WINDSOR, N.S. — A group of concerned citizens are forming a committee to find ways to improve interracial relations in Hants County.
They’re hoping to find ways to work together to better educate the public and to lobby for changes.
“For me, I’m leaving this meeting feeling hopeful that folks were interested in coming together,” said RCMP Sgt. Craig Smith in an interview following the meeting.
“It wasn’t as big of a group as we may have wanted, it may not have been as diverse a group as we may have wanted, but I think the folks that were here are genuinely committed and I think that it’s created a foundation for them to be able to move forward and hopefully bring about some positive change in the Windsor area,” he continued.
“The kind of leadership that could come out of here can reverberate across the rest of the province, which I think creates an amazing opportunity.”
Smith, who also serves as the president of the Black Cultural Society of Nova Scotia and has written on African Canadian and African Nova Scotian accomplishments in history, co-facilitated the sparsely-populated evening meeting with Anne Bishop, a celebrated author and educator who champions human rights and cross-cultural understanding.
On Dec. 10, which was Human Rights Day in Nova Scotia, a facilitated workshop was held at Avon View High School in Windsor to discuss recent Halloween decorations and how they upset some members of the community.
The decorations in question were ghosts, with painted black faces, hanging from a tree. The homeowner told media that they were painted to make them appear more scary. Others saw the ghosts as lynching effigies, which stirred up fear and anger.
Members of the Windsor RCMP looked into the matter but found there was nothing in the Criminal Code that would support the removal of the ghosts. The frightening sight remained up until Halloween was over.
“I do truly believe they didn’t mean harm, but perhaps there was a gap in understanding on the harm that was done,” said Staff Sgt. Cory Bushell during the meeting.
The community remained uneasy, some saying there was nothing wrong with the decorations and to stop being so sensitive, while others were expressing concern over the impact the images had.
Wanting to take a restorative approach, the RCMP hosted the workshop to discuss the situation and try to come up with a positive way to address future concerns.
“I’m a firm believer that as we know better we do better and I think that bringing those things up and talking about those things helps all of us,” said Smith.
But to those attending the meeting, the lack of representation from the white community was striking.
“We can invite the community but as you can see, the community doesn’t really care enough about what they make us feel like,” said one of the workshop participants.
“We live it every day but they figure if they can go about their lives, then everything is all hunky dory with us.”
He pointed out various times he’s been made to feel like he doesn’t belong in Windsor, like he’s an outsider, all because of his skin colour.
It was noted that micro aggressions, which Smith described as “the little under the surface things that happen,” add up over time. When an incident like the Halloween decorations arises, then the hurt that’s been simmering tends to boil to the surface.
“It’s kind of become the buzz word in the last couple of years but I think that sometimes, when we think of racism, we always think of overt actions — the things that are in your face — and we don’t think of the more subtle things that happen every day,” said Smith following the meeting.
“If you’re sitting in a classroom and reading books and there’s nobody in there that looks like you... all of those little messages say to you, you’re not important, your history is not important, and you’re not included,” Smith said.
The group explored three aspects at the meeting: how they felt when they saw the figures, how they felt having the community in the spotlight for the issue, and what needs to happen in order to feel the concerns have been addressed.
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
Social media opinions ran rampant following news of the Halloween ghosts with many posters saying they didn’t understand why it was a big deal.
Bishop provided historical context to those in attendance at the start of the meeting in hopes of enlightening people about why the decorations could be seen as threatening.
“The American Civil War ended in 1865 and four million slaves were suddenly free, which was a huge transition, not only for the individuals but the whole economy and the politics of the States changed,” said Bishop.
These freed slaves could vote, buy land, take a paid job and go to school.
But within a year, the backlash began.
“Some of the veterans of the Confederate Army had founded the Ku Klux Klan, which is the best known (group) because it’s the one that’s lasted into the present,” said Bishop, noting there were several other similar organizations.
The KKK began to lobby for legal restrictions for black people, including the introduction of tests that would prevent them from voting as they didn’t have the necessary literacy skills, and for legal segregation.
“But they also worked on the other side of the law and used terrorist tactics,” she said.
“Lynching was pretty rare north of the US border. There’s like only four or five cases on record in Canada, but as a threat, it’s definitely an activity that happens in Canada." - Anne Bishop
The three key ones were marching through communities dressed as executioners, burning crosses, and lynchings.
Lynching was when a few armed men or a mob would show up at someone’s home, take them, torture them and kill them by hanging, she said.
