No room for people with ignorant views
“I love a parade, the tramping of feet, I love every beat I hear of a drum.
I love a parade, when I hear a band I just want to stand and cheer as they come.” — excerpt of I Love A Parade
A parade will move down Welland’s East Main Street Sunday afternoon as Feast Street Niagara, the new food festival, is in full swing. But will anyone notice, and if they do, will they care?
Paul Turner thinks the answer to both is yes.
The retired teacher is known for having a finger on the pulse of the community.
He is observant, involved and socially aware. He was not named Niagara Region’s humanitarian of the year in 2016 for living his life under a cabbage leaf oblivious to what is happening around him.
The upcoming event is being called CEED of Hope. It’s catchy and it’s meaningful: Celebrate Embrace Equality Diversity. The seed started growing in Turner’s mind a few months back.
“I’d like to get as many people from as many walks of life as possible,” Turner, one of the organizers, was saying over a steak on a crusty roll and a bottle of Molson’s Ex at The Rex one afternoon last week. “We want to celebrate that Welland is an inclusive community.”
As he did for It’s All Welland Good a few years ago, Turner cobbled together a committee of likeminded people and groups. They share the same view: bigotry and racism are rearing their ugly heads, not just south of the border but also in this country, in this province, in this community, and they won’t be tolerated here.
“We’re going to have this parade and it will send a message to those people that there’s no place for this kind of thinking and action in Welland. Welland is not a place for racism and bigotry.”
He says Welland Heritage Council and Multicultural Centre and the Downtown BIA (organizer of Feast Street Niagara) came on board quickly. Over time, confirmation of participation came from: Hope Centre, Notre Dame drum line, Niagara College international students, Notre Dame international students, Centennial Secondary international students, a Palestinian group, Syrian group, Sudanese, Honduran, Haitian, Indian, the elderly and PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). He says volunteers are still working on more than a dozen ethnic and community groups and are hopeful of parade commitments from several if not more. Welland and Canadian flags will be carried along the route.
Turner says communities cannot be indifferent about the rising up of hate and violence against visible and invisible minorities. Not taking a stand encourages hatemongerers to become more bold, he says.
“A lot of hate groups feel more comfortable because of what’s happening in the U.S. We want to counteract what’s happening there and here but not with confrontation and conflict. We want to do it with love, non-violence and acceptance. We want to tell our community we have to move past ignorance and racism and discrimination.”
Sima Nahli, a settlement counsellor at the heritage council office and a committee member, says yes, definitely there is need for an event like the parade.
“Things have changed a lot in the last couple decades and unfortunately in the world we live in today, it has become OK to make certain judgments towards particular groups of people. We need this in order to promote unity and friendship, in order to show off the beautiful mosaic we have in Welland and its surrounding cities and be an example to others that bigotry and hate will not stand, that love and inclusivity is what makes a city like ours great.” Nahli is hoping for a domino effect: residents in other cities will be inspired to feel a sense of belonging in this country and then maybe start a CEED of Hope parade in their own respective communities.
I asked Nahli if she knows of racism and bigotry in our community.
“I have witnessed on a few occasions people from the community say things like, ‘Why didn’t they just move within their own country?’ ‘Why are they using our taxpayer dollars?’ ‘Those terrorists are coming and taking our jobs.’ If employers see that your name is not what you would call a modern, western name, people don’t feel as confident going to job interviews. And women that wear the headscarf have come to me feeling discriminated against.
“Just recently there was a hate crime involving a lesbian couple right here in our city. My closest friend is a lesbian, and I couldn’t imagine the pain I would feel if someone threatened her because of who she is. People don’t choose to be white, black, brown, gay, straight, transgender, disabled, etc. This is what makes us who we are and we need to learn to embrace all walks of life, no matter their faith, their gender preference or the colour of their skin. This is a city that celebrates its differences, and there is no room for anyone with ignorant views.”
I asked Turner if he will be disappointed if the parade goes by ignored by Feast Street revellers who might be more interested in pleasing their palate than they are in sating their social conscience.
“People might not respond initially as we go past but even if they go home and say, ‘That (parade) was a good thing for Welland today, we have to be more proactive about what’s happening,’ that will be a win-win, that’s for sure.”
The parade will get underway at 3 p.m. after forming up in the parking lot behind city hall, following Courthouse Lane to Dorothy Street, then right onto East Main for Feast Street festivities. East Main Street will be closed for the two-day weekend festival, from Hellems Avenue to King Street.