We are a people that let the small things just go by because it's a little uncomfortable and nobody wants to ruffle a feather. If you're quiet and you're watching it, you're just as much at fault as the person there. You're watching a victim be berated and you're standing by, knowing that feeling in your gut that it's wrong. Now you have a tool in order to change that.
Don IvesonMainstream Canadians, what some might call the dominant culture, like to think this racism doesn't happen. It's important to remind people that it does and that we have work to do to end it.
Don IvesonThere is a certain amount of racist behaviour, a certain amount of this mindset, in the darker recesses of every community. It needs to be called what it is, which is vile and hateful. It's starting a national conversation, which is probably long overdue. Because we do, as a country, have an awkward problem with a certain amount of racism in the hearts of I believe a small number of people, but I still believe we have to chase it out.
Don Iveson