What if he’d been Muslim?
Would reaction be different if man charged in incident had been Islamic?
Consider if Dale Robertson was a Muslim man who was recorded on video. Consider if the images of that Muslim man showed a similarly deranged look in his eyes and captured audio with the same vulgarities — most heinously the words, “I would kill your children first.”
What would you think? What would you say? And what would you be hearing and seeing in response?
Those questions confront all of Canada, not just the Hamilton region, following Robertson’s disturbing actions that were recorded and then uploaded to YouTube on Friday, shortly after an altercation in Stoney Creek. Robertson’s verbal and vehicular attack on Canadians of Indian origin comes in the aftermath of the murders in Toronto on July 22 that were perpetrated by a 29-year-old Muslim man with a history of mental-health issues who reportedly admitted years ago that he desired to kill.
In Friday’s video, recorded by the woman who Robertson struck with the Chevrolet Silverado he was driving, the 47-year-old Hamiltonian appears very much like a man waiting for an opportunity. He apparently got it in the parking lot of a Walmart. The woman started to record his behaviour shortly after her husband and Robertson began an argument over a parking spot. Robertson mocked and chastised the man while running into the woman, who was treated and released from hospital for minor injuries.
Having demonstrated overt hatred for people of another race and expressing enthusiasm for his beliefs, Robertson faces criminal charges. He may also face a civil lawsuit should the couple choose to take legal action. But the impact of his actions is more far reaching. This altercation represents more than a squabble that got out of hand.
Robertson vs. the Immigrants is a microcosm for the tension that is building in Canadian communities. Fingers are pointing at immigrants, with the most ferocious critics blaming them for much of the woes that face the nation and declaring that the country can’t handle any more people, even though statistics show that the number of immigrants who arrive each year offsets the approximately 270,000 Canadians who annually pass away.
When the name of Faisal Hussain, the accused shooter responsible for the deadly carnage on the Danforth in Toronto, was released, social media erupted with polarizing comments, several of which were focused on his ethnic origin. The Toronto shooting warranted overwhelming response and commentary; Robertson’s actions do as well. Not the same amount, certainly, but far more than the scant few tweets it received
Those actions would be called terrorism by commentators focused on race if the man’s ethnicity and religion fit the script.
as of Saturday night.
A man drove a car into a woman, threatened death to children, and proudly declared hate for another race. Those actions would be called terrorism by commentators focused on race if the man’s ethnicity and religion fit the script. Similarly, Alexandre Bissonnette’s murders of six people in a mosque in Quebec — and the political and social leanings that played a role in that attack in January 2017 — would have been as vehemently decried as the Toronto shooting by anyone concerned solely about the safety of all Canadians.
What Robertson’s vile behaviour has done is again fracture the image of harmony Canada wants to project. That image can be made true when prejudice is removed from our debates. If you shrug off Robertson’s actions as those of a stressed-out guy who lost his cool, would you be as conciliatory if he was a Muslim man? And if not, why not?