Huron-Perth Boomers Fall 2020

COMMUNITY
and both police and cultural institutions were forced to
acknowledge the systemic racism that led to Floyd’s death,
and the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Regis
Korchinski-Paquet and countless others.
The Stratford Police Service, which serves St. Marys,
Perth South and the City of Stratford itself, posted a
statement to Twitter acknowledging the hurt, anger and
frustration felt in the community after Floyd’s death.
“As police officers, we have an obligation to keep our
community safe, and to do so with fairness, justice,
respect and equality,” it said. “We know that we are not
perfect. We know that we need to continuously work with
our community to make meaningful strides toward longlasting
change.”
At the world-renowned Stratford Festival, Black actors
launched the Twitter hashtag #inthedressingroom to
share stories about racist behaviour they’ve experienced,
and the festival temporarily handed over its social media
feeds to BIPOC artists.
“As a company we have upheld white supremacy in
the past,” said Antoni Cimolino, artistic director of the
festival, and Anita Gaffney, executive director, in a joint
statement. “It must be dismantled. We are committed
to using this time to evolve our understanding of equity,
inclusion, and anti-racism to prepare to celebrate and
give platform to a more diverse array of voices when we
return.”
In a part of the world geographically distant from
louder, angrier protests south of the border and in larger
Canadian centres, there was at least some recognition that
racist behaviour is all too common here, rooted in bigotry
that stretches back centuries and has never entirely gone
away.
“We are heartbroken and angry at the violent anti-Black
and anti-Indigenous racism we see across Turtle Island,”
said Cimolino and Gaffney. “We stand in solidarity with
those demonstrating for justice… Black Lives Matter.
Today and everyday (sic).”
What we mean when we talk about racism
In her book White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people
to talk about racism, the sociologist Robin DiAngelo, who
is white, challenges the traditional definition of racism.
While most people think of racism as a synonym for
prejudice and discrimination, DiAngelo defines it as a
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