I am not disputing that Kimveer Gill is a monster nor am I disputing that what happened last Wednesday in Montreal is a tragedy. What I am objecting to is the words used to describe Gill and what justification he may have seen in his actions. Words like "goth" and "loner" can easily be misunderstood and misconstrued by the media and in the cases of school shootings like Columbine or more recently Dawson College, they have been used as reasons why Kimveer Gill may have done this. But this is a media bias and while the media is quick to tell us to not jump to conclusions, our media tends to do just that. Are the words goth and loner synonymous with violent acts?
Thousands of people identify with the Goth lifestyle and still more would consider themselves loners. My name is Alessandra Palmer, I have friends who identify with the goth lifestyle for whatever reason and I would consider myself a loner. Does this predispose a person to commit violent acts? No. My friends are some of the most inspiring people in my life and they work towards the betterment of society. They may or may not believe in God, they may or may not identify as goth, and they may or may not be loners themselves, but all of them are outstanding individuals.
That the shooter at Dawson's College was a goth and loner is a coincidence.
Our experiences contribute to who we are and affect all aspects of our lives from whether or not we believe in God, to how we dress, to our ideas about society and finally, to what we do with the time we have on earth. All of us are put into a slot based on our personality, our beliefs, the amount of money we have and how we dress among others. Some people are "Goth" some "preppy" some "skinheads" but these labels do not and should not define us.
The thing is when one person of a certain social group does something, everyone is judged on it. But the fact of the matter is, to be clichéd, it takes all kinds. Anyone could commit a violent act. Anyone could kill people. Would the majority of us? Probably not.
No one will say that all goths who are also loners should be monitored, people understand that this would trample on our basic human rights. However, by generalizing, all goths and all loners and all goths who are also loners are being judged, and as a result, being watched just that much closer.
