Two volunteers launched a very public conversation on race and marginalization in Grand Forks last Sunday, and more than 75 others showed up to listen. Leaning into the wave of demonstrations supporting Black and Indigenous voices as they’ve spoken in cities across North America to protest racism, Grand Forks residents joined in last weekend to show their support and to amplify the conversation in the Boundary.
“When you think about it, this is this isn’t the first time this is happening – supporting Black lives or Indigenous lives,” said event co-coordinator Temeeka Guy. What’s different this time around, she said, is that more non-Black and non-Indigenous people are turning out in support as well.
“It’s a call to action to our friends in our generation to say, not ‘What are we going to do?’ but ‘What will we do and when will we do it – Let’s keep on going,” Guy said. The frustration, particularly within younger people she said, has come to a point where speaking up is the one option. “I think, as a generation, we are willing to not take [it] anymore,” Guy said.
The sign she carried to lead the several dozen marchers from Gyro Park to Perley Elementary and back said it all: “Why is ending racism a debate?”
Since the May 25 death of Minneapolis man George Floyd, who died after a police officer (now charged with second-degree murder) knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, protests have erupted around the world in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against racism in general.
In Canada, institutions from governments through to universities and the RCMP have all been called out for policies or repeated actions that activists say have routinely and disproportionately impacted people of colour.
Last week, Brenda Lucki, commissioner of the RCMP, said in a statement that “systemic racism is part of every institution, the RCMP included. Throughout our history and today, we have not always treated racialized and Indigenous people fairly.” The statement came after Lucki had first said she struggled to apply the term “systemic racism” to the policies and general conduct of her organization, before she said she came to understand the term.
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Guy, who is Black and moved to Grand Forks from Toronto two years ago, said that allyship from non-Black peers plays an important role in addressing racism.
“Recognize how hard it would be for that person to constantly have to hear these [racist] things without somebody sticking up for them – it’s really tiring to constantly have to stick up for yourself when […] nobody else is saying anything,” she said.
For Guy and fellow co-coordinator Rachel Danczak, fostering that understanding and support comes through education and sometimes uncomfortable conversations.
“I think it just ends up coming down to having those conversations – having those really awkward conversations for non-Black people,” Guy said. “People will make mistakes and but that doesn’t mean that it’s intentional.”
Instead, Danczak said, that’s where people can take an opportunity to learn. “We’re all still learning and I just want people to just to be able to take criticism and and grow from that,” she said, emphasizing the need for empathy when seeking to understand someone else’s life experience.
As one marcher’s sign read: “Racism is real, even if you aren’t a racist. White privilege is real, even if you don’t feel it. Police brutality is real, even if the cops you know are kind and just. Your world isn’t THE world. Everything is not about you.”
Danczak and Guy added that their support for marginalized people did not end when marchers went home on Sunday. Rather, they’re hoping to continue having conversations about racism, and hoping that those who attended or watched Grand Forks’ march will take what they learned back to their friends and family and keep talking about the issue.
@jensenedw
Jensen.edwards@grandforksgazette.ca
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