Written by Parveen Dhupar, chief creative officer at BTI Brand Innovations Inc. and a member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization in Toronto. The original version of this article appeared on Dhupar’s LinkedIn blog. 

My name is Parveen Dhupar. I am a brown man, born in India, raised in Canada since the age of 7, happily married to my wife Ritu for 27 years and a proud father to two boys, currently ages 23 and 21. I consider myself Canadian first and am proud of my ancestry.

Social issues are hot topics of discussion in my household given our racial background and that my oldest son identifies as gay. We are a strong happy family that respects differences in opinion and contributes to the greater community.

I start off this way so that I can paint a quick picture of my family and to allow all the stereotypical “perceptions” to float in your mind. We all have perceptions and biases that I believe contribute to the continuation of these ongoing issues of inequality, racism, hatred and injustice. What I am about to share may offend some and resonate with others.