Leaders can do more to confront hate, violence

I took note of the recent charges laid against a woman in Oshawa for allegedly assaulting and threatening death and bodily harm to three identifiable Muslims. Actions like these are dramatic expressions of xenophobia and the manifestation of one of our most hard-wired psychological characteristics. We tend to distrust those who are not like us – a primitive response designed to help ensure our safety. When we fear others, we effectively dehumanize them, facilitating separation. The way we define our circle of acceptance becomes more precise; it shrinks the number of those with whom we associate and it reduces our scope of empathy. The reinforcing beliefs of fellow cultural travellers make it easier to exaggerate threats and contemplate aggression.

In some ways, news of hate crimes does not cause the alarm it once did. Its repetition and frequency have weighed on the collective psyche, increasingly desensitizing us and permitting a solace that argues that actions like these are nothing more than cultural aberrations ... isolated events that neither correctly define nor properly represent our community.

Then Statistics Canada tells us otherwise. Last week, the federal agency reported that the number of police-reported hate crimes against Muslims in Canada jumped by 60 per cent in 2015 over 2014. There were 159 anti-Muslim incidents reported, up from 99 the year before. Over the years 2012 to 2015, the number of policereported hate crimes targeting Muslims increased dramatically by 253 per cent, despite the number of all hate crimes decreasing over the period. The National Council of Canadian Muslims reports that its own data indicates further increases in 2016.

While the largest increase in religious-based hate crimes was against Muslims, (60 per cent) Jewish people faced the highest incidence of hate crimes despite a 16 per cent drop in the overall number of those crimes over two years. Sadly, those accused of such crimes are most likely to be under the age of 18. In terms of racial or ethnicbased crimes – the most common motivator for hate crimes – black Canadians were targeted most frequently and have been since 2006.

How does Peterborough fare? In a word, horribly. At 7.4 police-reported hate crimes per 100,000 people, the Peterborough Census Metropolitan Area was the fourth worst hate crime community in the country in 2015, coming in at almost double the national average. That community includes the City of Peterborough, the townships of Cavan Monaghan, Selwyn, DouroDummer and Otonabee-South Monaghan, Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations. And we are not getting better: we have been among the top four Canadian hate crime communities since 2011.

We need to care enough to change this. We need to take race, religion and minority community relations seriously. It is no longer sufficient to dismiss our status as the consequence of individual aberration, fringe activists or out-of-towners. It is no longer sufficient to imagine that our high numbers are the result of better police reporting practices. It is no longer sufficient to acquiesce to the good old boy culture. We have met the enemy and he is us.

A community problem requires leaders to step up and engage people in practical problem solving. Business leaders understand that a hate crime culture inhibits economic migration and investment. Cultural leaders understand that diversity and alternate experiences are cornerstones of a successful art scene.

Mayors and the county warden need to find the courage to speak up, overcome the status quo, and do their best to confront a persistent hate crime culture. The city’s chair of the diversity portfolio, Coun. Dean Pappas, needs to do something; a community forum would be a good place to start.