[CBC News] “B.C. politicians and leaders are denouncing an apparent gathering of white nationalists on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc reserve, just east of Kamloops.
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir says the nation received reports Sunday morning of a gathering of roughly 30 men, donning white face masks and black caps, standing together around the reserve while hoisting flags over their shoulders.
In a press release, Casimir said “individuals associated with Second Sons Canada, a group linked to white supremacist and white nationalist ideology, have been seen and documented within our community.”
Response for BC political parties has been swift and unified:
Speaking at the Vancouver International Airport Sunday afternoon, NDP Leader David Eby said there has been a rise “in this kind of white nationalist behaviour” in B.C., adding that more needs to be done “to fight it.”
“This is just disgraceful, disgusting behaviour. It’s very clear that these people were trying to intimidate, make people feel fearful,” said the premier, adding that the men in face masks would face severe retribution if their identities were known.
“The white nationalist gathering on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc land this morning was hateful and meant to intimidate. It has no place in British Columbia,” said Lorne Doerkson, interim leader of the B.C. Conservative Party, in a post to social media. He added that the “B.C. Conservatives condemn it completely.”
CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko, in a post on social media, called the gathering “abhorrent.”
“Hate and discrimination of any kind are unwelcome in British Columbia and on behalf of all members of Centre BC, I condemn this behaviour and stand in solidarity with the Tkʼemlúps First Nation,” she said.
Tkʼemlúps First Nation Chief Rosanne Casmir said plans for the nation’s events for Truth and Reconciliation Day on Sept. 30, Casimir said, will go ahead. “We will not be intimidated,” said Casimir. “This is not going to deter us from gathering, reflecting, or honouring our survivors and the children who returned home,” she said.
But this incident, Casimir said, is an example of a broader problem. “Everyone should always be concerned because there’s so much racism and discrimination out there.”
A statement from the Assembly of First Nations “strongly condemns the display of racism and hate by white nationalists today at Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc. We call for a full investigation and for governments and Canadians to join us in pushing back against racism. There is no place for this in today’s society. We must stand together against ignorance, racism and lies, and stand up for First Nations rights, for truth, and for reconciliation.
White nationalists gathering on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc land to intimidate people is disgusting, dangerous and cowardly – as they hide their faces. We stand with Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and everyone who was targeted in Kamloops. White supremacist organizing is on the rise, and we must do more to fight it.
“The City of Kamloops stands in unity with our neighbours at Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc. There is no place for hate in Secwepemcúl’ecw. As we approach the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we learn from those who have cared for this valley since time immemorial. We stand against those who deny our history and condemn all acts of racism, denialism, and hate.”
[KJG] I invite all readers, followers, and subscribers to make one or more statements to family, friends, neighbours, and across all cultural divides to raise our voices of concern and resistance. Racism is a real force here in Canada. As Canadians, Indigenous and settlers, we can and must do better.
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Thank you for bringing this forward for all to see. We Canadians and others in the world pray for brokenness healing, grace and mercy by the power of the Holy Spirit to uphold each one of you being affected by this cowardly wounded and dangerous behaviour. We stand alongside with you.🙏
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My family came from German-speaking Odessa in the 19th c to Oregon and then took advantage of the offer of free land (160 acres) available in Alberta (before it was a Province) once it was tamed and productively farmed. My grandparents and father and nine siblings spoke German in the home and continued to, though more and more aware that there was a pecking order of homesteaders, with British being on top of the socially-proscribed ladder. During both world wars, German Albertans faced local and provincial racism directed their way, to the point where my family kept to the farm and German Baptist Church my grandfather started. And once WWII ended (my father was too young to enlist in the first, and too old for the second), all but one of his siblings left for the USA to get out of Canada.
When I was born in N.D., my parents registered me through the Canadian Embassy in Washington as a ‘Canadian Born Abroad’, just in case they decided to go back. But they never did. And when I, after being ordered to appear for induction, decided the killing fields of VietNam were unconscionable and immoral, and told my father I was going to move to Canada, he said, ‘What? Go to that racist country?’
Nativism in Canada has a long and sordid history. Today it is being evidenced in my city of Kamloops with these thugs that don’t dare uncover their faces, but it was openly fostered in B.C. against anyone whose people died building our transcontinental railroads, not allowing them to then live here afterwards despite their slave-like working conditions and life-taking heroics. And perhaps we’d want to revisit the history of the Doukhobors, who, “. . . from 1917 and again from 1934 to 1955, were stripped of their federal voting rights. And in 1949, when British Columbia finally amended its Provincial Election Act to restore voting rights to various racialized groups, they explicitly added a clause excluding Doukhobors, deliberately denying them a voice in provincial politics. . . ” [Elections Canada]
I’m not so self-righteous as to point fingers at these mask-wearing quasi-KKKers while excluding my own cottage-cheesed conscience when it comes to preferring the company of some people and not others.
Racism and its origins resides in me and I presume every person on the planet. I taught ESL for a number of years. My Japanese students were uncomfortable sitting next to Koreans. My Saudi students wouldn’t sit beside Yemeni students. Nobody wanted to sit with Africans.
It’s the reason we have prayers of confession.
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To “Racism and its origins resides in me and I presume every person on the planet” this is certainly true for myself. A clergy colleague from the island describes himself as a “recovering racist.” This is more than a witty retort. It is a frank admission that the work of personal reform is not over. It speaks of a desire to do and be a better person. But yes, as you suggest, confession and absolution are still helpful and required.
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