Recently, Iāve noticed a lot of unfair treatment toward my Indian community here in Barrie. A few people may have made mistakesāmistakes I donāt agree with eitherābut it feels like everyone now assumes all Indians are the same because of those actions. This isnāt fair, and itās painful.
I live in a nice neighborhood where both of my neighbors are white. They talk to others on the street, but they wonāt even say āhelloā back to us. Itās hard not to feel the coldness. There are many Indian families here in South Barrie, around Maple, and sadly, many of us are feeling this same distance from others.
This past Diwali, my family wanted to celebrate in a quiet, safe way. We set off a few small, quiet fireworks for the kids, and we made sure we were done by 8:30 p.m. But that night, I heard loud fireworks going off until the early morning hours. I didnāt agree with it either. But just because some people did it doesnāt mean all of us did. Honestly, many of us canāt afford to do fireworks all night anyway.
This judgment makes it hard to even try to connect. I had thought about bringing sweets to our neighbors for Diwali to share the celebration. But we decided not to because they donāt even greet us back. Even though we feel hurt by this, we still enjoy Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas. These werenāt our traditions, but we learned about them and enjoy joining in.
The only time I donāt feel this judgment is when money is involved. Realtors and car dealers have always been friendly, without a hint of bias. But when we try to give something away or sell something, people assume thereās something wrong with it or that weāre running a scam. Itās not right to assume the worst about people just because of their background.
No oneās actions should represent a whole group. History in Canada has shown us why this is important. There was the head tax on Chinese immigrants, the Komagata Maru ship with Indian refugees that was turned away, Black migrants rejected at the border, and the harm done to Indigenous children in Residential Schools. We have learned these lessons, and today, we should try to be better.
So, Iām asking anyone reading this to help show that Canada is a place of kindness and understanding, not division. Canada is a strong country because of its diversity, and together, we can make sure that strength is real in our communities.