Community leaders in Hamilton are calling for the federal government to pass a bill that would make it illegal to publicly display symbols of hate.
The call to action was sparked by a Binbrook homeowner flying a Confederate flag outside their home, something that was brought to light by a Hamilton-area nurse when she posted a video of the flag on Twitter earlier this week.
Hamilton’s police chief addressed the flag during Thursday’s police services board meeting, saying an investigator from the hate crime unit had visited the homeowner to ensure they were aware of the ties the flag has to anti-Black racism and white supremacy but said police don’t have the authority to tell them to take it down.
That’s something that needs to change, said Lyndon George, executive director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HAARC).
“For those that say this is about their freedom, I say that you have selective amnesia,” George said during a press conference at Hamilton City Hall on Friday morning.
“You’re choosing willfully to forget about the history, about what happened, and segregation in the South. About individuals who had to fight literally for their lives, and what that flag means to so many when they see it and the fear and the trauma that occurs.”
He said the press conference was purposely held at city hall because such symbols of hate are banned on city property and should be banned from being displayed publicly on private property as well.
Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said the city would not be able to pass a bylaw preventing people from displaying hate symbols that would actually be “enforceable” but said he will move a motion at council to urge the provincial and federal government to take action.
“And I would say to the family on Guyatt Road: take the flag down. You’re doing harm. You’re not doing good, and our intention in all of these issues is to bring people together to respect one another.”
Bill C-229 was tabled in early February after swastikas and Confederate flags were seen on display during the occupation on Parliament Hill.
To date, the Liberal government has not indicated whether it will support the legislation, which would ban “swastikas and other Nazi emblems of the genocidal regime, Klu Klux Klan symbols and the Confederate flag, symbols of slavery, racism and of white supremacy.”
Amie Archibald-Varley, whose video of the flag has gained widespread attention, said she wanted to film it and put it out on social media so people could see the impact it has on Black Hamiltonians.
“I wanted people to understand and see what I was seeing because I don’t think people understand the pain that this has for Black people in this community and for racialized individuals in this community.”
The discussion about the Confederate flag comes as Hamilton police released a report on hate crimes and hate bias incidents in 2021.
According to that report, there were 108 hate incidents reported to police last year — a 35 per cent increase over 2020.
“And consider that the numbers in the document only reflect hate crimes that have been reported,” Rabbi Hillel Lavery-Yisraeli said during Friday’s press conference.
“I know first-hand that so many more go unreported. It’s sometimes very hard to know what is worth reporting and what (is) not.”
Lavery-Yisraeli said he and his family were heckled while walking on a nature trail last weekend, “just for being visibly Jewish in public.”
“There were other people in earshot and nobody said a thing. This is Hamilton in 2022.”
George said he and others in the community will be going to Binbrook on the weekend to speak with residents about the Confederate flag in their neighbourhood and educate them on why it’s harmful to Black and racialized Hamiltonians.
Comments