We have seen many instances over the years where the thinking of the day was challenged by forward thinkers with visions of a different and better way. Some of the ideas worked, while others failed miserably. They did not however, stand in judgement of their forefathers, but rather worked with what they had been given and improve upon it. They did not try to erase the mistakes of the past; they chose to learn from it and grow.
Historically, the world has had its share of atrocities, calamities, and horrors. Such a list could go on forever and end up painting a horrible picture of humanity. Or we can do what so many have done before us and remember our past and use it to improve our today for a better tomorrow. The past cannot be erased, eradicated, or escaped. I am reminded of a quote by George Santayana “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”. Today, this should be our battle cry for change.
This Canada Day choose to remember our past, accept it for what it was, not what it means to us today. Use it to spur on a new way of living, a new way of humans, being. As a country we stand together better today than we did yesteryear, and we can stand better tomorrow than we do today.
First, I would like to say that I appreciate your statement. We do need to learn from our past. We do need to acknowledge our failures and our achievements in order to move forward.
However, the children destroyed by Canada are not living in our history books: they are living now. The truths uncovered over the past few weeks are hurting people now. Racism in Canada is so ingrained we don’t even see it. We assume we are multicultural and inclusive, but we are not. It was only this week that Newfoundland banished the policy of hospital alarms which allowed social services to remove Indigenous children from the birth mother’s care as soon as they are born. Alarm practices…