Words: Threats and Racism
posted: Jul 28, 04:37 PM
Well Nova Scotia’s weather has taken a turn for the better. It’s hot and sunny! While seeking shelter from the extreme heat I found some interesting sites to share with you.
I’ve been looking mainly at blogs by women who hold a feminist perspective on life (example). There are some insightful and strong writers on the web. My bookmark page is growing longer as my vitamin D intake peaks.
I discovered a disturbing article in the Washington Post.com “Sexual Threats Stifle Some Female Bloggers“. Essentially the article describes the abuse some female bloggers experienced because their readers did not share their sentiments or opinions on a particular subject. The dissenting readers’ comments became threatening in nature, the bloggers involved the police (with varying degrees of support) and ultimately, some of these women stopped writing.
The hate won! These intelligent women stopped sharing because fear shut them down!
I don’t have any intention of blaming the victims here. This happens all too often in our society. I just hate (I use this word rarely) when hate is given power. I hate when people who cultivate hate, through their actions or through their words feel they have been validated. Their success perpetuates their behaviour.
Speaking of blaming the victim…an eleven year old boy was shot and killed this week in Toronto as a result of gang violence. The boy had been at a family birthday party and was outside playing at a fairly late hour. This story was on CTV.ca and readers had the opportunity to comment. It was disappointing to see how many comments involved questioning why the child was out at this time of night, blamed his parents for poor parenting and the party goers for not having seen the shooter. There were a few posters who took the time to comment on the number of gang related shootings in Toronto; gun laws and practical recommendations for approaching the issue of gangs and violence.
In today’s Halifax Chronicle Herald and in the Halifax Daily News there is an article on racist tagging/grafitti on a park bench in Seaview Park. The park is situated on the Bedford Basin where the African Nova Scotian community of Africville was appropriated in the 1960’s by the city of Halifax. The African Nova Scotian’s who were affected by the appropriation of this land hold a reunion in Seaview Park at this time every year. The comments which are attached to this article are also disturbing.
When I was a child my mother used to tell us “sticks and stones will break your bones but names can never hurt you.” I never agreed. Words can and, do, hurt.