I have been debating within my own head for a while if this picture you’ll see below deserves to be put up on the Internet.
But in light of this time of month when we recognize the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and brace ourselves for annual anti-racism rallies (sometimes white supremacists show up, sometimes they don’t – anti-racists in Calgary anticipate they won’t this year), maybe we can help achieve the goal of eliminating discrimination by seeing and understanding how and where forms of hate are expressed, as ugly as it may be to see.
I snapped this picture in a job-site porta-potty somewhere in either northern Calgary or Airdrie (I can’t remember where) during the early-January cold snap.
Now, nine years in drywall finishing on-and-off has made me bear witness to a lot of stupid racist jokes and swastika scribbles and all that crap, but this is just plain hateful vile, not to mention the Amanda Todd reference is an incredibly low blow.
The fellow who (presumably) penciled “F**” in response used a homophobic word, so that seems more like countering hate with hate more than anything.
It’s nice to see “[P-word]” calling this jerk out though, in his own way.
Jerks who write this sort of racist drivel also perpetuate another stereotype that personally concerns me: That we construction workers are just a sad bunch of uneducated, high-school drop-out losers in life.
We’re not all like that. Thinking that we all are is unfair. Maybe the young man building your house is maybe a well-informed and respectable citizen who just enjoys a blue-collar career? Or a college student needing some cash?
There are other “isms” out there as well, such as sexism and classism.
To the ignoramus who scribbled the single, lowest and most offensive piece of hateful garbage that I’ve seen in my years working in Calgary residential construction: Your actions don’t help to fight the stereotype that we’re all just a bunch of stupid hicks.
To [P-word]: The fellow servicing these porta-potties was probably miffed all the same he had to clean up or scrape off your scribble too, but it’s a glimmer of hope.
Pronounced [FLOO-G] 