Member-only story
I forget what week of lock-down it is now.
Week 11? 12?
It almost doesn’t matter does it? The weeks and days have all blended into one long Groundhog Day type story that has yet to end. I wonder how future historians will reflect back on these troubled times. 2020 has thus far proven to be a (excuse my language) shitshow for many of us.
I live in Toronto. And although easing-up a little, Ontario’s state of emergency declaration has been extended till end of June. But word on the street says it may be September or after. Unlike a number of friends & contacts I know, I’m one of the lucky ones to be able to work remote and keep my job. I’m really grateful for this. And I’m grateful to be privileged enough to have access to a space where I’m safe. I can read, work, think and spend time outdoors. I have food, clean water… and I have toilet paper.
My heart has been really heavy this week thinking about all the riots, violence and happenings in the US. It’s been really difficult to focus on other things. I’ve seen the videos, heard the voices, educated myself on why this is happening. (FYI, Twitter has been an absolute war-zone. Super stressful. Although the K-pop stans’ take-over of racist hashtags did help to temporarily lighten the mood somewhat!)
The ugliness of centuries of suppressed racial discrimination has ferociously erupted into public awareness like a wildfire. I can’t imagine police just breaking into my home (wrong home by the way!) and shooting me. Or sitting in my car an extra 5mins, because I’m cognisant that someone outside might feel threatened by the colour of my skin. Thus I wait till they’re out of sight before getting out. These realities are not mine and probably never will be.
But they are for too many others.
The book I’m currently reading (Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman), indirectly supports the idea that racism is learned. Through popular media and outdated models of thought; both of which results in large-scale unconscious biases. So it’s an…
