The following piece is potentially triggering, and contains references to racism, racial slurs, and violence.This opinion piece is based on my personal experience and exploration within my lifetime, of the continuing cycle of systemic racism and colonial violence.

Associate professor Rajnish Dhawan, from the University of the Fraser Valley, makes a distinction between hate-based and ignorance-based racism. 

He is quoted in a series of programs that Fraser Valley Community Radio recently broadcast about Abbotsford’s hushed racist history.

That prompted me to think about the community I was raised in, across the river in Maple Ridge.