Fools Rush In....

It seems modern readers are surprised that Atticus Finch expresses what in today's terms would be defined as racist sentiments. Should we be surprised that he is a child of his time. After all the writers of the Bible took slavery for granted. I grew up with the rhyme:

“Eenie Meenie Miney Mo

Catch a Nigger by the Toe”

and the saying, “nigger in the woodpile”.

Today even the word Negro is freighted with such baggage that a black Canadian Writer had to change the title, “The Book of Negros” before it was considered saleable in the US.

The Civil War is associated with the struggle in the South to preserve the institution of Slavery. The Confederate Flag used by the breakaway states is seen as expressing Southern defiance of their defeat and the advancement of Civil Rights. Suddenly flying it and its appearance on cars and other chattels is seen as objectionable.

I would judge a man by his actions. Atticus Finch took the case of a black man accused of molesting a white despite the probable damage to his professional reputation and the risks to his family. His treatment of Calpurnia and their mutual respect speaks volumes.

Similar broodings rumble near the surface on my side of the border. The French may have lost the battle on the Plains of Abraham but the province's motto is “Je Me Souviens”, I remember. I just drove by the sign on HWY 20 marking Quebec City as the National Capital Region and once again noted that Quebec Provincial Parks are termed National Parks. The premier of the province is referred to as Prime Minister and everyone has their nose rubbed in the struggle to eradicate English from the province. It continues in the province's insistence on opting out of the Federal Pension Plan and their squawking at any Federal move seen as an intrusion on provincial jurisdiction.

Do we gain anything by over-reacting to these provocations? Dose allowing rhetoric and emotion to boil over do anything to resolve long-standing contentions? Is not inclusivity more productive than argumentation. Cannot we allow the past to be the past and move on. Does over-reaction do anything to resolve matters? Would it not be smarter to choose our battles: like low minimum wages, discriminatory hiring practices, weak labour codes.