Crusade against ‘old white men’ divides us
The recent submission to your letter section entitled “Curmudgeon letter writers have lost their way” reveals two important and unsavoury side issues that have arisen in the Cowichan Valley and Canada, and need to be addressed. First, people do not seem to have completely understood the concept, despite several of your readers emphasizing it, that Canada upholds the practice of free speech. We are a western democracy, not a repressive dictatorship, are we clear on that?
Yet another tiring and inappropriate call by the author for you not to print letters he disapproves of proves that many people would prefer for us to be under some sort of P.C. totalitarian state. If there is any issue that we all ought be concerned about it is that! Thank goodness you at the Citizen are not bowing to the bullying spirit of that mandate.
Second, the reference to “old white men” is discriminatory and prejudicial. Around the world people are tiring of the “woke” P.C. crusade against so called “old white men.” It has now entered the realm of phobic hounding and is characteristic of this letter writer’s rhetoric and those who would support him. It is a bigoted term used by many to denigrate men and Westerners and is both inappropriate and wrong. In that sense it is also ageist and sexist and, as a result, deeply unappreciated. It is time to call this form of bigotry out for what it is.
Who do we include under the rubric of “old white men?” Wouldn’t that be almost every important western scientific, cultural and philosophic figure of the last millennium? Perhaps we should just erase the benefit of their work, after all, they were never “woke” enough were they? Before we do so though, we should consider the fact that it would result in the virtual disappearance of modern science and medicine and the destruction of the modern world.
The world has seen many great events, discoveries and cultural masterpieces from around the globe. They have all added to our world. This is an easily confirmable fact, but the hatred and bigotry against so called “old white men” is not one of them. It is a despicable sentiment that only divides and polarizes us. That is the central fact that both your readers and letter writers should bear in mind. Let’s hope they are not the only ones to do so.
Perry Foster
Duncan
