Residents share stories of racism at Niagara-on-the-Lake rally
Crowd of hundreds kept peace top-of-mind, participant says
Yvonne Bredow said she too often finds herself wishing “that the ground would open up and swallow me, so I could disappear.”
That thought, she added, usually passes through her mind whenever she finds herself the target of racism.
But after years of quietly letting those racist words or actions go unchallenged, the Niagara-on-the-Lake resident who is of mixed race vowed that she will remain silent no longer.
“I am learning as much as everyone else, but I’m going to start standing up when people are racist to me,” she said Friday at Voices of Freedom Park — a NOTL park that opened two years ago, commemorating the role Niagara played in Black history.
Bredow then led a crowd of hundreds of mask-wearing rally participants on a walk through the streets of NOTL’s usually busy tourist district, as the crowd chanted slogans including Black lives matter, white silence is violence and George Floyd.
While the rally remained peaceful, she said there was also “an edge” in the mood of participants, outraged about recent racial tensions.
“A lot of people are angry because they’ve had to shut their mouths about it for so long,” she said.
Bredow told the crowd that until recently, she was afraid of hurting the feelings of people who have made racists remarks to her.
“That’s who I am. I’m afraid of hurting someone else’s feelings when they using racial remarks to me, saying something rude to me or introducing me as their housekeeper when we are friends. I need to make a change as well. I’m not perfect and I’m continually learning.”
Sue Batson-Patterson, too, shared her experiences with racism while living in the town — especially with online local community groups that share “vile, racist, misogynist, homophobic rhetoric.”
“I’ve experience everything from the mundane to the utterly ridiculous during the 23
years that I have lived here,” she said.
Batson-Patterson said the first time she “heard the N-word was here in Niagara,” and has faced numerous incidents of racism since then.
“I don’t have answers for the unholy hot mess the world is in right now. But I can only offer insight into my personal experiences. I offer bad memories. I offer fear. I offer trepidation. I offer distrust.”
Rally participant Juan Guerrero said the rally also showed “solidarity with what’s going on down south, of course.”
“But I’ve been in about five different countries and I know racism knows no borders,” the St. Catharines resident added.
Despite the anger and frustration, he said it was also important to remain peaceful because the underlying message is overshadowed by the violence that has occurred during protests in the U.S.
Rally participant Tyrell Mac- Lennan said he, too, was encouraged by the support shown at the rally, particularly among people of other races.
He said Batson-Patterson’s description of the racism she has faced “really brought it home for me.”
“You can read about it all you want, but when someone is speaking to you about it and you hear the pain in their voice, it makes you feel that way,” he said.
MacLennan said one touching moment during the rally was when Batson-Patterson pointed out a girl dressed in pink among her audience, holding a sign that read: “Don’t I matter?”
“That kind of hit home for me — ‘Don’t I matter?’ from an eight-year-old girl,” he added.
Batson-Patterson also spoke in honour of Wilma Morrison, “a tireless protector of Black history in Ontario,” who died in April, at 91 years old.
“She was a treasure,” she said. “We are so honoured to have had her in our community.”