The Thin White Line

I’ll introduce who you are and add context in a preamble later,” Lane said. “Let’s get right to the questions.”

“Sure.” Matt tried to regain his composure.

“How do you feel about the beating you’re taking in the mainstream media for the article you wrote exposing the lie that coloured, lesbian and gay authors are being discriminated against by the publishing industry.”

“I didn’t say it was a lie, I pointed to the facts that–”

“Marginalized communities are not underrepresented, in fact, they’re overrepresented.” Lane read from her steno notepad.

“Yes, in ratio to the population, and in the two national contests I researched.”

“Those contests being the Canada Writes short story competition and the prestigious Giller Prize.”

“That’s right.”

“And it’s not only the winners who are over-represented, but also the judges as well?”

“Yes, but the point I made was that–”

“It’s white writers who are being discriminated against.”

“No, that writing should be judged on merit and not by the ethnicity or the sexual identity of the author.”

“But it is, your statistics prove it and that’s what’s got these people in such an uproar.”

These people? This was not going the way Matt wanted. “Lane, I don’t want this interview to pit white authors against minorities, I would rather–”

“Why, in your opinion, is the work of white authors being overlooked for that of coloured writers?”

“It’s an overreaction to historical–”

“You don’t think it has anything to do with subverting our culture as part of The Great Replacement?”

“Of course not! It’s just a few overzealous individuals trying to compensate for past injustices.”

Lane got up from her chair. “That’s a wrap, Kevin.”

“What?” Matt got up as well. “I thought you were going to allow me to counter some of the accusations made against me.”

“You did great, Matt. You’ve unmasked the agenda of the liberal progressives, these woke elitists, who want to undermine our cultural heritage.”

“And that’s how you’re going to play this?”

“Your research speaks for itself.”

Matt put his hands over his eyes. He’d used those same words this morning, right after Rami warned him about doing this interview. What made him think he’d get a fair hearing from Lane North?

“Are you okay, Matt? You look pale.” Lane touched his arm.

Matt recoiled. “Yeah, I’m fine.” As he headed down toward the hall and the exit, he saw Kevin hold his hand out with the thumb and forefinger in the shape of a gun. He pulled the trigger and smirked.

“Matt, wait!” Lane came running down the hall and caught up with him at the door. “Listen, I respect what you’ve done and so will a lot of other people.”

Matt reached to open the door. She put her hand against it.

“It’s not racist or homophobic to tell the truth.” Her face was flushed, eyes flashing. “Maybe Replacement is a white supremacist conspiracy theory, but you’ve got to admit the pendulum has swung too far in favour of minorities.” She moved her hand from the door and grasped his. Their faces were inches apart, he could smell something mintyon her breath. She looked him in the eye and held it.

“It’s time to speak up for justice and equality, to challenge those, what did you call them “overzealous individuals”, before it’s too late. We can’t make up for past injustices by punishing those today who had no part in them.”