I would like to invite Famvin members to consider joining this group through our Facebook page.

We shall present articles each month on the Famvin website but would very much like to invite others to prepare a short article for inclusion on a future monthly edition. You may have a story from your location or country about diversity, equity and inclusion or perhaps you would like to express your views on how we may all become more informed about DEI. You may submit any such articles or questions about VVN to myself at ssvpjp@gmail.com.

As an older white male I can recall growing up here in Canada in a family in which I never heard a word about a person’s colour or race. The negative side of this was that I was unaware of the affect of racism on people of colour. Yes there were a few students who did not look like me at school but they were just accepted as other students. Sadly I never stopped to think where they might live in my hometown and if I had I would have realized most lived in the poorer part of town. I grew up in the 60’s and was appalled at what I watched on TV as the southern United States dealt with their very open form of racism. It was simply unimaginable to me that this was happening.

Yet we also had our own subtle form of racism here in Canada, not to mention the issue of residential schools which existed into the 1980’s. We never took any history at school regarding black history or Indigenous history, so there was no readily available option to learn more.

As a current day member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and being very active in social justice work, I find there is a general inability of white people to accept that they may be part of our history of systemic racism. They tend to get very defensive rather than simply admitting they have likely been at least guilty of unconscious racism in their lives. Education becomes the weapon against any form of racism.

There is such a wonderful and fulfilling life experience by embracing and celebrating the various cultures and histories of our fellow global citizens. Please help us make the VVN a place to share and learn by submitting your articles, news and personal experiences, either by adding to our Facebook page or via the Famvin website.

About the author:

Jim Paddon lives in London, Ontario, Canada and is a Canadian Vincentian.  He is married to his dear wife Pat and they have six daughters and eleven grandchildren. Jim has been a member of the Society since the 1970’s.

I respectfully acknowledge the traditional, unceded territories of the Indigenous Peoples, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit, on which lands we meet, work and live.