Where Has the Dialogue Gone?

It's the convergence of a perfect storm. Sitting here astride the 49th Parallel, I'm am witness to an ever increasing vitriolic harangue that is threatening to disrupt dialogue concerning race relations in North America. Within the past week, on both side of the Canadian/U.S. border, radio/TV commentators have been smashed upon the shoals of vilification and criticism over the words and opinions they have expressed concerning certain beliefs, practices and thoughts held by segments of both Canadian and American society towards other races. Namely, white Canadians towards Indo-Canadians and white Americans towards black Americans.

Here in British Columbia, Bruce Allen, a commentator for radio station CKNW, has been under fire for comments he made about immigrants who come to Canada and then, and I'm paraphrasing here, attempt to live by a different set of rules/laws than other Canadians. Down in the states, Bill O'Reilly has faced criticism for comments he made about a black restaurant in Harlem New York and the fact that it is no different than any white restaurant a person might enter. While I have heard the full comment that Mr. O'Reilly made, I have only read and heard segments of Mr. Allen's comments. Taken within the larger context of what he was saying, Mr. O'Reilly's opinion seems to be perfectly rational and reasoned. His point? White Americans have an incorrect or incomplete view of black Americans, and the view they do have is distorted by a main stream media that portrays blacks as violent, lazy, uneducated, etc... Mr. O'Reilly believes, and I agree, that this incorrect viewpoint of the vast majority of black Americans has created fear among white Americans, and we all know that we hate what we fear.

The snippets of what I've heard from Mr. Allen seem to indicate that he wasn't so much attacking immigrants to Canada as making the point that if a person wants to live in Canada they should abide by the cultural norms of the majority of Canadians. As an immigrant to Canada myself, I concur with Mr. Allen. Canadian citizens should expect me to abide by their cultural mores. They should expect that I am going to conform to their standards and way of living rather than attempt to get them to live as I think they should. Yes, I've heard the analogy of America (I am an American citizen) being a melting pot and Canada being a mosaic, but that doesn't mean that Canadians don't have a culture of their own which they are proud of and want to pass on. Nor, does it mean that immigrants to Canada should not try to understand and live within that cultural context. Canadians pride themselves on being tolerant and respectful, traits the rest of the world willingly concedes to them. But my sense of most Canadians is that while they will go out of their way to accommodate others, they would not be adverse to the same consideration from those who have arrived on Canada's shores. Mr. Allen's point, I believe, is that quid pro quo between citizens and immigrants isn't being exchanged. He believes, and from accounts I've read and comments I've heard, so do most Canadians, the offer of freedom and, for most immigrants to Canada, a better way of life, isn't being reciprocated by a desire to adhere to the Canadian context from those who are benefitting in their new homeland. Now, I will concede that some of Mr. Allen's opinion, at least the quotes I heard or read, was expressed rather strongly, in a less than Canadian sensibility, but that fails to absolve his crictics from their own less than Canadian responses.

Here's my point, the backlash against Mr. O'Reilly and Mr. Allen far outweighs their original comments. It is insulting, childish, and personality driven, as opposed to being on point with the conerns they expressed. Further, it lowers and demeans the conversation that needs to be taking place among the races. In the end, I think the dialogue has been hurt more by the backlash than by the original comments. It appears that white Americans and Canadians are now barred from discussing the actions and attitudes of other races. It seems to me, that in an attempt to make political hay, opponents of Mr. O'Reilly and Mr. Allen have sought to take the debate off of the issue at hand and turn it towards a political agenda that seemingly squelches conversation and ignites flames of furry.

People's opinions, on both sides of the debate are important, but regardless of which side a person is on, those same opinions must be always be expressed graciously. That is the word the apostle Paul gives us in Colossians 4:6. Maybe the one crticism that could be leveled at both Bill O'Reilly and Bruce Allen is that they are bombastic in their approach and style (I suspect Bill O'Reilly would view that as a compliment, and maybe it really is). And, while it could be argued that they are paid for having just such a manner, it also has to be noted that if they are truly wanting to engage in the discussion, truth, whether from the left or the right, is hard to hear in the rancor of rude politics.