Innisfail anti-racism event back on thanks to surge of support

“With the help and support of some amazing people, Innisfail residents should be looking forward to a “community conversation” in the coming while, and have an open and honest discussion about how to address racism,” Bovey commented on Facebook.

Bovey posted last Saturday that acknowledging racism is the first step to eliminating it.

“Let us show compassion and love on those who have suffered because of racism,” she wrote. “This protest will be peaceful and the aim will be to have people of colour heard, recognized and uplifted.”

Innisfail Mayor Jim Romane says his town has been caught off guard by all the attention the event has received.

He says the town of 8,000 stands against racism, but he’s never known it to be an issue during his 40 years there.

Romane added that he didn’t mean to detract from the Black Lives Matter cause when he said in an interview with the Calgary Herald that “all lives matter.”

“I meant to say that everybody’s equal, so why all of a sudden do Black lives seem to be predominant over anybody else? I just put everybody on the same level playing field,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Tuesday.

A Black man in Minneapolis died last month after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for nearly nine minutes. Anger over George Floyd’s death has spurred large protests around the world calling for an end to systemic racism and police brutality.

Romane said he’s taken aback that his town has been swept up in the movement since Floyd’s death.

“You think it’s something out in the other part of the world somewhere and it doesn’t affect little old Innisfail here.”

READ: Full statement from Innisfail Mayor Jim Romane

In a show of support, Innisfail town council made a special proclamation on Tuesday.

“Whereas the Town of Innisfail is committed to being a welcome, inclusive and safe community, whereas the Town of Innisfail continues to proactively increase our understanding of issues, therefore be it resolved that the Town of Innisfail stands against any form of racism and will continue to initiate implementation of policies and procedures to help overcome issues of racism and discrimination in the community,” the proclamation reads.

Reverend Darren Liepold at Innisfail United Church says the town isn’t much different from anywhere else and faces the same challenges as other communities.

“We recognize that not all citizens are treated equally,” says Liepold. “Unfortunately in society, there are certain groups that do find life more difficult. I think just as things like Black Lives Matters, yes, it might be directed at one group right now because of the situation that happened in the U.S., but I think if we improve lives for any one group, it improves everybody’s lives.”

Liepold, who attended a similar rally in Red Deer last Friday, says he plans to attend on Saturday.

“We need to work together as a society to improve the lives of everyone. We seem to be living in a world right now where division seems to be a big thing. We need to see ways that we are alike, that we’re not totally different, that we have commonalities.”

The co-founders of Ubuntu – Mobilizing Central Alberta, an anti-racism group, said Romane is off base in suggesting racism isn’t an issue in Innisfail.

Dieulita Datus said she experiences racist microaggressions every day in central Alberta as a Black woman — whether it’s people touching her hair without permission or asking where she’s from.

“To speak on a subject like that and to categorically deny that racism exists as the mayor of a local town or city, I would really like to know where he got that information from,” she said.

Sadia Khan adds that it’s important for small towns like Innisfail to express solidarity with the wider Black Lives Matter movement, but there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.

“Instead of protest marches … we can have these conversations in a small gathering and really dismantle the systems that are in place that oppress people of colour,” she said.

Datus and Khan are not spearheading the event, but are supporting Bovey.

When asked about the controversy in Innisfail, Premier Jason Kenney said he wasn’t specifically aware of the situation but did denounce racism in general.

“Let me just say that racism is always and everywhere evil,” he said Tuesday. “It’s a sickness of the soul, it must be condemned at every turn and we must recognize a history of institutional racism here in Canada that sadly has touched us in Alberta.

Kenney commended Albertans for speaking out against racism, specifically in the current context of anti-black prejudice.

“I would say to people that deny it exists in Alberta that they’re just wrong. They need to listen to the experiences of Black Albertans, of other people from racial minority backgrounds. They need to honour their voices, their lived experience, and seek ways to reach out and do better.”

(With file from The Lauren Krugel – Canadian Press)

by Troy Gillard and Sheldon Spackman

Innisfail anti-racism event back on thanks to surge of support

What's Trending