September 2020: Calgary - A Place for People of All Ages, Wages, and Stages
Great Neighbourhoods are about the civilization-building synergies that occur when we skillfully mix people with place. While my Great Neighbourhoods mission admittedly emerged out of the place side of the ledger, it’s always been about places for people. And at this critical juncture in our City’s and our world’s history, the people side of the equation has never been more important.
A Great Neighbourhood (and a Great City) is only great if it’s a place for everyone; a place to live, work, play, learn, shop, worship, visit and socialize. And it’s only great when everyone means everyone; people of all ages, stages of life, wages and economic circumstances, and - particularly in our pluralistic Canadian/Calgarian context - people of all backgrounds.
If the global challenge of COVID-19 has offered clarity about anything, it’s that we’re all in this together. And so it’s both timely and hugely meaningful that George Floyd’s murder by police in Minneapolis in May launched - under the banner of Black Lives Matter - the next major stage of the global civil rights movement. Here in Calgary, BLM protests brought thousands out of COVID lockdown to call out and challenge the systems of racism that persist in our city and country - despite our celebrated pluralism.
On July 7 -9, in direct response to requests from Calgary’s BLM protestors, Calgary City Council retooled our Standing Policy Committee on Community and Protective Services to undertake a community-assisted inquiry into Systemic Racism in Calgary.
I had the honor of co-chairing this inquiry along side Dr. Malinda Smith, the UofC’s inaugural Vice Provost of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. After spending the morning of the 7th hearing from an expert panel of leaders within Calgary’s Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) Communities, we opened the phone lines and the podium to Calgarians at large and hundreds responded with testimonies that frankly shook my worldview, clarified what is meant by the term white privilege, and left me with zero doubt that I am a beneficiary such privilege.
If you did not have the opportunity to listen in on the inquiry, and if you have any doubts that systemic racism is an actual thing, or if you want to bridge the theory with the lived experience of hundreds of BIPOC Calgarians who bravely shared their stories, I encourage you to spend some time watching its recording online.
The basics are that over 1/3 of Calgarians today are BIPOC and these neighbours - regardless of education, age, economic circumstance, or specific racial background - all experience a very different and much worse relationship with our police service and other institutions than that experienced by the 2/3 of Calgarians who are visibly white.
As Canadians, as Calgarians, and as people whose actual survival in a global pandemic is dependent on our collective ability to thoughtfully look out for one another, I hope we can all agree that this is not acceptable.
That our celebration of Canadian pluralism rings hollow if our friends and neighbours are systematically held back from success on account of the colour of their skin. That the rising tide of overt racism that is a deliberate product of a global political movement designed to wrest power by exploiting fear, anger and division has no place in our City.
I’m very happy to report that your City Council - also deeply moved by the inquiry - is unanimous in its commitment to move Calgary from a place that has been content to passively consider itself not-racist, to a place that is actively anti-racist. To a place that acknowledges the existence of systemic racism and is committed to identifying these systems of exclusion and retooling them into systems of inclusion. And I hope and trust that this historic transition is something which you completely support.
Coming up on the anti-racism agenda: The Calgary Police Service observed the inquiry and made the significant step of acknowledging systemic racism within its ranks and practices. On September 10, at 8:00am, they are presenting to Council and Calgarians their plan to address these issues. And at the end of October, with dozens of amazing resumes to choose from, Council will appoint Calgary’s first task force on Anti-Racism.
But at the end of the day, this is on all of us, and particularly the 2/3 white-presenting majority. Hearing and understanding is only the first step and is without action.
Anti-racism the job of every neighbour - and particularly white people - in a great city of Great Neighbourhoods.
Please consider the materials and links we’ve added to our Ward 9 Recommends Blog as part of this report, contact your Team Ward 9 for support and discussion, and please make a plan for how you will contribute to Calgary shifting to aggressive anti-racism in support of all of our neighbours.
