There was an interesting article in the Star recently about a historical marker at Christie Pits, which was installed to commemorate the Christie Pits race riot. That 1933 event was not a pretty one, which I acknowledged in my post about the unveiling. So the question is "what do we commemorate?"
Something to chew on.
Vanessa
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I'm having a hard time understanding the question. What do we commemorate? The race riots, of course. Not "celebrate" -- just "remember".
I'm sure I'm not alone in that I'd never have known they'd occurred if not for the plaque. I don't think you're suggesting that things like the race riot shouldn't be remembered publicly, but I'm not sure what you're reading into it that I'm not.
Vanessa here... Hi Rich. Let me elaborate:
The Star article's theme, to me, is to ask the question "what do we commemorate," which is the lead sentence in the fifth paragraph, or, to quote the headline, "what to remember?"
The article goes on to say "A Jewish archivist told me that the riot was a terrible event and there was no reason for a plaque. A neighbour of mine withdrew from the committee, saying that we were living in the past.
"A U of T professor, when the plaque was announced, expressed opposition to it on the grounds that Christie Pits, a place of interest to geologists and paleantologists, would become associated solely with the riot."
I agree with you, Rich, that the riots should be remembered.
Other people do not.
That's what I thought we need to chew on.
Vanessa
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