“Sometimes it was used against immigrants, against women who got out of line and against gay men but the vast majority of victims of lynching were black,” said Bishop.
“The point was to make it very, very public. This was a terror tactic. It wasn’t done in secret; it was done in public. It was done in front of huge crowds; the bodies were displayed afterwards. They made postcards that were widely distributed,” she continued.
Lynching numbers fluctuated over the years, but were usually higher when there was economic stress or during election years.
“Favourite victims were successful business owners, professionals, educators, community leaders and anyone working to help black people register to vote,” she said.
Bishop said an “effective and intelligent resistance” formed to help extinguish the popularity of the organization and seek greater protections and freedoms.
“What didn’t work was there were 200 attempts to get an anti-lynching law and it never happened; it hasn’t happened to this day,” she said, noting that in 2018, the US finally made lynching a federal crime.
While lynching wasn’t as prevalent in Canada as it was in the United States, it did occur, and the hate and scare tactics certainly crossed the border.
“Lynching was pretty rare north of the US border. There’s like only four or five cases on record in Canada, but as a threat, it’s definitely an activity that happens in Canada,” she said.
“The threat is sometimes almost as effective as the act itself,” Bishop noted.
“You still read about nooses placed around the necks of statues of black community leaders — not that there are that many statues of black community leaders.”
There’s been nooses hung at the Tower of Freedom Underground Railroad Monument in Ontario.
Closer to home, there’s been a number of threats or scare tactics employed.
In Nova Scotia in 2010, former provincial cabinet minister Percy Paris had KKK graffiti sprayed on his riding office. That same year, in Hants County, a cross was burned on the lawn of an interracial couple by the white woman’s distant cousins.
In 2013, there was an incident involving two white employees at Leon’s Furniture in Dartmouth who “were terrorizing their black co-worker by leaving a lynching effigy for him,” said Bishop. They were fired and staff was provided with sensitivity training. But, as part of a Human Rights investigation, it was determined that another black furniture store employee had been harassed between 2004 to 2008 and she received $8,000 in compensation.
In 2016, there was a teacher on the south shore that had a noose left on the doorknob of his office, Bishop said.
“This is not something that has gone away,” said Bishop.
“I know when I took a second careful look at the figures that were here in Windsor, I realized that they didn’t look to me like they were intended to be lynching figures, but at first glance, they looked way too much like that,” said Bishop. “It left me feeling shaky and sick to my stomach and I’m not even a member of the group that’s the target of this kind of terror.”
EAGER TO LEARN
Instead of attending the Windsor town council meeting that night, Mayor Anna Allen said she felt compelled to attend the workshop. She first learned about the issue while at a conference in Halifax about a week after the incident.
“I’m getting goosebumps again. I was so upset. I couldn’t believe that people had that poor judgment. That’s my personal thought on it,” said Allen, noting once she was made aware of the incident, she contacted staff and the RCMP to be brought up to speed.
“I’ve been in office for over 20 years and it’s the first time, personally, I have had to deal with anything like this,” the mayor told the 15-or-so participants.
She said she sought advice from communications staff on how to respond to any interviews or concerns and said she received two “nasty letters” that “painted Windsor in a pretty low profile.”
Allen said she wanted to be part of the solution.
As the discussion shifted from how the incident made people feel to what could be done in the future, Allen said she would consult municipal staff and legal counsel to see what bylaws could be amended to prevent future incidents, or even if that’s something they could do.
MOVING FORWARD
The meeting lasted about two hours and by the end of it, several people signed up to be part of a committee to provide a united front when it comes to tackling racism in the community. The facilitators explained it’s important to have a mix of ethnicities involved in the advocacy work, as history shows that is the most effective means of provoking change.
Those in attendance were encouraged to stand up when experiencing micro aggression, explain what it is and be blunt about its impact.
Both facilitators said they were encouraged by the open dialogue at the meeting and were optimistic the lines of communication will remain open.
While Bishop had hoped to reach more people, she said in an interview that she was pleased with the overall outcome.
“In terms of having 15 people come, coming to such a good and creative conclusion, making a solid plan to move forward, I’m very happy with all of that,” said Bishop.
Change takes time and Bishop said this is the first step towards changing attitudes and educating the public.
The homeowners who displayed the ghouls that sparked the initial discussion were not in attendance. The RCMP explained that one had to work while the other was not feeling well.
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