Coffee incident not overblown
Dear editor: Starbucks was not overblown, is my response to James Miller’s editorial (Courier, April 18).
Racism is far from over in predominantly white societies, and the U.S. and Canada are certainly not exempt.
My perspectives are based on what I saw on television and read. If Miller thinks when a man of colour walks in a public business, he does not automatically attract black and white visual attraction, not in vivid colours, I will not make it a federal case. I will be speaking from years of personal experiences in Kelowna, having published articles about the different forms of racism and their origin in professional journals, and presentations at Learned Societies conferences on several continents.
In the case of Starbucks, two black men walked in and sat down at a table, awaiting the arrival of a friend, and based on TV reporting, a white cat. One decided to go to the bathroom, was stopped, and told he could not because he had not ordered anything. Give me a break please, I badly need it.
Now Mr. Miller, has something like this ever happened to you in Canada?
I could write a book, based on my personal experiences in Kelowna for over 40 years. Now, I want to make something clear. It is about our younger generations and I will illustrate with just one example that drew tears to my eyes in downtown Bernard Ave. about three years ago.
I came out of the Grateful Fed (not handcuffed and dragged out by the police), and saw a bunch of school kids having fun. There were about 10 white kids and a black girl laughing their head off having a ball: happiness in living colours.
The response of the Philadelphia police, according to Miller, was typical — an over-reaction.
How often does one see over-reaction when it is a white cat and, shooting black kids is a regular occurrence? To make matter worse, cops get away scott free. I hasten to point out the majority of cops are fantastic. I personally could not recall a single negative event either in Canada or the U.S.
Those who may think I am overly sensitive, insecure or whatever, it is fine with me, and not my problem. It is theirs. And, it certainly would not from our delightful younger generation.
Mo Rajabally Kelowna