Recently, I got into a bit of a twitter "debate" with Lido Pimienta, a Colombian performer who I saw at the Wavelength Festival about a week ago. She sings well. I don't speak Spanish (much) so I couldn't understand her lyrics, but I did understand her attempt to disparage the Canadian anthem at the beginning of the show. She was well within her rights to do so, but I didn't like it - which I'm well within my rights to feel. The next day I tweeted a few questions to her - namely, what was her message in calling Canada "KKK Canada" and basically just doing an intentional "hack job" of the anthem. A few of her followers sent me some tweets back, speaking on Lido's behalf, saying that her message was to get people to realize that Canada is a racist country and has colonized First Nations people. I responded back saying that the actions of some governments in the past isn't all the flag is about, and not to mock my country. This garnered a response from Lido, which I have wanted to respond to. Her response is here: http://lidopepper.tumblr.com/post/77189964880/oh-kkkanada-our-home-on-native-land.
Lido, your post, on its face, is not an attack, but it is rife with condescension, generalizations, and stereotypes. This would seem to be exactly the opposite of what you expect from other people, so I don't understand why you stooped to this. The parts of your post that I agree with, I will not discuss, you can assume I am fine with them (which is much of it). The parts I had problems with, I copy and paste here verbatim, and reply. I did this not to "get back at you" but to show you that not everyone who asks you a question is a white, entitled patriot who doesn't think or question society. I just happen to not understand the value of such anger and derision of others who you perceive as "not doing enough" when in your post, you give no actual solutions to problems, but rather just point them out and expect me to take responsibility for them. Trying to get me to understand your viewpoint by talking to me like I have an IQ of 50 is not the way to get anyone to see things your way. However, I can tell you're coming from a place of passion, and I respect people who care about something. You say early in your post to me that you love it when people listen. Please do the same for me now.
Similar to you, I know how to Google a person and I see that you moved here when you were 11, and grew up in London, Ontario. I grew up in Windsor, which I moved to when I was also 11 (having been born in Toronto), and both cities are quite similar. Very white. Not much culture. For a gay boy (for I knew I was gay when I was 12), it was a stifling environment. I dealt with a lot of homophobia in Windsor. I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm just saying that I have experienced oppression as well, so yes I can relate to that condition in minorities. For the record, your post implies that I asked you to move back to Colombia. I did not.
If I may summarize your post to me, it's that Canadians need to wake up and start questioning their country, and that the rich and spoiled take responsibility for atrocities committed in the past and repair them. I can deal with the first part, but I don't accept the second one.
In your post you say "Stephen Harper, your Prime Minister, and I say “your Prime Minister”
because you have publicly expressed Canada belongs to you “Don’t mock my
country” - It sure must feel good to believe so sternly that a
“country” can belong to one." Stephen Harper is most certainly not "my" Prime Minister, but Canada is my country. Why? Because I love all the great things about it. It doesn't mean it's ALL MINE. Is Canada perfect? Of course not. But compared to the vast majority of the world, it's pretty great. Toronto is also my city. Gay is my sexual orientation. Regarding Harper, I did not vote for him, so you can't expect me to take responsibility for him. I vote in every election. In the election in which Stephen Harper became the majority Prime Minister, I voted NDP. I essentially was trying to vote in a way that would not give the Conservatives a majority. I find the Conservative party an outdated, delusional bunch of people who think that society hit its peak in about 1955 and think that religion is something that belongs in parliament. I think Stephen Harper is an autocratic coward who has set this country back 20 years by trying to align himself with the American Republican party. However, I don't see how denigrating the entire country via the flag and anthem says "I don't like you, Stephen Harper", without also saying "I hate this entire country." The way the voting system works here, only about 40% of the country voted Conservative in the last election. So 60% of it disapprove of Harper. How can you hold me, and them, responsible for the fact that Stephen Harper is in office, or what he does in office? What would have us do, precisely? Storm Parliament Hill and drag him out? Are you organizing that protest or just expecting "Canadians" to do it somehow?
Would you have held all Germans responsible for the actions of Adolf Hitler during World War II? Being more educated than you assume I am, I know that most "labour camps" were outside of Germany. One was at Dachau, but the vast majority were in Poland and elsewhere. Most Germans were simply ignorant of what was happening. Based on your ideology, they should all be responsible for the actions of Hitler's government, and should continue to be today. That is patently ridiculous.
Lido, the fact that I was born into a middle-class household that was able to provide for me and had a "heteronormative" family unit means I was lucky, but doesn't mean I "stole" anything from anyone else or "owe" a debt to the less-fortunate. This is one big problem I have with your message, that everyone "deserves" the same good fortune that everyone else has, and that it's the job of the fortunate to ensure the less fortunate have it. I disagree. That's basically communism, and while that concept is great on paper, Cuba, China, North Korea and Russia would prove that it is a failure in practice, as their citizens live in misery and poverty.
