A woman in Richmond, B.C. said she’s shocked but not surprised she received a racist email after setting up an education bursary for Black moms.
In honor of Black History month, La Toya Olson launched the bursary valued at $2,000.
The information is posted on her cleaning company’s Facebook page.
On Sunday, Olson received a vile email.
“So you take money from white people through welfare and as a thanks you create a bursary just for Black women,” read part of the email.
The email goes on using the N-word and the F-word to castigate Olson’s efforts to help women in the community.
Prior to her success running a cleaning business, Olson said she was a single mom and applied for welfare and said it’s part of her personal story, a part of her life she’s not ashamed of and shares with others.
Olson says it’s not the first time she’s heard racial slurs towards her and is choosing to move forward, but it has affected her.
“I was numb the first night and yesterday it took a big toll on my mental health … I’ve always wanted to do a bursary in general for women, especially single women and moms who have fled abuse because those are all life experiences of mine,” said Olson.
Olson filed a complaint with Richmond RCMP.
“The initial investigation determined that the disjointed, offensive content of the email did not meet the threshold of a criminal offence at the time. However, the investigation into this matter continues. It’s hoped by identifying the email sender, police will able to more accurately assess the sender’s intent and help prevent this type of offensive communication from continuing,” said Corp. Ian Henderson.
Olson has already reached her goal of $2,000 and is looking to start a second bursary.
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