The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
I can't count the number of people I've met over the years who, after moving to the Flin Flon area, were struck by how residents immediately made them feel at home. But the welcome mat isn't always rolled out so freely. If you're an aboriginal person in our communities, for instance, you're going to come face to face with a scourge most of society will never experience Ð racism. The last thing I want to do is paint everybody with the same brush Ð as racism does Ð but it's no secret that this rotten sentiment is a problem here. It may not be a huge issue, but no one can deny its existence. Racism can manifest itself in many ways. It can be as subtle as an assumption about someone we don't know. It can seem as innocent as an off-colour joke. Or it can be as blatant as a remark with no purpose other than to degrade. One aboriginal resident described for me an incident at a local establishment. A fellow patron looked over at the resident and her friends and shamelessly asked another person Ð out loud so everyone could hear Ð "What are these natives doing here?" "It was like it wasn't right for us to be there," the resident said. I'm not aboriginal, but I can say that comment is tame compared to some of the abhorrent statements I've heard. I'm not going to repeat them, but I'm sure it's nothing that hasn't entered your ears before. It seems most racism is rooted in generalizations. Does the aboriginal population as a whole have problems? Yes, but how can some or all of those problems be so haphazardly applied to an entire people? People who don't know the Flin Flon area might hear the term "mining town" and picture a rough and tumble place. Or someone sitting in Brandon reading The Reminder might look at a select few of our headlines Ð crack busts, arsons, burglaries and the like Ð and think, "I sure don't ever want to go there!" Do either of these assumptions tell the story about what a great place Flin Flon and area is? Absolutely not. Of course racism cuts both ways. I'm not naive enough to think it isn't also applied to non-aboriginal people. But which side do you think suffers the most? It's easy for certain members of the majority to belittle the minority. It's like the kid in school who everybody used to mercilessly pick on. What can he do other than begin to believe that somehow he isn't good enough for the rest of society? And that's the worst part about racism. Those inflicting it have no idea the hurt it can cause. They have no idea that, if even in a small way, it makes people feel isolated and only exacerbates problems already present. So to the vast majority in our communities who are inviting people, I say thanks for making this a great place for all of us to live. And to the minority who judge their fellow citizens based on skin colour, all I can say is that I'm disappointed society hasn't yet outgrown you. Local Angle runs Fridays.
