“You don’t just belong in Hamilton, you are Hamilton.”
That’s the message coming from a new digital campaign launched Tuesday, in part by the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI).
Program director Yohana Otite says it was sparked by an incident in Hamilton in November of 2016, shortly after the U.S. election.
“A young lady with somebody talking to her at a store, some kind of racial slur, like go back home,” she said.
The HCCI along with the Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council and many other local organizations have now responded with the Hamilton for all campaign.
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It includes a number of posters showing people of all ages and backgrounds.
It’s also a way to stimulate conversations, she said, about how Hamilton can be more inclusive.
The posters are designed to aid that dialogue by prompting Hamilton residents to offer a message of welcome to newcomers on social media or to share a favourite activity or place in the city so that they can start to engage with their community.
Otite says the Hamilton for all website will also have a weekly “myth buster” section that will offer statistics and information to break down misconceptions about immigrants and refugees.
As an immigrant herself, coming to Hamilton in 2007, Otite says she knows that it’s an important piece of the campaign. How a name sounds, she said, or having an accent can affect job prospects.
But “we have the choice” she stresses, pointing to diversity.
“To accept it and benefit from it or we fear it and that just increases the divide.”
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