Black History Month (BHM) events have perplexed me for more than 30 years. It’s as though they’re completely impervious to change.
On the one hand they serve as important annual reminders of the countless contributions Black people have made. On the other, their sentimentality – and oftentimes predictability – can be a real letdown, even for Black folks.
Take the February 1 BHM kickoff event at the Toronto Reference Library featuring activist/journalist Desmond Cole, human rights lawyer Anthony Morgan and Black Lives Matter–Toronto (BLM-TO) activist Melissa Theodore.
Moderated by Toronto Star sports writer Morgan Campbell, the talk was billed as “a candid discussion on the achievements of Toronto’s Black communities, the Black Lives Matter movement and race relations in Canada.”
At one point it looked like the conversation was headed in a very pointed direction.
“We can talk about diversity being our strength, we can do Black History Month but at the same time support carding and systems like Children’s Aid Society (CAS). It speaks to fundamental inconsistencies,” said Morgan.
Referring to Nancy Elgie, the York Region District School Board trustee who admitted to calling Black parent Charline Grant a “nigger” following a board meeting late last year, Morgan lamented that “there is not a consistent wave of [Black] folks demanding that she step down.”
I wanted to hear more about these “fundamental inconsistencies,” but that was as far as that line of thought went. The panel returned to the prosaic talk we’ve come to expect during BHM events, with speakers weaving in and out of a varied discussion about the frustrations of being Black in Canada. The group moved somewhat hesitantly, no one wanting to take up too much air, through topics that included Black history, police oversight, government obfuscation, political representation and racism in schools.
This talk seemed particularly sedate given the extraordinary times we are living in.
Just three days earlier, 25 Muslim worshippers were gunned down in a Quebec City mosque six of them were killed, leaving 17 children fatherless. The alleged murderer is a young white man whose internet habits suggest strong anti-immigrant feelings.
This devastating loss of life came on the heels of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, designed to prevent people from seven Muslim – majority countries from entering the U.S. (The ban has since been blocked by federal courts.) One can only speculate if the Quebec terrorist felt emboldened by the ban.
Closer to home, political insider Nick Kouvalis and Conservative Party leadership wannabe Kellie Leitch have been spreading their own brand of anti-immigrant venom under the ruse of protecting “Canadian values.”
Given this lethal climate, I found it hard to sit quietly in the cozy confines of the library listening to free-flowing talk. I know a few of the speakers personally, so I have no doubts about their love for and commitment to Black people.
But the tone of the conversation seemed strangely phlegmatic when the stakes for people of colour couldn’t be any higher – or deadlier.
One Black woman in the audience seemed to be feeling the same way. “Why aren’t we organizing?” she asked the panel. There was genuine despair in her voice.
“Black Lives Matter–TO has been organizing,” Cole responded. The mostly non-Black audience applauded in agreement.
But I think they misunderstood the question, which was really addressing the fact that there has been a tectonic shift in race relations in the past few months, a change that may go beyond what BLM-TO has so far responded to.
She wanted to know what Black people should be doing to guard against this 21st century onslaught. She wasn’t interested in a casual rehashing of recent events. She wanted to hear a game plan for achieving a better future as a people.
The Elgie controversy provides a stark example of how confounding the battle against entrenched racism has become.
Her bigotry and refusal to resign (the Toronto Star is reporting today that she has taken medical leave) has shocked us because we’ve allowed ourselves to believe that such behaviour is morally repugnant and therefore unacceptable in 2017. In an earlier, more predictable time, her removal from public office would have been an open-and-shut matter.
But that was the old racial playbook. Elgie’s defiance is taken from the new one.
Her recalcitrance is possible because she both understands and operates within the Trumpian context. She remains defiant because she’s confident that the winds of change are at her back. If she does eventually resign, it will be on her own terms.
Certain factors have garnered Elgie a degree of sympathy – enough to make her a tricky protest target.
There is her age (82), supposed fragility (she claims to have suffered a bad fall) and her widowhood. Add to this the fact that Elgie is an elected official. BLM-TO hasn’t had much success holding politicians to account. (See Mayor John Tory’s continued evasiveness.) This gives her significant protection from dismissal.
Much of today’s activism relies on good media coverage. Without it, there is little or no chance of building momentum for a cause, even one as straightforward as the removal of a bigoted school trustee.
But there’s no telling how a raucous Black protest against a white octogenarian would be spun in the news.
“It galls us because we can’t get rid of her,” roared Cole when the conversation returned to Elgie.
Stupefaction is white supremacy’s current MO. It renders naked what was once hidden. It encourages unconscionable acts that shock and immobilize us, the more brazen and uncouth the better. Anything and everything is on the table.
Black people can ill afford to miss opportunities for collective discussion about our strategies and goals. We have too much at stake when the major indices of health in Canada find us ranked near the bottom. The status quo simply won’t do. We have to move the conversation to one of constructive ideas.
Had her question been fully entertained, I suspect that clear-eyed Black woman would have wanted the panel to discuss what our next steps should be and how we might go about answering some of the hard questions of the day.
If dismantling white supremacy is our central goal, how are we going to achieve that? Do we desire a police reform agenda or not? Are we pursuing change for Black people through political representation? Do we have the leadership? Are our activist efforts unified? What is the endgame?
Referring to BLM-TO, Cole cautioned that “we must not be allowed to be separated from the people who are out there trying to make us visible.”
But while I agree with Cole’s sentiment, I would argue that Black people are in another sense hyper-visible. In fact, these days it feels like we’re walking around with big red targets on our backs.
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