FSA and RAN Statement on the events in London, Ontario from June 6, 2021

June 10, 2021

UFV’s Race and Antiracism Network (RAN) and the FSA would like to issue this joint statement in solidarity, sorrow, and an ongoing message of determination, to all the people impacted by the horrific hate crime and terrorism committed in London, Ontario this week against the Afzaal family which has left a nine-year-old child to live with an unthinkable trauma for life. In fact, we are all impacted. As this is a reminder of the work to be done.

This despicable event caused by one individual has not only shattered the lives of several generations in one family but provides yet another symptom of the prevalence and normalization of White supremacy, Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia in Canadian society. If such hatred wasn't normalized, we would not see such seemingly regular instances of violence as occurs in these times. This attack echoes recent attacks against Muslim communities, notably the Quebec Mosque attack of 2017 and other similar injustices committed against racialized faith communities across the world. Make no mistake, these events are very much connected. Vigilance is needed against the false stereotypes that embolden such violence and that enables perpetrators as well as the ideologies of white supremacy that so often fuel such acts. 

We join all supporters of those impacted in saying that we condemn hatred and racism and we urge all members of the UFV community to continue working to educate and act on that education, themselves, their colleagues and co-workers, students and faculty alike, that hatred has no place in our society. The events of this past week demonstrate how Canada is truly in a moment of reckoning when it comes to reconciliation, colonial history, and social inequality. Those of us who want to live in love and compassion, show kindness to our neighbors no matter their backgrounds, and speak truth to the structures of inequity and oppression that so often still govern our communities, need to lead the way in action for a just society. As was stated by Aman Haji at UFV's recent vigil for the 215 children lost in Kamloops and in all residential schools on Turtle Island when he quoted the great Persian poet, Sa’adi in translation: "All human beings are members of one frame; Since all, at first, from the same essence came." May the memories of those who were lost be a revolution.