Recently, Winnipeg has been in the news as a hotbed of racism. But I have encountered racism and discrimination everywhere I have lived, and when I lived in Lethbridge, Alberta, I took action.
It all started when I was at a Tim Horton’s and heard some customers making racist remarks about aboriginal people. Looking up, I saw the hurt and shocked face of an aboriginal woman sitting at a table near mine. It was not the first time I had heard racist remarks in my city, and I thought to myself “they can’t do that anymore!”
I contacted two friends from the aboriginal community and a church minister. We formed a small committee and set up Lethbridge Action on Racism Circle. Eventually, our small group of four expanded into a board of directors which also included another church minister, an aboriginal graduate student, an immigrant woman, and two university professors.
Our first step was to get people talking about racism and discrimination. We set up a blog: http://lethbridgearc.blogspot.ca/ with posts about initiatives taken by other community groups such as Lethbridge Immigrant Services and the Aboriginal Council of Lethbridge. To help get the city talking, we participated in CTV special about racism and discrimination in Lethbridge. We also went to the community college and spread a big sheet of brown paper across three tables and laid out markers. As students walked by, we urged them to write their thoughts about racism and discrimination.
Throughout the coming year, we worked to support events put on by community organizations that promoted diversity and tolerance, such as the aboriginal Friendship Festival, the Immigrant Achievement Awards, the Sisters in Spirit Vigil, the Amnesty International Demand Dignity campaign, and Anti-Hate Crime Week. Our view was that if we worked in partnership with others, we could make our community stronger.
We undertook a really innovative poster campaign. The “Show Your Face” campaign featured the faces of southern Albertans with the tag line “I live in southern Alberta, and I am standing up against racism and discrimination. Show your face – speak out!” We simply called for volunteers to have their photos taken, made the posters, and then put them up all over town. It was really effective, because people would walk by and see their neighbor’s face with the anti-bigotry message.
But perhaps the most interesting aspect of our work was the two potlucks we held. We wanted to get the community together to talk about racism and discrimination and come up with a grassroots plan for action. We invited religious organizations, civic society groups, aboriginal organizations, Lethbridge City Council, the Lethbridge City police, and extended an open invitation via the Lethbridge Herald to members of the public. We were donated space in a church to hold the potlucks. We had no idea how many people would show up!
We gave each attendee a number when they arrived, so that people would be sitting with people they did not already know. We wanted everyone to meet new people and break out of their familiar circles. Each table had a facilitator who helped their fellow dinner guests answer the set of three questions which were posed. We had simple ground rules: everyone's ideas were equally important, everyone must show respect, and everyone was worthy. We began to eat at 6:00 pm, and at 7:30 pm the facilitator from each table presented the results of their discussions to the whole room. Notes were taken on flip chart paper, and posted around the room as we progressed. By 8:00 pm, we had so many good ideas for positive action!
The recommendations from over 100 people who attended our potlucks were published in two booklets: “Sharing Salt” and “Breaking Bread.” These recommendations were presented to Lethbridge City Council, the Standing Committee on Community and Social Development, the Holy Spirit School Board, and in collaboration with the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs at a public library event. The reports were widely disseminated and published on the web.
I felt that, in one year, our small group, the Lethbridge Action on Racism Circle, accomplished a lot, and planted the seeds for social change in our community. And most amazing of all, we did everything without any funding! People brought food to the potlucks, the churches donated space, we used a free blog hosting site, we all donated our labour, and the booklets were printed by the YWCA who incurred the costs. It just shows that all that is needed to make change is to act. I moved away from Lethbridge when the year ended, but I hope that racism and discrimination continue to be openly addressed, because that is the only way to bring about change. It starts with talking and sharing and learning.
Mary Kosta
Archivist
Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada