Last week I posted about our team’s pledge to provide dental treatment to Syrian refugee families who are coming to Guelph and the associated article in the Guelph Mercury. I was overwhelmed by the positive encouragement and feedback we received from family, friends, patients and even complete strangers. As a team, we were confident in our decision, but the outpouring of support further validated our thoughts.
Among the many emails we received, was the following (which I can only categorize as hate mail): “Your dental office is a real piece if sh*t offering free dental service to the SYRIANS Refugees well they don’t deserve it who does are the homeless the lower income people but its a pathetic plug for the dentist Ketan Mistry why don’t he pack up his office and go back to his country cause he is not a real Canadian he’s a piece of sh*t”.
I will not go into great detail about the appalling ignorance of the contents of the email, nor the fact that my 15-month old daughter probably forms better sentences than this man, but there are a few issues to address. I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion regarding the Syrian refugee crisis and Canada’s involvement in providing aid (I have heard many radio shows with callers chastising Prime Minister Trudeau’s decision), but to express yourself with such hatred and ignorance has no place in our country. I agree that there are people in our community who are also in need of assistance and our office runs an extensive program to serve this population.
Reena (my wife) and I discussed this email at great length and the different emotions that it elicited. We discussed the possible repercussions on our family, team and business if more people in the community came out with this type of response. We asked ourselves that if the Guelph Mercury article did not feature a picture of me (a brown-skinned man) would the author of the email still feel compelled to tell me to “go back to his country“. We discussed what it truly means to be Canadian. Prime Minister Trudeau could not have said it any more accurately or eloquently when he recently said “…we define a Canadian not by a skin colour or a language or a religion or a background. But by a shared set of values, aspirations, hopes and dreams that not just Canadians but people around the world share.”
We reflected on how grateful we were that our grandparents and/or parents decided to settle in this country and the many advantages we have been afforded because of their foresight and bravery. Ultimately, we concluded that as a society we need to do everything in our power to ensure that Trumpism, hatred and ignorance do not prevail over the selfless tenets of ‘Canadianism’.
To the author of the email, thank you for giving me the motivation to share my thoughts and hopefully spread the exact opposite of your morals. I am thankful that people with your hostility and prejudice represent the minority of our great country.
Being Canadian
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As a “brown” 2nd gen Canadian, I thank you for posting this and the way your family discussed and chose your reaction. You are an amazing Canadian. I wonder what would happen if you offered this person dental care? S/he might need it 🙂