Funding to fight racism

Photo: Contributed

Racism and bigotry are real.

They do exist in our communities. 

Racist and bigotted talk is not just off-the-cuff comments made behind closed doors or in conversations where no one is listening, it is talk that has been used more openly of late, at an almost disturbing rate.

The most recent, and perhaps most high profile example in the Okanagan was the lady in Penticton who was recorded spouting hateful comments towards two young girls.

The video spawned a discussion not only online in the South Okanagan, but with various agencies throughout the region. 

"We share different experiences on how we responded as a community."

Annette Sharkey is the executive director of the Social Planning Council of the North Okanagan. 

Her organization along with four others from across the Southern Interior have received funding from the province to combat the spread of racist and bigotted talk. 

The funding last year helped Sharkey create a communication protocol for if there was a high profile incident in the community, like the one in Penticton.

"We work closely with the hate crimes unit, the RCMP and the city to discuss the roles we would play and how we would respond." 

That could mean support for the victims or even educating the public on what is or isn't acceptable speech.

That is just an example of how the $224,000 investment the province announced for 32 communities could be used to combat racism in British Columbia.  

The Thompson Okanagan Respect Network will be using the funding to make Okanagan communities safer and more inclusive.

The network is a partnership between organizations located in Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon, Salmon Arm and Kamloops. 

This year, the network has received $35,000 in funding through the B.C. Organizing Against Racism and Hate program to continue developing anti-racism programming throughout the Okanagan.

 "A good example of our work was the 'Respect Lives Here' play delivered to middle school students in each community in the network," says Sharkey. "This couldn't have been done without community collaboration."

Canada was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. 

B.C.'s Multiculturalism Act was created in 1993 to recognize and encourage respect for the province's multicultural heritage, promote racial harmony and foster a society without barriers to inclusion.

"When you have a relationship and you learn from someone who might be quite different from you or comes from a different background, it then becomes quite personal. It is then a little harder to then carry some of those stereotypes and some of the biases that you might not know that you have."