Let’s talk everyday racism.
About 2005, I was invited to the Inns of Court program at the law courts here in Vancouver. It was a regular meeting of young lawyers at the restaurant of the same name in the courthouse where we would have dinner and chat.

A couple judges and older lawyers would attend. The idea was to provide mentoring opportunities. I enjoyed it mostly. On one of the final weeks, one of the guest people gave a lecture on how wonderful and fair is the law. It was a passionate speech. Self congratulatory, mind you.

I felt good walking out. I was a young lawyer protecting equality. Then I walked one block.
I called a friend who had been in the bar course with me 6 years earlier. I was telling her the general discussion. I arrived on the corner of Granville and Smithe, stopped for the light.

A young black male crossed coming toward me. Maybe he crossed against the light - people do it all over this stretch of Granville. But I didn’t think so. On the north west corner by me two @VancouverPD officers walked up to him. He had been singled out. No reason to detain him.

I stood on the phone, I stopped explaining to my friend about how I learned moments earlier how Canada had been made fair by lawyers. I was aghast. This young man was stopped for no reason. Now they were searching his backpack. I moved closer. One officer gave me a dirty look.

I could see what I assumed was a textbook and a paperback in the backpack. This lasted about 5 minutes from stop, search and release. It was humiliating. It was degrading. Not just for the young black male but for me as a fellow human. The officers were horrible.

I thought long and hard about this. The idea of the Inns of Court was partially to tie us to tradition and give us a pep talk. It was self congratulatory. Then I noted that all of the guests at these meetings (not the young lawyers) were British Isles white.

I’m not knocking people for their ethnicity. This is the ethnic makeup of the upper ranks of our justice system here in BC and that’s a problem. What concerned me was the assumption that it’s all okay because the problems had been solved. I had just listened to a lecture about...

how we have a just society because of our near perfect justice system.
I’m not a rioting type. I’m offended though when the people enjoying the luxury of the top expound on how our society is fair.
I get it. When you’re not a young black male you won’t understand.

I don’t claim to understand. When I was 7 and my parents explained racism I took that lesson. I expected better 30 years later and 45 years later.
If you’re a young black male you know all of the talk is bullshit.