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25
Feb
2022
Thursday February 24, 2022
Oliver is a peaceful little town of 5,000, nestled in the south end of the Okanagan Valley. Earlier this month, though, an apparently racist incident outside the high school made headlines. While a “Freedom” rally went on outside the school, a young mother was caught haranguing a student. The video clip where she directed profanity and racial slurs at a high school girl has since gone viral.
She has been fined. She has apologized. The regional newspaper has published her letter expressing regret.
Even so, one sentence in that letter caught my attention: “My intent was never to cause anyone any harm.”
Right there is the problem with prejudice. We -- speaking generally here -- seem to assume that prejudice has to have some kind of ill intent.
The essence of prejudice, in fact, is the failure of the persons expressing prejudice to recognize that their words and actions HAVE any ill intent, that they may cause harm -- or pain, or humiliation -- to someone else.
Categories: Soft Edges
Tags: Prejudice, victims