The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 25 ,2 02 1 | 42 This fall, #lovelocal by supporting Oakville businesses. Look out for local events and attractions where you can be rewarded for your support! For almost two years, we have been battling the glob- al pandemic of COVID-19. During this time, the generations-long pandemic of racism has also been brought to light. I am a father, husband, active parent at my chil- dren's' school and your neighbour. After reflecting on the last two years, I firm- ly believe there is a cure for both pandemics. Dealing with COVID-19 for our household came with its challenges. Like many, my wife and I strug- gled with adapting to virtual school for our four kids and balancing work, all while following breaking news about the virus. Being vaccinated and having the kids return to school has been a huge help to our family's mental health. However, COVID-19, cou- pled with the pandemic of racism, has proven to be worrisome for all of us that share this wonderful place called Oakville. First, we need to ac- knowledge the reality that racism is here in Oakville. I am choosing three local oc- currences to illustrate how pervasive this issue has be- come: • In an incident that was reported and investigated by Halton police this sum- mer, a local family was the target of anti-Asian slurs and their home was egged multiple times. • In an unrelated incident also occurring this summer, a noose was found hanging along Morrison Road and was reported to Halton po- lice. • Finally, I am the chair of the school council at my children's school. Last year we sourced and brought in speakers to talk to the stu- dents about equity, diversity and anti-racism -- a leading mandate from the school board. I was approached by several families in our neighbourhood that felt an- ti-racism education should not be happening at our school. Their reasoning, which I found unsettling, was that Canada does not have racism. The best anecdote to bat- tle this virus of racism is a three-step process. • Kindness. Give your neighbours a kind action, word, or smile. • Courage. If you see something, say something. • Reach out. Establish friendships with people that don't look like you. We are, hopefully, at the tail-end of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, can we as a local community start to vaccinate the pandemic of racism with doses of kind- ness, courage and reaching out? Doses of these three "vac- cines" are free and there are no side effects. Please feel free to connect with me. Saud Juman is an Oak- ville resident, entrepreneur and chair of the E.J. James Public School council. He can be reached at Saudoak- ville@gmail.com BATTLING TWO PANDEMICS WITH KINDNESS OPINION ENDING RACISM AND COVID SHOULD BOTH BE PRIORITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY, WRITES SAUD JUMAN JUMAN Column "Can we as a local community start to vaccinate the pandemic of racism with doses of kindness, courage and reaching out?" The Oakville Beaver values the opinions of its readers, and the commu- nity at large. With that said, we wel- come your letters to the editor on all matters that impact area residents. We ask that letters be no more than 275 words, and include the full name and town of the writer. Your address and tele- phone number must also be included for verifica- tion purposes only. We do not publish anonymous letters. Let- ters will be edited or re- jected for offensive con- tent, factual errors, legal issues or space restric- tions. Send your letters to in- sidehalton@metro- land.com. SEND US YOUR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR