Kings embraces people’s differences

BY KIRK STARRATT

Kings County Advertiser

For several in attendance, the outpouring of support reinforced Kings County is one of the best places in the province to live.

The turnout was considered tremendous as the County of Kings’ Race Relations and Anti-Discrimination Committee held its official launch in Greenwich Oct. 28, with several guest speakers and performances by the Maritime Centre for African Dance.

Deputy Warden Diana Brothers, committee chairwoman, said there were probably between 250 and 300 people in attendance. She was pleased to recognize Chief Daniel Paul, author of “We Were Not The Savages” and recipient of the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada, among the guests.

Guest speaker Dwight Bishop, provincial ombudsmen and former RCMP commanding officer for the province, said we have to create a cultural shift in the community. The county’s committee shows wide representation, and it’s a public committee that’s accountable. He said the initiatives taken to date are wonderful, including county council showing leadership by agreeing to take sensitivity training. “It’s a journey changing the culture and the thinking process,” he said. “We’re human, and we have to be reminded to be equitable and fair to one another. “It’s already a success: I’m blown away by the people here, the numbers. Your community is very rich.”

Make decisions

Guest speaker Walter Newton, who has practiced law in Kentville for 41 years, confessed he has made racist remarks in the past, something he is ashamed of. When he was a boy in Jacksonville, Florida, he had two paper routes. He was told when he took over the afternoon route there was one customer who needed the “star edition.” This was a special edition of the paper that included social pages for the Black community, which couldn’t intermingle. “In my life as a businessman and lawyer, I can assure you with a pure heart that the differences of people have never played a part,” he said, crediting his wife and daughter for helping him become a better person. “In our personal lives, we have to make decisions every day.”

Newton said President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery by executive order, not by act of congress. Britain abolished slavery by act of parliament. Lincoln stood to deal with an issue so fundamental to the human race, but it was another 140 or so years before the United States accepted a man of colour as their president. A large portion of the free world now places its confidence on the shoulders of Barack Obama every day.

Canada sets example

Guest speaker Dr. O. Igho Natufe, president of the National Council of Visible Minorities (NCVM), congratulated the county for embracing this initiative and said they would find a loyal partner in the NCVM. “Across the globe, racial, ethnic and religious conflicts are the most potent destabilizing factors to societies,” he said, pointing out most states are multi-ethnic: there are more than 200 ethnic groups in Canada today. He said the history of Canada has involved the management of race relations from the time of the arrival of the first European settlers. “Canada has set a concrete example that the majority does not assimilate the minority.”

The face of Canada is increasingly changing and visible minorities will make up more than 20 per cent of our population by 2020. It could be closer to a majority by 2050.

Natufe said the county’s committee has a crucial role to play in the development of polices based on human rights and to ensure equity in employment processes. “We cannot build a multicultural nation on prejudice and discrimination,” he said.

Kings North MLA Jim Morton, who brought greetings on behalf of Premier Darrell Dexter, congratulated the committee and the municipality for taking on the initiative. “It reinforces for me that this is the best place in the province to be,” he said. “It seems to me that we can’t afford to exclude anyone. We need the energy, ideas, investment and work of every living, breathing Nova Scotian.”