An anti-immigration protest at a Red Deer high school this week shows why it’s important to continue to counter xenophobia, says a University of Alberta student who founded an international campaign to counter discrimination and promote diversity.
Jeremiah Ellis’s #worldmosaic social media campaign has gained traction around the world. Unfortunately, he said, it appears that hate speech has as well.
“I think it’s really, really important for people to keep standing up, to keep speaking up, because we can oppose it,” Ellis said. “We can start a dialogue. We can start a conversation. We can change it.”
About 40 people gathered at Lindsay Thurber High School in Red Deer on Tuesday to demonstrate against immigration — and Muslim immigration in particular. They were emboldened after rumours circulated that students from Syria weren’t punished as harshly as others involved in a recent fight.
“There was no evidence to support the perspective of the protestors, because the students were all equally suspended,” Ellis said. “But because of the exposure they’ve had to all the hate rhetoric, they immediately felt that these Syrians were challenging their values as Canadians.
“I think that kind of protest goes completely against what Canada’s all about.”
‘United we stand’
Ellis launched the #worldmosiac campaign in late 2015, after he said he noticed a wave of xenophobia that accompanied the mass exodus of refugees from Syria and Donald Trump’s campaign for the U.S. presidency.
“The idea of the campaign is the different pieces of society, like a mosaic, are what makes it beautiful, and those are the things that we should value,” he said.
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi quickly got on board, both posting photographs of themselves holding signs that said, “United we stand, divided we fall.”
Mayors from cities across the country and the continent followed suit. The concept has now gone global.
United we stand, divided we fall. Boulder City Council shows support for #worldmosaic, anti-Islamophobia and anti-xenophobia movement. pic.twitter.com/48WyQEGTR1
“I think it says that despite the fear-mongering and hatred that we see reported in the media — like the Red Deer incident — that a good number of people, not just in Canada but around the world, support the idea that our differences are what make us stronger as a society,” Ellis said. “And those are the things that we should value the most.”
His mother immigrated to Canada from Japan.
“Canadian society and the value we have on diversity and acceptance and multiculturalism allowed her family to succeed in Canada, even though they were from a completely different culture and a completely different country,” Ellis said.
“I think everyone should be able to live a life they’re proud of freely, without the apprehension of being subject to hatred or discrimination.”