Although the covid19 pandemic has generated lots of great stories of people coming together to help one another it has also led to the kind of stories that don’t surprise Black folks one bit: covid-related confrontations with white people.
On Friday March 27, a young Black man here in Ottawa was the victim of such a confrontation with a white woman who apparently was a self-appointed covid19 rule enforcer.
After being cooped up for weeks, the young man had sought out, and found, an empty basketball court to shoot some hoops. While there, he was confronted by a woman who accused him of breaking covid19 social distancing protocols and proceeded to interrogate and verbally threaten him. She then posted her version of events on Facebook, including this comment:
“So I had to go to the drugstore for an essential and then bought deodorant. I am sure my pets love me no matter what I smell like. When I got home people playing basketball in the park. Went over to politely ask them to leave, kid gave me attitude and played dumb. Then I said, parlez-voux francais? Yeh kid I can argue in both official languages.” (sic)
In her post, she also revealed what elementary school the boy, now in high school, had attended.
According to the boy’s father, and clearly evident from the picture taken by the woman herself, his son was in fact at the park by himself as he had specifically looked for a hoop with no one around.
(I include the photo only because it was already published online as, unlike the woman apparently, I want to respect the boy’s privacy and I care about his safety). The boy also told his father that the woman said, “Oh you’re graduating? If you are, I will be at the graduation ceremony and I will trip you before you get your diploma.” and “You’re going to go to Innes road”, clearly making the racist insinuation that, because he is Black, the young man is destined to end up in Ottawa’s notorious detention centre.
The woman’s actions were appalling, especially given who she is: Donna Blackburn, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board trustee for the very school the boy attends.
Blackburn’s actions violate school board policy on a number of fronts.
The Board’s Code of Conduct states that, “It is a policy of the Board that a positive school climate exists when all members of the school community feel safe, comfortable, accepted and valued.” Blackburn’s actions will clearly make the young man feel the exact opposite.
The Code’s standards of behaviour fall into two categories: things that people should do and things they should not do. It states that all members of the school community should, “act with decorum and be respectful of other Board members, staff, students and the public.” The Code says that school community members should not engage in bullying behaviours and what Blackburn did was clearly bullying.
Blackburn’s actions also violate the Board’s privacy policy which states that members of the school community should, “…practice good digital citizenship by being respectful when they post photos of others, which includes only posting photos involving…students with permission.”
This is not the first time that Blackburn has run afoul of Board policy. In December 2016, she was under fire for accusing her Board colleague, Erica Braunovan, of “buying her children” after Braunovan adopted two young daughters from Guyana. Then, a year later, in December 2017, Braunovan filed another complaint against Blackburn for emails Blackburn sent her that, once again, violated the Board’s Code.
The Black community quickly mobilized to demand Blackburn’s resignation and that effort continues. However, the larger question is why Blackburn has been allowed to remain and do so much damage for so long? It’s true that, as she’s an elected school trustee, she can’t be “fired”, but there are clearly other ways to get problem trustees to “see the light” and do the right thing. This seems to have been accomplished with York region school trustee, Nancy Elgie, following public outrage at her racist comments.
Both cases also raise questions about why these people were elected in the first place. Did they only put on their metaphorical white hoods after the election – or did voters elect them with their hoods proudly on?
Food for thought…