I'm inclusive - SEE?! - Shawn Loughlin editorial

Woke Hill, found equidistant ’tween Cypress Hill and Ms. Lauryn Hill (in addition to being the titular hill in Kate Bush’s song, “Running Up That Hill”, but not to be confused with “Solsbury Hill” because I am not dealing with Peter Gabriel’s team of lawyers again, so help me God), seems to be a hill upon which many will die.

 

People are really dug in. There are those on the left, stationed upon Cypress Hill, and those on the right, camped at the foot of Ms. Lauryn Hill and they’re ready to converge on Woke Hill in a scene similar to, though much more bloody than Braveheart, the “Battle of the Bastards” in Game of Thrones and the big Gangs of New York Donnybrook. When a side stands victorious after vanquishing its foe and the victors wipe their fallen opponents’ blood from their swords... what then? If the Woke win, surely what will follow will be a steady stream of woke-inspired education and policies, aimed at making the world accepting, while the Anti-Woke, should they be the last group standing, may just burn ol’ Woke Hill down and micturate upon its woke ashes.

 

I’m not here to go one way or the other (though long-time readers of this column no doubt know where I stand), but what I do want to talk about is the grandstanding of it all; the inability of some to go about their business.

 

One of the stories about this stuff that has always stuck in my mind is that of Jerry Howarth, who was the long-time voice of the Toronto Blue Jays (alongside the late Tom Cheek). In 2016, when the Blue Jays were set to play who were the Cleveland Indians at the time in the American League Championship Series, Howarth, in an interview, said he would not be referring to the team by its “Indians” moniker. He wasn’t trying to make a point, in fact, he hadn’t said it for almost 25 years.

 

He then relayed a story about a letter written to him at the time of the 1992 World Series, when the Blue Jays played the Atlanta Braves, from an Indigenous fan who praised Howarth for his work, but asked that he stop saying offensive words such as “Indians”, “Braves” and other references to Indigenous culture that had no place in sport. Howarth wrote the fan back and never used those words again.

 

Howarth didn’t make a big deal out of that decision, he just listened to someone from that community and changed his behaviour in a way he felt would be more respectful to all.

 

I contrast this with what felt like a half-hour segment (I’m sure it was nowhere near that long, but trust me when I tell you that it felt this long, and perhaps even longer) on an episode of Survivor, which my wife watches.

 

Host Jeff Probst welcomed in the contestants on an episode two years back with his usual, “Come on in, guys!” but then asked everyone what they thought of the phrase and they agreed that it should go. So, millions of people all around the world sat and watched Probst pat himself on the back for being inclusive for, again, what felt like seven or eight hours.

 

There are many more Survivors in the world than there are Howarths - on both sides - which could be part of why everyone is so done with the conversation. Bringing in “woke” changes need not be accompanied by a extensive, self-aggrandizing diatribe - though there is always a bit of an education piece to changes that aim for inclusivity - and those who become Dr. Seuss or “Uncle” Ben fans overnight can spare us from their inner monologue as well.

 

Long story short, doing the right thing, itself, is doing the right thing. No one wants to hear about how great of a person you are (according to you) for doing the right thing.