After spending weeks at odds with Black Lives Matter, Mayor John Tory emerged Saturday from a private meeting on racial equity they were excluded from with kind words for the protest group, saying he understands their passion and urgency on fighting anti-black racism.
Tory said the two-hour meeting with black community leaders taught him “not to be afraid” of protest groups taking bold actions but rather “to absorb carefully what they’re saying.”
“The Black Lives Matters of 2015 and 2016 are really no different from a lot of the activists who brought about so many positive changes in terms of our respect for human rights in the past,” he said.
In a point of comparison, Tory mentioned his friendship with late Dudley Laws, the black civil-rights lawyer who Tory called an outspoken advocate who “created positive change.”
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A public meeting — which Black Lives Matter has been invited to — will discuss anti-black racism and equality, with specifics to be worked out, Tory said.
“There is a passion about this, an urgency about this and I understand that. So we will move as quickly as we can to have this more inclusive process that isn’t just another conversation but rather is trying to put people at a table to take action and get some things done.”
“The process has to lead to action. This can’t just be another conversation, we’ve had conversations for a decade,” he added.
Tory has had a contentious relationship with Black Lives Matter, earlier insisting on a closed-door meeting with them despite the group’s demand it be public, and offering pointed criticism of a controversial tweet by the group’s co-founder.
In a series of tweets following the roundtable, Tory said Black Lives Matter has “brought important issues to the fore” and admitted the discussion of racism sparked by the group has been difficult for him, saying “sometimes that can present uncomfortable moments.”
Saturday’s meeting involved several leaders of black community groups, but not Black Lives Matter, who weren’t invited.
Police Chief Mark Saunders, who attended the gathering, said “I’ve walked away a lot wiser” and that he intends to spend more time listening to the community’s concerns.
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Tory agreed the protest group must be involved in the discussion around anti-black racism, said Neil Price, executive director of social-issues consultants Logical Outcomes, who was also there.
“He understands that this meeting really should not have happened without Black Lives Matter, and any subsequent action — and there was a demand for action — has to include Black Lives Matter.”
Price said Saunders was told “an opportunity was lost” by his not meeting with Black Lives Matter during their two-week protest camp outside police headquarters.
Saunders could have “reached out, listened, stood on the steps of police headquarters and said ‘I hear you,’ but he didn’t do that. And the tone in the room, it was clear to me, is that he received that message.”
Black Lives Matter co-founder Alexandra Williams said that while Tory was trying to divide the community by excluding the group from the roundtable, the gathering shows progress is being made. She said the group will hold Tory accountable over the upcoming public meeting.
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