Declaration vs. Implementation: Red Deerians shine spotlight on Human Rights Day

“When COVID hit, a lot of folks forgot that people who were still working not from home, or those who did not have access to vaccines at first, were the same people impacted every day already – before, during and after COVID,” said Dieulita Datus-Hall, co-founder of Ubuntu-Mobilizing Central Alberta.

“For the most part, that means migrants, queer people, Indigenous people, and brown and black folks. What COVID showed us was more of what we already knew – especially with vaccines; Canada hoarded so many of those, then decided there were some it didn’t want, that weren’t good enough. Those vaccines were shipped to lesser-developed countries and those folks had no choice of what vaccine to take.

“It was a glaring notice to the world that this is how we treat people. It’s shown us the role that racism still plays in every fibre of our society.”

Darnel Forro, a social work educator at Red Deer Polytechnic, hopes to see the day society can look not to a declaration, but the Universal Implementation of Human Rights.

“There’s a big gap in terms of what’s been declared, implemented and experienced by people. We’re blind when we look at human rights from a policy perspective without looking at the lived experiences of marginalized people,” he stated.

“In 2005, Canada became the fourth country globally to recognize same-sex marriage, and if you’re openly gay like me, you can marry the person you love; but look around Red Deer and ask how many spaces are there actually where queer people feel safe to express who they truly are, and not worry about discrimination. We have to be more critical when looking at human rights.”

To Forro, policy must translate into people’s unique day-to-day lives, and it needs to not be just equal, but equitable.

“COVID has changed everything. It’s ignited fuel for people to show their racism and hate,” he remarked. “A lot of people believe COVID was the greatest equalizer in human history because all of us experienced it. That may have some truth at a superficial level, but on a deeper note, it’s actually just allowed for people already frustrated and angry to show their discriminatory behaviour towards already oppressed groups.”

Forro, who is Filipino, also pointed to a sharp rise in anti-Asian sentiment, but what he won’t do is give up on people.

“We are toward the final chapters of this pandemic, and as a social work educator, I believe no one is a lost cause,” he said. “For people here, this event can reignite their passion, but we also hope that passion will spread throughout the community to people who may be resistant. At some point in a person’s life, they will [directly or indirectly] experience oppression, and perhaps it will be eye-opening for them, causing them to re-evaluate things. COVID wasn’t actually an equalizer; it exposed us to a wider gap of inequity.”

Amy Mendenhall has a BA in Indigenous Studies and History from the University of Lethbridge, and perhaps felt her family’s human rights violated as profoundly as anyone.

Mendenhall, who has a combination of physical and mental disabilities, including autism and ADHD, she shared, watched her father die at the height of the pandemic.

L-R: Darnel Forro, Dieulita Datus-Hall, Dr. Love Nwigwe, Amy Mendenhall and Ola Zeinalabdin. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“I lost him 18 months or so ago at Red Deer Regional because there were no ICU beds. He got sick and had avoided the hospital because he knew it was overwhelmed, but he had to go in eventually for a simple procedure, and there were no ICU beds,” she said. “They decided he didn’t deserve a chance, so he was triaged. The choices of others made an ICU bed no longer an option — all so people could go into Walmart without a mask on.”

She speaks up now, for the Indigenous youth she mentors at the Red Deer Native Friendship Centre, but especially in her dad’s name.

“As a disabled person, we’ve been told through COVID that ‘You can die’ simply because people wanted the right to exist without safety precautions. Those precautions were put in place to protect people like me who do deserve to live,” added Mendenhall.

“We all have a right to exist, and we have to work together to protect each other, even if it’s inconvenient for one of us.”

Brenda St. Germain, an Indigenous social worker in Red Deer, gave precursor remarks.

“We all know what we’ve experienced during COVID; and people reacted in the worst way possible,” she said. “No one living thing is better than anyone else. As a Native person, all life is equal. Today is about asking how we push aside resentment, anger and bitterness, and embrace people instead.”

The Human Rights Day event in Red Deer was hosted by Care for Newcomers and RDP’s Indigenous Studies department. The panel also featured Dr. Love Nwigwe and student Ola Zeinalabdin.

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by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Declaration vs. Implementation: Red Deerians shine spotlight on Human Rights Day

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