Monday, December 31, 2012

New Canadian Mentorship Program is Not Colour Blind

Wow.

Take a read of this article. What do you think?

I judge people by their character and opinions, the way they live their life, by the people they associate with and what they do with their time.

In reading the story of mentorship programs geared to pairing black kids with role models who "look like them" I had two thoughts.

First, that role models also should not be judged by the colour of their skin.

My only positive thought about this is that the black community is stepping up for its own kids and acknowledging a problem within the community-I salute that.

But it troubles me that colour is an issue when it comes to deciding whether someone is an appropriate mentor.

Aren't we all Canadians?

Shouldn't we be colour blind when it comes to the people who inspire us?

Just because we look like someone, that doesn't mean we have anything in common with them, and it doesn't mean we should necessarily have anything to do with them.