Dieulita Datus, a Haitian-born immigrant to Canada who now calls central Alberta home, is pictured here at Monday's protest against racism in Red Deer's City Hall Park.

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

"black lives matter"

Over 100 protest in downtown Red Deer against racism

Jun 1, 2020 | 3:27 PM

Upwards of 150 people took to Red Deer’s City Hall block during the noon hour Monday to show solidarity with others around the world calling for an end to racism.

Protesters carried signs with messages such as “No justice, no peace” and “Racism is dead.”

Police presence was minimal, as was the number of drive-by detractors.

The downtown event came as people around United States and the world protest in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died last Monday after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.

“These protests end when people recognize what it is about,” said Haitian-born Dieulita Datus, who’s lived in Canada since 2007. “A lot of people only see the singular death or act, but what we see is 400 to 500 years of a system that was not created for us. It’s not something we can fix. It is something we have to dismantle and rebuild. As a black woman, this is personal.”

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Datus says change starts with the school system, health care, poverty, and having a seat at the table.

“All of these things are part of the problem. When you still have laws being enacted on people from colonial times, you can’t expect the system to work for people who during colonial times were not seen as human beings.”

From people touching her hair and skin without asking, to being told to go back where she came from while at a concert, and being harassed at a former workplace by people driving a vehicle with a Confederate flag, Datus says she’s seen it all.

“The people in that truck said that if they had seen me somewhere other than my place of work, they’d have dealt with me accordingly,” she tells. “When we’re at a gathering and people say ‘You’re making it all about race,’ either dismissing or minimizing what we’re saying, this is racism.”

Diversity advocate Sadia Khan explains that the protests are not about saying that some lives don’t matter.

“We need to focus on this issue to bring the point home, and the issue right now is black lives,” said Khan, whose family fled persecution in Pakistan when she was 12.

“Being an ally is a feel good sort of thing. People say they’re going to help out at an event one day or attend a workshop for Black History Month, but we’re saying we need to dismantle the system and you need to be not just an ally, but an accomplice.”

What that looks like, she said, is calling out friends, family and others, even when their racism is at a micro-level, saying this is how racism can live covertly and insidiously in central Alberta and elsewhere. She points to the UCP government’s axing of an anti-racism grant last fall as an example of systemic oppression.

Cheryl-Jaime Baptiste says a recent incident in her own life was a major factor pushing her to coordinate the Red Deer protest.

“I was waiting in line to make a food order here in Red Deer and some people in front of me were making comments about the George Floyd case that were really disrespectful and ignorant. I couldn’t just stand there silent,” recalled Baptiste, who is of Cree and Blackfoot heritage. “I stepped in to give my humble opinion, and one of the people decided to comment on my race since I’m clearly not Caucasian, and they said that I’m probably going to struggle for the rest of my life. I didn’t feel that was appropriate to say.”

Baptiste admits she sometimes fears for her well-being when in public and believes issues being raised with respect to the Floyd case and many others affect every one of us.

“I can’t stand the thought of children being exposed to racism like this and having to face it first-hand. This is going to affect generations,” she said. “There are pros and cons to how people in the U.S. are approaching these protests. They have every right to be angry. I don’t necessarily agree with looting and burning buildings, but there’s no excuse for what happened.”

Cheryl-Jaime Baptiste, co-organizer of Monday’s protest against racism in downtown Red Deer, holds a sign reading “When you get the chance to fight for equality in real time, don’t stand around and let nothing happen.” (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)