Rights and riots

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/06/2011 (5322 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights should consider how the lessons of the Vancouver riots can be incorporated into its mission. It’s a bit of a stretch to say that the mayhem in Vancouver was an attack on human rights, but it’s worth noting that it featured an interesting mix of heroes (the smallest group), bystanders (the largest group) and perpetrators.

It’s the same mixture, in fact, that can be found in countless human rights atrocities in the past, particularly the Holocaust.

When the principles of civilized behaviour collapsed in Vancouver, why did some people behave like craven, even murderous, criminals, particularly since most of them are now reported to have been middle-class kids from good homes. What kind of people stood up to them and is there a way of encouraging moral courage? Finally, what’s wrong with the majority of people, who were uncomfortable with the violence, but who did nothing to stop it? What makes most of us bystanders?

The museum wants to change behaviour, but it needs to understand it first. The riots in Vancouver are a useful instrument for delving into both the darkness and the light of the human experience.

As one of the most documented outbursts of spontaneous violence, it could prove to be an instructive human rights lab.