Opinion | Black in Halton Hills

With the recent tragedy in the news of the death of George Floyd and the subsequent charging of four officers involved in his [alleged] murder, tensions and talks have not only resurged about police but also about racism in general. But what about Halton Hills? Being a small town in Canada does racism exist here? I wanted this piece to be written, however, it did not make sense for ME to write it. I first reached out to one of my closest friends to ask whether he thought it would even be a good idea. He did, in fact, he thought it was needed. So we collaborated on the questionnaire together. What we decided on: “Age Gender Do you wish to remain anonymous? Y / N (If no) name as you would like published : Describe being black in Halton Hills? (any positive or negative experiences related to the topic)” I spoke with six people altogether, three males, three females. Here are their responses. 34-year-old, Female “I'd say my experience is kind of mixed I moved to Halton Hills in high school from Mississauga which was very multicultural and became one out of five black people in my new school. It's always difficult when you there aren't more people who "look like you." "I'd say I always kind of felt like an outcast to some extent and didn't feel like people fully understood me if that makes sense. I was also quite closed-minded when I first moved here and had my own preconceived notions of small-town white people but getting to know many of them, I found they were lovely and we had more in common than differences. This is definitely something that took time to evolve though". 27-year-old, Male "Well first of all let me say I do not identify as black, but rather mulatto or mixed." "I have had mostly negative feelings. I remember I was dating a girl back in high school and she told me her father didn't like black people. I've heard lots of people tell me they don't like black people for no particular reason. There are definitely racist people in and around Halton Hills and they are not hard to find either. In my opinion, I feel like a lot of people around Halton Hills are maybe not particularly racist, but are blind to the fact that being around people of colour makes them uncomfortable, which is completely okay." "Some people aren't amerced with different cultures. But what's not okay is not reaching out, what's not okay is being comfortable with your people, and your culture and not wanting to embrace others, what's not okay is guessing and assuming. Read books and educate yourself before you try to speak on issues on which you don't understand, or care to try to understand.” Renee, Age 30, Female “The racism is blatant, right in your face." "By age four, I had adults asking me if I was adopted. By six, I was called a worm by classmates and when I spoke up and told a teacher, I was told to 'ignore it, or walk away'. By seven, I overheard someone say something about my 'macaroni hair'. By nine, I was called the "N" word - NINE!" "But what do you do when these are coming out of your friends' mouths? Sit there in uncomfortable solace of course. If I were to speak out and say something bothered me, I risked losing any friends I had. Acton isn't like a city where losing that group of friends means I can find another. Acton friend groups are exclusive. So exclusive that parents would exclude me. Being told 'my parents said I'm not allowed to hang out with you', leaves a lasting scar. Why was I excluded?" "By middle school, I had to learn to be okay with black jokes. Why? Because everyone said them." "I've been followed around the corner store, or had the clerk stare at me while I'm looking around." "I would rather have unhealthy hair than to protect it with protective styles because that meant I was risking people saying stuff about my hair. I wore my hair in a protective style once, and that one time I had people make remarks. Touching my hair, people thought it was okay to touch my hair. It's not. It's never okay to go up and just touch someone's hair. Being told your hair looks better straight. Okay, so hair looks bad in its natural state?" "Here's an example of how okay people in Acton think it is to be openly racist;" "A school mate made a comment online about how the reason Tylenol doesn't put cotton in their bottles anymore, had something to do with black people opening it and seeing it (cotton picker). When a POC spoke up and said something about it the white school mate said 'it's just a joke', 'I didn't mean it' like that was supposed to make it okay. But when this post was brought up to people outside of Acton, threats were made and the white Acton folk would say 'you blew this out of proportion.'" "Here is a list of the names I have been called that I can think of off the top of my head; 'Worm' 'Cotton picker' 'N' 'N-lette' 'Darkness'” 32-year-old, Male Negative Experiences: "When I was a child my mother was told by a doctor in town that she should give me up to a black family who would understand more about my heritage." "Throughout highschool, I was told by teachers that I would never amount to anything." "I would worry about going over to friends' houses because their parents may not accept me." Positive Experiences: "Spending time with my family who lives in Georgetown. Living with my mom who supports me." "Meeting my girlfriend, whom I met in Georgetown, and who supports me." "Having a group of friends and family who love me in Georgetown.” Kayla, Female, 28 "My experience in Halton being a black female was not that great, to say the least." "People were way too comfortable saying the N word and saying outrageously racist jokes." "A few years ago I got a job in a pharmacy and the amount of hate and disrespect I received was unreal. I ended up quitting because the one pharmacist was extremely rude and racist, mind you, I was warned she was racist when I got the job. I ended up escalating it to head office ; (I also wasn’t the first to do so) they ended up doing their investigation and such, which consisted of them speaking back and forth between us which actually made things worse for me." "My final day there was the end of the “investigation” when they told me there will be no repercussions for her actions. I looked at her she smiled at me, so I walked out and never looked back." "It sucks having to feel uncomfortable in your own skin.” 33-year-old, Male "So basically I don’t really have negative feelings towards people that I interact with within the community. I think everybody is ok. Everybody minds their own business. The only time you find trouble is when you look for trouble. So being black, it's not a colour thing, it more has to do with morals, and that’s where everything starts, with morals. Its how you’ve been trained as a child coming up. It’s how you react to your situations." "That’s what I feel about Acton, Acton is a very good community. My personal experiences are very positive. If there was negativity I’d walk away. I wouldn’t partake in it, because I don’t want to waste my time and energy on that."