Show Racism the Door

A series of invested groups attended a noon hour ceremony at Market Square on March 21 to participate in an event recognizing International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan (MCOS) invited provincial residents to participate in its annual public education campaign for March 21st: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination themed ‘Show Racism the Door’. Individuals are encouraged to participate through attending community events and share about their experiences on social media using #Marchoutracism.

March 21st is designated by the United Nations (UN) as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It’s a day observed all around the world to focus attention on the problems of racism and the need to promote racial harmony. The UN made this designation in 1966 to mark a tragic event that took place on March 21, 1960 in Sharpeville, South Africa when 69 peaceful demonstrators were killed during a protest against apartheid. MCOS coordinates and supports provincial campaigns and activities in Saskatchewan communities and schools with contributions from many partners to recognize March 21st and use it as a springboard for the year-long work to recognize and reject racism.

MCOS chose the theme ‘Show Racism the Door’ and developed an activity kit to demonstrate the negative side of racism including types of racism and examples of racism specific to Saskatchewan and Canada (i.e. content for negative side of door) and solutions to racism including examples of people who challenged racism and ways to address racism (i.e. content for the positive side of the door). The activity kit is a downloadable and printable pdf file. The campaign includes creative such a poster (downloadable) and a video.

“It is not easy to recognize and reject racism. It requires all of us to explore and challenge our own ideas and assumptions,” explains Rhonda Rosenberg, MCOS Executive Director. “By offering the public our ‘Show Racism the Door’ campaign, we are hoping that people will engage with the activity kit that includes ideas for how to have discussions about racism. We are hosting public forums on racism in Saskatoon and Fort Qu’appelle. When we are willing to look honestly at the impacts of racism and discrimination, we can begin to look for creative ways to move forward. Together we can build welcoming and inclusive communities for all Saskatchewan residents.”