You say this: "Did you know the Olympics are held in a country who incarcerates
teachers for telling their students that being GAY is a thing? Did you
know families in Russia have been displaced of their modest homes to
make way for “fancy” hotels for athletes via demolition of their
property using corruption money?" Yes of course I know that. How is this Canada's fault, or my fault, or any other Canadian's fault? What do you want me to do about it? Then you say: "Have you no idea of the debate happening now
to RENAME Union Station for Sir John A. Macdonald, directly responsible
for Residential Schools in “your country”? You do know what a Canadian
Residential School system is right? Did you know, the official
corporation dressing “your Canadian athletes” is the Hudson Bay Company?
The same corporation responsible for the killing, raping, displacement
of aboriginals, their land and dignity? Have you no idea of Hudson Bay
Traders delivering diseased blankets to Aboriginals and thus wiping out
generations - Does any of this sit well with you?"
Yes, Lido. I do know what a residential school is. As I state before, I do read. However, I was born in 1976. I hadn't heard of residential schools until I was maybe 20. How can you possibly imply that I'm somehow responsible for these things? Do you see how it would anger me to have you blaming me for these things? John A. Macdonald was Prime Minister 150 years ago. How are his actions my responsibility? The Hudson's Bay company was founded in the 17th century. Saying that I should "take responsibility" for their actions makes you sound off-balance, and thus makes your message unclear. Can I blame you for the drug trade in Colombia and all of the suffering and heartache that its caused because you were born there and your family is from there? Do you see how ridiculous that sounds? Did you know that Uganda just passed a law that makes being gay punishable by 14 years in jail? Should I take responsibility for that too? If so, how?
Then you say: "Passive-Agressiveness or Apathy, like we “oh so polite Canadians” are
guilty of. In the States, if people don’t like you, because you are
black, they will tell you right away, in Canada, they will smile
politely at you and keep walking as if you don’t exist. They ignore “the
other” which is by far more violent." How much time have you spent in the States? I worked at an office in Detroit for 2 years, where the staff was a 50/50 mix of black and white. Trust me, there was a lot of passive-aggressive racism there. And throughout the US. You should listen to the "This American Life" podcast episode called "House Rules". In it, a reporter does an experiment in NYC where she gets a black man in a military uniform to inquire about an apartment (in person) and he's told that it's not available - by the Hispanic landlord. The reporter sends a white man in, and the apartment magically becomes available. Your blanket statement about racism in the US was quite frankly, wrong.
And yet, I'm GLAD Canadians (and Americans) are much less vocal about their racism. Would you prefer we returned to the world of the mid-20th century, where whites could physically attack blacks with impunity? Have you heard of the "Greensboro 4"? The 4 black college students who refused to leave the lunch counter at a Woolworth's, even though it was "whites only"? They were assaulted for hours while the police looked on. Is this "forthright racism" a better situation? I realize that there is still plenty of racism in Canada, but I'd much prefer that moronic bigots keep their ugly opinions to themselves rather than spewing their hatred. I don't particularly want it to be ok to be called a "faggot" by anyone on the street. I like that it's socially unacceptable to say that word.
Finally you say: "If you read all of that…Thank you and my apologies for taking time
from your cute kitties dressed as bunnies, I sure love escaping to la
la land, but wouldn’t it be great if we could ALL ENJOY from the kitties
dressed as bunnies equally?! In every nation?!" This brings me to my final, and most important point. What exactly do you want the average person to do to effect the changes you want to see? You seem to be speaking to "every person" at your show, not just the wealthy who might have money to spare for charitable causes. The 20-50 year old crowd there probably did not include a lot of rich folks. Did you donate what you earned that night to First Nations causes?
Ranting and raving and being condescending and insulting the flag is certainly your right, but when you wrote your post to me, you made it personal, and so I ask you: WHAT DO YOU WANT? Please don't keep telling me things that the government has done in the past, or that have happened thousands of miles away. What do YOU want to do about it? Please don't tell me "I want to get people talking." Talk is cheap. What is going to come of this discussion of ours? Is it going to cause any change? No. I don't want to hear about things that happened 150 years ago, because I don't have a time machine to go and alter the past. I can't change those things, even as I wish I could. Can you propose realistic changes? Things that are really doable? Just in Canada. I don't expect even you to propose anything that would "fix" the whole world, but how do you want the average Canadian to change to be more in tune with what you see as "right", keeping in mind that Stephen Harper only represents 40% of us?
Thank you for listening.
