Dear Editor,
Many people in our community are aware of a series of recent events that has sparked a conversation about racism in our society, and in particular on Bowen Island. I wish to commend all those with the courage to address this sometimes deeply uncomfortable and potentially divisive topic, however it has affected them or their friends and loved ones.
Some people apparently believe that we don’t have issues with racism here on Bowen Island, but it is important to understand that this is belief is created by privilege and our lack of awareness does not mean these issues aren’t real and significant.
In my experience of trying to grapple with racism, I’ve come to see that most white people (myself included) are very easily triggered into guilt and defensiveness when the subject of racism is brought up. I believe this is because we carry a great deal of ancestral grief and pain about what has happened to people of colour at the hands of white people, even though we are not to blame in any way.
One of the barriers towards improving our awareness about racism is that when some brave individuals speak out to bring attention to the impacts of racism in our mainly white community, they get singled out as “the problem,” a classic case of shooting the messenger. As a community, we owe it to ourselves to get educated about diversity and inclusion.
We might start by asking ourselves why it is that, even though the population of Vancouver is nearly half non-Caucasion, so very few non-white people choose to make their home on Bowen Island. In the 23 years I have lived here, I’ve known several mixed-race families who have moved here and then moved away again, one of them just a few months ago. It’s possible that not all of those families left because they did not feel included, but I know for certain that some of them did.
There’s been a lot of focus recently on the lack of affordable housing and its effect on our economic diversity. Everyone agrees that it’s a sad situation when people have to leave the island as they can no longer afford to live here. I believe it is equally sad, and a great loss to our community, when people choose to leave the island as they do not feel welcome here due to their skin colour, and their unwillingness to stay quiet about it.
If anyone cares to discuss anyone of the foregoing with me, I’d be more than happy to have a conversation with you. My number is in the phone book. Call me anytime.
Sincerely,
Shasta Martinuk
