Racism protest at Digby’s RCMP detachment

Fells spoke Monday at a protest in front of Digby RCMP detachment and told fellow protesters and news media that black people are subjected to both racism and racial profiling by police officers.

“It’s happening in Canada and it’s happening in Nova Scotia and it’s happening in Digby,” he said.

Fells also referred to the June 22 incident when a Digby RCMP officer shot William Drummond, a 20-year-old black man, with a Taser. Fells’ son Nathaniel was with Drummond that night.

The person whose racial slurs triggered the fight was left alone by the police, while Drummond was targeted, said Fells, adding that the person making the racial slurs was himself an off-duty police officer.

Angie Lawrence, a Yarmouth grandmother in town to join the protest, said, “If it affects one community, it affects us all.”

Lawrence said she has been the target of racism all her life. In her job at a Yarmouth bakery, she was routinely told to “go out back” if it looked like a customer was about to enter the store. Lawrence said that she would like to say there is less racism now, that things have gotten better, but racism is still a fact of life for black people in Nova Scotia.

Fells 23-year-old son Brian said he experienced racism as a student at Digby Regional High School, “both from teachers and other students.” Fells is now a student support worker and he hears comments from young black people in Weymouth about racism in the schools.

Digby mayor Frank Mackintosh wouldn’t comment about racism in his town, but at least two of the people eager to replace him had viewpoints to express.

Bob Handspiker, the councilor who chairs the police committee said “I think it (racism) was here in the past. But the RCMP and black people have been working together and they’ve made real progress.”

Sherri Lewis said racism has been evident for many years in Digby, in both the school system and the community at large. “Although steps have been taken to educate people and encourage better relations through understanding, there is obviously more work required,” she said.

“I would encourage everyone to take a look at how racism affects their own lives and ask, what can I do to change it?” she said.