Community forum in Swift Current discusses racism
A community forum on racism took place in Swift Current to give residents an opportunity to have conversations about racism and to discuss ways to move forward.
The forum was held at the Swift Current Museum, March 6. It was organized by the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan (MCoS) in association with local member partners, the Southwest Newcomer Welcome Centre and Southwest Multicultural Association.
The MCoS organizes an annual antiracism educational campaign in the province in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21. The theme of this year's campaign is “Racism: Recognize it. Reject it!” and activity kits for this campaign were distributed at the community forum.
Swift Current was the first of several communities where the MCoS hosted a community forum on racism. Similar events will take place in Yorkton, Regina, the Battlefords and La Ronge.
MCoS Executive Director Rhonda Rosenberg said they were fortunate this year to receive significant funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage to organize five community forums in Saskatchewan.
“We work with our partners in each local community to have a conversation about how do we support ongoing work like this,” she mentioned. “I don’t think this is an one-time conversation, and that was really clear from comments that people made tonight that there’s a real desire to continue gathering and to bring more people as part of the fold to be part of that conversation in order to really create the kind of welcoming community that is able to offer acceptance to all members, and therefore gain from the contributions of them.”
The MCoS worked with local partners to host the forums in these communities, but she emphasized all communities can benefit from this kind of discussion about racism.
“There aren’t any communities in Saskatchewan in which this would not be a good and appropriate thing to be doing,” she said. “We need to be having these conversations everywhere. So it’s really about selecting where there are partners, where we have other things going on, and who’s ready, but these are conversations that we would love to see happening throughout the province.”
She felt a discussion about racism at a community forum can have a snowball effect that can engage others in a community to talk about issues of race and discrimination.
“When we hold a forum like this we get the people who are most passionate about being here, but they have all kinds of other connections” she said. “One of the things that we hope in doing this work, in having this kind of forum, is that we will add to the people who come here, to the language that they have and to the tools and resources that they’re able to use, to share particularly with the people who maybe are a bit on the fence, maybe are not strong into racism activists already.”
She added that the intention of such a forum and the discussion about racism is not really to try to change the minds of those with entrenched racist ideas. The focus is to reach out to those who do not want others to be treated badly, but do not know what to do.
“So by doing these kinds of forums the people who come out walk away with greater capacity to be anti-racism champions and to help in the conversations that they can have in their circles of influence to create more people who are champions,” she said.
Rosenberg made a presentation about race and racism at the community forum. She noted that race is a social construct with no basis in biology and genetics.
“Modern geneticists are able to tell us that about 100th of one per cent of our genes determine what we associate with race, so skin colour, hair colour and texture, facial features,” she said. “It’s really minute and we share much more in common genetically than we differ, but it is a social construction, and it’s used to give privileges to those who create that social construction through the oppression and exploitation of those who are disadvantaged.”
Stephanie Kaduck, the Swift Current Museum’s education and public programs officer, made a presentation about the history of racism in Swift Current.
Local resident and elder Sylvia Thorburn spoke about the racism she experienced in the town of Duck Lake, where she grew up in the 1970s. Her approach to racism is to focus on change through education and awareness. She felt it is important not to get tied up by racism, but to move beyond it.
“It doesn't really always go away, it stays with you, but you learn how to address it and you learn how to heal from it,” she said.
The community forum concluded with a general group discussion, during which people shared their experiences and spoke about ways to deal with racism. Rosenberg noted that racism holds everyone back, even those of privilege, because everyone will lose if people are not allowed to contribute to their fullest extent to society. She urged forum participants to continue to build relationships and to develop a shared understanding about the future of Swift Current.
Different community organizations in Swift Current will come together on March 15 for an anti-racism gathering. The March Out Racism gathering will take place at noon on Market Square to celebrate diversity and inclusion, and to take a stand against racism.