Dear editor:

I write, reluctantly, in response to Joey Ho’s letter in your June 3 edition, “Erasing racism dismisses pain, inequities of racialized people,” reacting to my letter the week before, “Let tolerance and harmony reign.”

I am not particularly surprised by her reaction, but still disappointed. We share a common objective, the ultimate end to “racism” (“bigotry/ignorance,” as I termed it) in all its forms.

Ms. Ho agrees that there is only one, universal, human “race” and no basis for any other “race” categorizations.

I did not and would not dismiss the many manifestations and consequences of racism that exist, like those catalogued in Ms. Ho’s letter. I acknowledged these in my letter, “our definite, persisting national failures, flaws and imperfections.”

I recognized that an end to racism will not happen quickly, nor easily, “… regrettably, I will not hold my breath …”  A lot of dialogue, reconciliation, change, effort, struggle will be required for a long time.  

To me, “dismissing” one’s allies/supporters in a common cause more or less as unconscious abettors of racism is not a positive approach toward achieving our shared goal; hence, my disappointment.

Differences between our views are about semantics only, not substance or essence. I do consider myself colourblind: i.e. race, skin colour (including green with purple stripes) and other stereotypes, do not matter to me in dealing with individuals, and I have lived in Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.  

That colourblindness does not equate to being blind to racism. I attended the Black Lives Matter rally at which Sue Batson Patterson spoke (photo accompanying Ms. Ho’s letter). To me, colourblindness would be a natural component of a non-racialized world, our common objective.

My semantic thoughts on alternatives to racism and derivatives partly reflect a concern that the latter may, in fact, serve to reinforce divisions and the notion that “race matters” in human nature. To me, “bigotry” and “ignorance” are stronger and more apt to describe “racism.” Also, they encompass more than just inequities based on colour.

Finally, let me reiterate that I believe Ms. Ho and I have much more in common than we have by way of differences.

Rick Kirby
NOTL