VCST Participates in VAST Dialogue “Building Resilience and Understanding Against Hate” 

In April, VCST teamed up with the Vancouver Association of Survivors of Torture (VAST) to lead a Victoria-based session of their project Building Resilience and Understanding Against Hate. These thoughtful and informal conversations on belonging, racism, and collective action took place throughout the Lower Mainland with funding from Canadian Heritage. 

For the Greater Victoria session, VCST held a 90-minute online dialogue with 15 attendees from the public sector in Victoria and Vancouver Island, with representatives from local police and victim services, local government, a local school district, the settlement sector, counselling, and mental health services. 

In an effort to promote more dialogue, we are pleased to share some of our observations from our session here.

Participants invited through our Interconnectedness Initiative network were a mix of newcomers, Indigenous People, and non-Indigenous Canadians from a variety of cultural backgrounds and service sectors. Our dialogue focused on themes such as: how fear shows up in hate; the inter-generational nature of hate; and individual and collective efforts to address hate.

Before we gathered, participants were asked to introduce themselves and answer “What is the root of hate?” via email. We created a word cloud of the responses (seen above) to start the conversation.

The word cloud clearly showed that our group felt that “fear” was at the root of hate. We talked about how fear is a protective animal instinct for survival and is connected with individual and collective vulnerability. This led us to ideas about privilege and individualism. 

Participants shared their perspectives that North American culture prioritizes having things/status/etc and equates “having” with respect; thus, losing things can lead to wanting more and fear of losing control. In a way, this culture of material possessions reduces compassion and accentuates self-centered competitiveness by prioritizing individual needs. We noted that this can foster a culture of greed, which is also connected with hate.

Conversely, there was also important discussion about how trauma can manifest as “greedy” behaviours, such as food or resource hoarding after times of scarcity. We were reminded that behaviour is communication and that trauma can come out in many different ways.

Another guiding question was: How can we better support newcomer families to bridge generational and cultural gaps? Many responses from different organizations prioritized fostering trust with newcomer families so they feel they can share their needs. A newcomer service organization can be very helpful with this, as well as helping people learn the local culture, communication style, and behaviour. 

This led to a discussion about newcomers wanting to learn more about the cultures of other newcomers, particularly to learn about how other cultures may have experienced similar histories and traumas despite being from different parts of the world. 

Participants pointed out a need for more information and cultural sharing with First Nations as well, which can also draw connections between common histories of colonialism, displacement and discrimination across cultures. 

Participants reflected that unless you’re a student in a local school, you might not get exposure to First Nations cultures and histories, and thus non-Indigenous people have to seek out this information and connection themselves. Often newcomers don’t have access to learning about Indigenous cultures/learning/governance/etc. 

Our dialogue closed with the question: “Is it easier to hate than to love?” Generally, the discussion focused on self-awareness/self-esteem, self-reflection/self-hatred, compassion and vulnerability. 

One participant shared a personal story about their experience with hate being directed at them and their culture. The participant shared they “didn’t feel very compassionate toward [their] abuser,” reflecting on “how easy it is” to take up a position of hatred. 

Other participants took the view that it is easier to love than to hate because hate requires a level of dehumanizing the other person, while love is seeing other humans as humans, which is more in line with our shared humanity. Participants expressed the importance of spiritual and personal values that see the humanity in all of us, which leads to love. 

One participant reflected that we all come from somewhere and that there seems to be basic human values of respect for each other and respect for other people. Sometimes hate is not even about the individual, but instead an inter-generational story reflecting layers and years of oppression. 

Our conversation pointed to a few needs within newcomer communities: 

• Need for greater connection between newcomers and First Nations. These connections would amplify Indigenous voices and perspectives among newcomers.
• Need for a greater connection between different newcomer communities. These connections would amplify newcomers’ voices via cross-cultural sharing.
• Need for more trust between newcomer communities and service organizations, focusing on how trust and a sense of connection would support newcomers to share what their needs are.  

Together, we closed our dialogue with participants commenting that our conversation gave them a lot to reflect on the nature and roots of hate. 

Thank you to VAST and Canadian Heritage for providing the opportunity to hold this important community dialogue.