REGINA – It was a day of celebration, as the Spring Free From Racism kicked off with lots of fanfare.
The event coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is celebrated every year on March 21st.
“Multiculturalism in Saskatchewan has become extremely important and events like this bring us all together and make us all feel like one”, Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan Vaughn Solomon Schofield said.
The gathering not only celebrated multiculturalism and diversity, but it also aimed to promoting education and acceptance.
“Racism is still alive in the city of course”
“We still have some ways to go. We still need to teach our children in the school system because racism you’re not born with it, racism is something you learn”, Spring Free From Racism Chairperson Barb Dedi explained.
For Elder Lorna Standingready of Cree Nation, racism is something she knows all too well.
“I’ve experienced racism since the day I can remember.”
A residential school survivor, she still remembers the day she lost her identity. “They cut my braids off, and took away my clothes and I would never saw them again”, she said.
“I couldn’t talk my language. I would get a slap if I did, so I learned to speak English”.
Now, Standingready is in her 70s and she said she has seen progress surrounding racism.
She credited multicultural events like this that help bring up the conversation about acceptance.
“There’s hope and there’s faith in people and I’m proud of who I am, it has a been a long road”, Standingready said.