Once again – It’s time for open, loving, respectful dialogue about racism in Canada and the U.S.
“Not by my power, nor by my might, but by my Spirit says the Lord.”*
MAY 29, 2020 – Society. Justice. Culture. Ethics. GOD. BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION – That’s our tagline at Context – created by Lorna Dueck many years ago.
It stands today and forever that we must seek God and justice in our culture.
Racism isn’t going away. Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Racism is real in the U.S. and Canada.”
It certainly is – and we all need to be – part of the conversation.
On the heels of several devastating events of American black lives lost to police brutality, and riots in Minneapolis, reminiscent of the tragic Rodney King riots of 1992 in Los Angeles – here in Canada – alleged instances of abuse by police are surfacing yet again.
Several news reports today allege that 29 year old, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, was alone with police inside her family’s apartment before she fell 24 floors to her death from her balcony in High Park. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/regis-paquet-balcony-toronto-1.5588318
CBC reports that Korchinski-Paquet’s mother called police, “around 5:15 p.m. after a conflict left the 29 year-old in, “distress.”
CBC also reported that Korchinski-Paquet’s pastor, Roy Dawson of Peace and Community Church of Jesus Christ said, Korchinski-Paquet was an active member of his congregation who came to virtually every church cookout.”
“She (Regis) was a delight,” he said. “She was very kind. She’d give you anything. She’d give you the shirt off her back if she had to.” Dawson said he was getting ready for a virtual Bible study when he got a call from family members saying, “Please come now. She’s dead.’ I was hoping it was not true,” he said. Like the family, Dawson has questions about just what happened. “What happened for her to be on the ground? The sad thing is I couldn’t get that answer because it was only police and her alone in the apartment. And for me, that makes me really uneasy.“
In another Canadian incident – this one in Durham, Ontario , in June of 2019 – Global TV revealed a video that surfaced of officers appearing to punch a 16 year old black teenager.
In an interview with Global News, the teen’s grandfather, Anthony McIntosh re-visited the site in Whitby where it happened. McIntosh told Global News, “I’m saying to myself, if that officer had put a little more pressure to his neck, he could have been in the same position Mr. Floyd had been in.”
These incredibly divisive and tragic events demand discussion – Open, loving, honest, dialogue. Tune-in next week on Context as Maggie John speaks with a group of Asian Canadians, and an Asian American – plus two African Canadians, and Indigenous women who all speak into this incredibly serious issue facing our world.
Sources:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/regis-paquet-balcony-toronto-1.5588318
https://globalnews.ca/news/6994273/police-brutality-durham-family-reaction/
*ZECHARIAH 4:6
