Captive in Canada

Injustice in Canada (3)

27-oct-07

3) Nature of Prejudice

Before we continue in this series of events, I would like to remind you of the great story by John Grisham “Time to kill”. Remember the speech of the young lawyer, at the end of the story, defending a black guy, whose daughter was raped and beaten by bunch of white men, and who were sentenced by white juries and defended by a white lawyer in the American south during mid 50s? The words that came out of that lawyer represent a truth that lays inside so many of us, toward some one else that is different; different in color, different in religion, different in culture, different in sex, but in general, just different. The problem with prejudice is that we see others differently. Then we try to convince ourselves that we should not see them that way. It doesn’t work that way. It never did. A true unbiased person sees people the same way, right from the beginning. He doesn’t try to change his feelings. He just confirms it.

There is another problem associated with prejudice- that is labeling. We can label certain “different” people with a label that would make us more comfortable with the feeling of prejudice toward them. It’s a common psychological conciliation with one’s self. That is why we have to be very careful with the labels we impose on people that are different. It’s a recipe for prejudice and injustice.

Like what that lawyer said, just imagine the terrible events that happened to that black girl were actually done to a white one. Does this change the way of our approach to the crime? The answer, as we see it in our “terror case”, is YES.
The New Cons, specifically the Evangelicals, first, believed that Muslims are “the anti-Christ” and the “devil”. Then they labeled them as “terrorists” to help convince the public of how Muslims are bad and how they are different.  Then they waged the faked war on “terrorism” on all fronts- culturally, economically, politically and militarily. We will come back to details of this multifaceted war on the “other” later.

However, the point conveyed here is that we might practically be prejudiced against the other while we are psychologically convinced we are just and fair. It is the power of prejudice and the effect of labeling. If these items confiscated by the RCMP were found in the possession of any other person that is not Muslim, or labeled as a terrorist, it would be a joke to hold him for one minute. You wouldn’t even find a judge that gives a search warrant for such items. If the events that are being laid against those 18 “different” people were made against regular white Christian offenders, they wouldn’t stay in jail over night without granting bail. However, the Label “terrorism” was used, after being legalized and converted into Law, to lock these individuals in solitary confinement for 15 months, and deny every one of them a bail that is being granted to actual killers, rapists and child molesters. It is the Power Prejudice.

To be continued….

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October 27th, 2007 Opinions | no comments | Email it! |  Print This Post | 152 views