The forces of hate are relentless and uncompromising. They are dead set on a restrictive worldview that only serves a small, privileged segment of the population.
To stop hate, it must be fought with even more conviction. We must also accept that this battle requires constant effort, and that there might never be a true end in sight.
Last week, District of North Vancouver’s mayor and council unanimously endorsed an anti-hate pledge, a commitment to be a welcoming community where hate isn’t tolerated.
Coun. Catherine Pope brought the pledge to council following months of hateful demonstrations on the Mountain Highway overpass. Those ugly rallies took aim at trans people and others in the queer community, and were rightly condemned by local officials and the provincial government.
Demonstrators, however, continued to wave their bigoted banners long after a court injunction was issued. It took a group of rainbow counter-protesters showing up at the weekly gatherings to get the haters to finally leave.
Similar to the counter protest, the pledge adds an active voice to the war against hate. Instead of merely hoping for the best, it outlines how to deal with the worst.
These types of actions are critical in the present moment. Recent data show police-reported hate crimes rose 23 per cent from 2022 to 2023 in B.C.
We should take inspiration from these examples, and reflect on how to better fight hate in our daily lives – because a world in which hate wins is too terrible to imagine.
Losing is not an option.
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