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| A tattered symbol London, ON April 2020 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Canada is far from perfect.
We committed historic wrongs against the Indigenous people who called this land home long before anyone else.
We inherited and encouraged the xenophobic colonialism and stifling patriarchy of our British overlords, and to this day fail to do enough to stamp it out.
We look the other way as an entire province codifies racism in the name of French language purity.
But here’s the thing: no country is perfect. Just as we accept the flaws in significant others and friends without necessarily writing them off entirely, we must apply the same logic to our country. Warts and all, this is home.
And we’re all responsible for understanding its past, and using that knowledge to forge a better future.
So don’t mind me if I fail to blindly salute the flag today, or wrap myself in unmitigated-yet-shallow platitudes of Canadiana. Patriotism extends far beyond removing our hats during the national anthem, as if worshipping some abstract ideal makes us better people.
It doesn’t. Not today and not any day.
So I’ll take today to ponder not only what I love about this place, but what I don’t. And what I’ll be doing to help bridge the gaps between where we are and where we need to be.
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