Fady Dagher was born in Lebanon, grew up in Cote d'Ivoire and came to Canada as a young man. He was a police officer in the city of Montreal for many years and a few years ago was hired as chief of police for the city of Longueil. A couple of months ago he became … Continue reading Me? Prejudiced? How is that possible?
prejudice
Confused churches
Louis Riel, the 19th century Métis leader, was troubled by the things he experienced from the churches of his day. He read in the Bible about a Church of Jesus Christ that was characterized by love and peace. What he saw in both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches was oppression and pride. The churches … Continue reading Confused churches
WASP to Woke
In my school days, over 60 years ago, I learned that anyone who wasn't a WASP was less than the ideal Canadian. WASP stood for White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant. I could check all the boxes, and felt good about it. What I received in school was an indoctrination into the Orange Order perception of Canada and … Continue reading WASP to Woke
But they are different from us
When I was a boy I read historical novels by Canadian and English writers. The hero was always English, honest, brave, generous and kind. Other people were shifty-eyed, dishonest, traitorous scoundrels. As I was an English Canadian, I accepted this as self-evident truth. Later I learned to read French and found historical novels in that … Continue reading But they are different from us
The Church of God is not racist
But members sometimes do and say inappropriate things Several weeks ago the French news magazine Le Point carried an interview with a man who had come to France in his youth from Togo. The title of the article was France is not racist, a point of view staunchly upheld by the man being interviewed, although … Continue reading The Church of God is not racist
Point of View, Paradigms and Prejudice
Years ago I was stopped at a red light on Weber Street in Kitchener, Ontario. I was in the right lane, beside me in the left lane was a police cruiser. There were no other vehicles in sight. Then I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw an old black car coming around the … Continue reading Point of View, Paradigms and Prejudice
What happened to the dream?
“I have a dream!” As Reverend Martin Luther King, Junior spoke those words in 1963, millions around the world dared to dream with him of a better day; a day when outward differences would lose their power to divide us; a day when we could all join hands to work together, to pray together. That … Continue reading What happened to the dream?
Poverty + Prejudice ≠ Hopelessness
Some years ago I read an article in Ebony magazine written by a man who had grown up in one of the worst black tenement ghettos in Chicago. Drug dealing, crime and violence were the everyday reality and the police felt the area was too dangerous to send in individual officers to patrol. Like almost … Continue reading Poverty + Prejudice ≠ Hopelessness
An abundance of geese
I asked my wife this morning if we should take today to go to the city for the things we needed, or if another day would be better. Then we got a message that the electricity would be turned off in our area from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. That was our answer. School was … Continue reading An abundance of geese
Black Threads in Our Tapestry
This is Black History Month, so I decided to tell about some little-known aspects of Saskatchewan's history. The first people in Saskatchewan were those we now refer to as Indigenous: The Dené, Cree, Saulteaux (pronounced So-toe), Dakota, Lakota and Nakota. Then came the French and Scottish fur traders and explorers. Some of them stayed, took … Continue reading Black Threads in Our Tapestry
Flatlander Faith 