Leadership needed to combat racism in community

LETTERS

In her book “Halfbreed,” the Metis writer Maria Campbell said this: “Lethbridge, like towns everywhere with a large Native population, is really racist…” That was in 1966. I like to think we have improved a bit since then. Bob Tarleck’s letter reviews the things council has done to improve the lives of disadvantaged people. All good. But none of those actions really addresses the problem of racism.

So racism persists in Lethbridge, poisoning the lives of many people, including children, as Martin Heavy Head’s letter shows. It blocks the equalopportunity-for-all that Mayor Spearman and most of us would like to see. And, unless we confront racism, we can’t achieve reconciliation.

Carding, a racist police procedure that targets people of colour, has been brought to the fore in Lethbridge by the good work of Miranda Hlady. Carding is institutionalized racism. It shouldn’t be happening, but it is one thing we can do something about by simply changing police policy.

Individual racism is more difficult to deal with, but we can do a lot there, too, by increasing awareness and changing attitudes. But first we need to establish a Committee Against Racism here. Such a committee could document the extent of the problem; bring forward more stories of individual experiences like Martin Heavy Head’s; publicize the issue through the media, public presentations and reports, and generally make us more aware of the things we say and do that cause offense. The committee could recommend legislation where that would help. By confronting racism directly, we won’t completely eliminate it, but we can make it hugely unpopular.

Someone has to take the lead here. Council could do it, the Reconciliation Committee could do it, an activist like Martin Heavy Head could do it. But the Committee Against Racism has to be an independent body focused completely on the issue of racism. Council and the Reconciliation Committee have too much on their plates already. I can’t do it because I’m 80 years old with insufficient physical stamina.

Dave Sheppard

Lethbridge