Today, we’re living in a world where it’s harder than ever to openly celebrate the diversity in our society, which makes doing so matter the most. The more the headlines are plagued with cases of racism, sexism, homophobia, and discrimination, the more equality movements such as feminism and #BlackLivesMatter gain momentum, leading to a vicious cycle of clashes between the two sides. Incidents of people getting hurt, governments taking measures, and the once-safe sanctions/havens becoming war zones (for example, the racially-charged incidents at the University of Missouri last fall) all show that many people are increasingly losing their tolerance to those who are different from themselves.
Of course this is not news to most of us, but the increasing rate of occurrence has become more alarming in the past couple of years. The tension is climbing in all facets as more unfortunate events are being added to the list. The latest was the pride flag incident at UBC.
Last week, the University of British Columbia’s pride flag was raised as a part of OUTweek 2016, a celebratory week-long festivity organized by the Pride Collective. Four days later, the flag went missing and was later revealed to have been burned. Following the incident, the City of Vancouver raised a pride flag in solidarity with UBC as requested by Mayor Gregor Robertson, according to this tweet from his office.
Vancouver City Hall
While UBC said the suspect has been identified and the rest of the OUTweek activities are in full swing after a short break, the incident managed to disrupt the peaceful and celebratory atmosphere the Pride Collective was aiming for.
“We are concerned about the safety of our members, facilitators, and participants, and this is our first priority,” reads a statement by the group posted to their Facebook page. “We are incredibly disappointed and upset that this is what needs to happen to protect the safety of all of our members and supporters because of the external visibility of this event.”
The tension seems to have settled down for now, but there are still questions left unanswered, like always. According to some, these are minor incidents (see the comment section) that do not deserve media and investigatory attention. What these people unfortunately fail to understand it that it is usually these seemingly small incidents that can spark greater fires if left unattended. Every such spark is not only a threat to the target group, but also a threat to society because it is these little sparks that can disturb the delicate balance of society unless we do something about it.
Information obtained from:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-pride-flag-burned-1.3441487
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-pride-flag-burner-identified-1.3445101
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-pride-flag-city-response-1.3442800
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/02/ubc-burned-pride-flag/
https://www.facebook.com/prideubc/posts/1045735725484315
Images obtained from:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-pride-flag-burner-identified-1.3445101
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ubc-pride-flag-city-response-1.3442800