With today being International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, I thought it would be fitting to share a colourful birthday celebration that our family had over the weekend. Brimming with an endless array of colours and cultures, my nephew Carter sure felt the love from both sides of the family on his very first birthday over this past weekend.
It was refreshing to see the warmth, love and acceptance fill the banquet hall, especially at a time when there is so much conflict and despair engulfing the world at this moment.
This important day was inspired by the United Nations General Assembly which reiterate “…that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and have the potential to contribute constructively to the development and well-being of their societies. In its most recent resolution, the General Assembly also emphasized that any doctrine of racial superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous and must be rejected, together with theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races.”
With the recent horrors uncovered at Canadian First Nation residential schools last year, this day is a very timely reminder that we are still very far away from being a fully inclusive society. That’s why it is our responsibility to continuously learn, explore and ask ourselves what roles we need to play today and, in the future, to ensure we “eliminate conditions that cause or help to perpetuate racial discrimination.”
If you’re on the same page and want to start making more of a difference out there, here’s a valuable resource put together by The United Nations to help inspire efforts that will bring more inclusivity to our beautiful planet.