. Canada was built on multiculturalism and this melting pot we call home is just that, a melting pot, where everyone of any religion, culture, etc鈥� is accepted and allowed to be who they are, so long as they aren鈥檛 endangering anyone else鈥檚 life. Was allowing Sikhs to wear their dastaars hurting anyone? Nope. In fact just a few months ago I read about how one individual, not part of the RCMP, but a Sikh who was wearing a dastaar, unravelled it to use as a rope to save a teenage girl from drowning.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Although Sikh rules dictate a man is not supposed to show his hair in public, he stated that the rules don鈥檛 apply in a life or death matter.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Just recently Sikhs in New York City have also been allowed to join the police 鈥� the NYPD 鈥� and wear their dastaars. In fact they鈥檝e been made blue and are affixed with a badge, which in photos looks very official. The reason? New York City has numerous Sikhs living in the city and to create a better rapport with citizens, to create a trust in the police, the NYPD wanted people to see themselves in the police force.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In Canada, although a story from 2016, recently shares of police cruisers from London, Ontario, with Arabic writing on them has caused concern鈥� however, police across Canada have actually been adding stickers with a variety of languages on them beginning in 2009: Vietnamese, Chinese, Persian, and Polish are others to name a few. However, people only seem concerned that Arabic writing is on the cruisers鈥� why?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If you look at the NYPD example and that they have populations of Sikhs, so making them feel welcome and as though they can trust the police, will make them more a part of the community鈥� well that looks an awful lot like adding different languages to police cruisers. It identifies them as police; people who protect the law for everyone because that is their job, whether or not they have personal views tending towards racism or anti-Muslim thoughts, police must put people first and if they don鈥檛, then they shouldn鈥檛 be an officer. You can鈥檛 pick and choose who to protect.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Creating an open and welcoming country, while still upholding the law is important鈥� and in Canada it鈥檚 unjust to discriminate against someone based on their religion, gender, etc鈥� So, no, 鈥渢hose people鈥� should not 鈥済o back to their country鈥� because they鈥檙e Canadians too. Yes, everyone in Canada should adhere to our Canadian laws, but we need to remember what those laws look like too. And being welcoming, like Canadians are thought to be, is important because it helps bond us as Canadians. Fearing 鈥渢he other鈥� has happened in the past鈥� and how did those instances turn out?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 We鈥檙e all people. Religions 鈥� despite the name 鈥� all look relatively similar when you study them, so why not respect each other and discuss differences. See what it looks like from their perspective.
