islamophobia Archives

The election of U.S. President Donald Trump has sparked anger, resentment, and hate — and people aren’t standing for it. In fact, they are doing even more. They are marching.

While 2017 is proving to be even worse than 2016, at least one good thing has sprung from it all. The continuous bigotry fuelled by American politics is bringing about a new age of activism.

As a millennial, I’ve never truly experienced the power of global activism. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve witnessed some powerful demonstrations over the last two decades. There was the Arab Spring, the lesser but effective Maple Spring and, of course, the Occupy movement. But, I’ve never seen so many people, from all walks of life — ethnicities, religious affiliations, and economic statuses — come together to condemn such a wide array of issues on a global scale.

On Feb. 4, over 5,000 people gathered in front of the United States Consulate in Toronto to protest the American immigration ban and Islamophobia. At the same time, thousands of people got together across Canada and overseas, all marching and chanting in unison: “No Muslim ban on stolen land.”

There were families with their children, students and seniors standing hand in hand, sharing samosas and taking photos of each other’s carefully crafted signs. When organizers asked the crowd to part so that the Muslim participants could be closer to the stage for a prayer, everyone did it. People smiled and opened their arms, leading their allies and fellow Canadians (or Canadian hopefuls) to the front, remaining silent while they prayed for those fallen in the Quebec mosque shootings a few weeks ago.

Above everything else, people were polite, inclusive, and tolerant — but also strong, powerful, and loud. It was truly something to witness.

In January, more than 60,000 people marched in Toronto — along with millions in the United States and throughout Europe — for women’s rights and to protest the inauguration of Trump, a man who has repeatedly used sexist remarks in speeches and disregarded the rights of women on the political stage. The march may have been the biggest demonstration in U.S. history.

I know what you are thinking. These are people who are just marching because “it’s cool”, right? They won’t actually work to enact change.

But this new age of activism is not limited to marching. Within hours of an executive order signed by President Trump, there are over a dozen Facebook events created for smaller, more pointed demonstrations indicating their displeasure over his political actions. American citizens are calling their representatives at every level of government, telling them what they think of the cabinet confirmations or a political document that was released. When the telephone voice mailboxes are full, people start using the fax machines to reach their political offices. A few people even tried to send their representatives pizzas with notes attached to them.

For example, so many people called their Senators regarding the confirmation of Betsy DeVos, the candidate for Secretary of Education, that she almost wasn’t confirmed. Two Republications changed their votes and the Vice President had to be the tiebreaker, a first in American history.

People are fired up. Normal citizens who never would have considered becoming politically active are making signs and marching to Capitol Hill. They are listening and they are informed. For the first time in my lifetime, people actually care. And not just specific groups of people — all people.

The west has forgotten the true meaning and functionality of democracy. Politicians are supposed to fight for their constituents, not for their own self-interest. If their constituents say they want them to vote against their party, technically, they should do it. That is how representative democracy works. A politician must represent the views of their constituents.

This concept has been lost, fuelled by the complacency and ignorance of a population willing to let other people run their country. But, with the rise of this new age of activism, that can change.

The Republicans (under the leadership of Trump) are forcing citizens to reconsider their own beliefs and be more aware of what they want of their country. Without meaning too, they are inspiring real democracy, a system in which the people decide what they want their politicians to do.

All I can say is this: stay strong my fellow democratic participants! Change will not happen over night. It will be a long process, and it will take a lot of screaming, chanting, marching, and phone calls to make our politicians remember that we, the people they serve, have a voice too.

But trust me, the end game will be worth it.

It’s been almost a week since news broke of the shooting and suicide bombing in Paris: 129 dead.

That Friday night, I got home from walking my dog and sat down in front of the television. It was cold outside, and my plan was to snuggle under a blanket and watch something trashy until my family got home. I turned on the television, which automatically tunes in to CP24, and heard the following words: “We still don’t know the condition of the 100 hostages, but our latest report has 30 people dead following the restaurant shooting in Paris. It is still unknown whether the disturbance at the soccer stadium is related.”

I ended up spending the entire night glued to CBC News. My computer was running a live-blog hosted by the Guardian, and my Twitter feed on my phone was lit up in #PrayForParis hashtags.

Simply put: since then, I’ve tried to avoid writing an article about the attack.

I was lost for words, but I also didn’t want to make the same mistakes as some media publications and members of the Twitterverse. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

Paris at night. Photo taken by Katherine DeClerq

It was only two months ago that I was in Paris, joyfully wandering the streets in the City of Lights, breathing in the Parisian lifestyle. It was an amazing experience. I wandered the twisted roads filled with shops and restaurants, drank wine, ate baguettes, visited museums, and saw the Eiffel tower. I got lost a few times, but luckily the people of Paris were nice enough to point me in the right direction. It’s important to know that when I say “people of Paris,” I mean people of every ethnicity. The kindest of them all was a Muslim man who showed us a short cut to the Eiffel tower.

My heart breaks when I hear about the racism and bigotry people are facing because of these terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut, and Baghdad. Politicians are screaming at each other for considering allowing refugees—people fleeing the very violence we just experienced—to enter their country. A mother was attacked when picking up her child from school, simply because she wore a hijab; a mosque in Peterborough was set ablaze with a molotov cocktail; and men and women are receiving letters in the mail from neighbours saying, “Canada is no place for immigrants. Go home.” The American media has been particular nasty to the Muslim community, asking them to “take responsibility” for the actions of a few extremists with ties to ISIS.

How is this Canada? How is this France, England, Germany, or the United States?

After a tragic event such as this one, time is our biggest ally. We may live in a 24-hour news cycle world, but that doesn’t mean we should rush to conclusions and continue to spread unfounded fear. Every time a mother is attacked, a mosque destroyed, or a man is falsely accused of being a terrorist, we add fuel to the fire. The people who killed 129 Parisians last Friday want us to turn on one another. They want Muslims to see the rest of the world as racist and islamophobic.

Let’s take some time. Sit back, breathe, and really think about what happened in Paris. Think of your neighbours and friends, some who may not be native to this country. In a world with a population of over 7 billion, there will be bad people. But, let’s not throw everyone with the same religion, skin colour, or beliefs into that categorization. Let’s not turn away those fleeing from violence, just because we are afraid. Chances are, in this political climate, they are more afraid than we are.

After taking a week to figure out how I feel following these tragic events, I’ve decided that I’m not going to #PrayForParis. Instead, I’m going to #PrayForTheWorld: Pray for a world of tolerance and acceptance, where no one feels afraid and everyone knows what it means to be loved. Lets not lose who we are and blindly follow the war cries.

Lets prove that we are better than that.

islamophobia

Thanks Trump! You just created a new age of activism.

Time is our biggest ally, Paris a week later