AuDN4T

This is something I have a very hard time understanding.

Maybe because I live in a bubble? Where I think diversity is so important to us. Where you learn so much from others. Is Toronto a weird world where we are cool with diversity and celebrating each other’s cultures? Surely there are other Canadian cities that are diverse?

I get angry that Europe or these select countries that are not ok with refugees and treat them harshly. Who do you think the people who came to Canada and the US were? Who fled communism? Who fled the Kosovo War? Were these people treated differently? Yes. Many didn’t know English. Many had to learn from scratch. Many had to learn how to live with different cultures. Many people never met so many different people from all over the world. And these are your compatriots.

I think about Mustafa Nayyem – significant person in Ukrainian history of Euromaidan. His family left Afghanistan following the Soviet invasion. He could have been treated differently (and I hope he was not). Their family contributed so much to Ukraine. His brother has fought in the war with Russia and was injured. The Nayyem family may not be Ukrainian by blood but they are Ukrainian by soul (sounds better when you say it in Ukrainian).

I think about ethnic Russians who live in Ukraine and they’re so proud to be Ukrainian. I’ve never seen someone fiercely defend the Ukrainian language like Kasha Saltsova (I know that’s her pseudonym, but I appreciate it and her as person). She has done so much for Ukrainian culture and music.

I think about my Twitter friend, Anna, who I met up with years later. She tweeted about Euromaidan and tried to get the facts out about what was going on while us Ukrainians abroad had a hard time getting the most up-to-date info. She’s such a cool person… and a huge fan of Kyiv. And no one bats an eye that she’s also Russian. She is so proud of where she comes from… where she wouldn’t even leave the city to be in a safe place (I know – I offered her to stay with my family in Poland). You can meet some of the coolest people online. Yes – it can be sketchy. But if you can verify who they are – you could meet some really close friends.

I think about Myroslava Gongadze. Her husband was killed for reporting on facts on the government as a journalist. She did not feel safe in Ukraine with her kids and had to flee to the US. From the US, she would report under Voice of America. Imagine your spouse being brutally murdered and they only found their body but not their head.

You have no idea what refugees have gone through. Their worth as a human being is no different from yours. What separates you from them is your circumstances and their circumstances.

I think about this hatred towards Muslims and people of colour in Europe… what do you think happens when you fled a war and you hope to find a safe space? What do you think happens when the west constantly causes war in their homeland? Anger? What do you think happens when Muslims get scapegoated and treated with the same rhetoric that Trump uses – that they’re all rapists. How is this any different from how Jews were treated prior to the Holocaust?

What do you think happens when people are welcoming of you? Do you think their attitudes might change?

If it’s that you use religion – what would Jesus say if you treated the way you treat these refugees or people different from you? What do the Beatitudes say? I think about this – this is something we’d sing in church on Sundays. The priest would walk around the church with the kids (who would hold up paper candles…. and later battery operated candles)… the words always stuck out to me.

Do we truly believe in those words? Or do we just believe in them when we think it’s acceptable or in our favour?

What about the commandments? Love thy neighbour? Is it just some neighbours and not all neighbours? Neighbours you favour?

Again – you have no idea who you might meet that is different from you and you miss out on an amazing friendship because you think skin colour is an issue for you.