“Mommy, do you like being Brown?”
It was this question from Cherry Fernandez’s three-year-old daughter that inspired the executive director of the South Okanagan Immigrant and Community Services (SOICS) to produce a video that promotes both diversity and inclusion while also denouncing racism.
“I realized that at three years old, she was already being singled out as being different. It was at this time when I also had to confront my role in normalizing racism,” said Fernandez.
“I realized at this time that not sharing my experience — that not speaking about growing up in the Okanagan, facing racism and discrimination — that I was also feeding into that myth and that misconception that racism isn’t here, that racism is someone else’s problem.”
In collaboration with the Okanagan Chambers’ COVID Response Coalition, SOICS’s OneWorld Youth Crew highlighted the voices and experiences of Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) scattered across the Thompson-Okanagan region in their latest anti-racism video called What Do you See?
The video premiered during a Zoom meeting on May 6 that saw more than 40 people tune in, which included everyone from students to Okanagan chamber of commerce members.
In just under six minutes, BIPOC youth, teachers, nurses, doctors and others highlight the unique roles they play in their respective communities while simultaneously championing inclusion and diversity.
“It’s an amazing piece of work. It’s very stimulating and generates good, honest conversations that we need to have,” said Dan Rogers, executive director of Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.
At the beginning of the video, real clips of racist remarks being made toward BIPOC residents in the Okanagan are played, which Fernandez said demonstrates the impact racism has on communities in the region.
“They’re not coming from someone else’s backyard. All of these comments are coming from our community,” she said.
According to a recent survey by Insights West that collected the responses of 725 Asian residents living in BC, 43 per cent of respondents said that they had experienced racism towards them this past year. Of this, 26 per cent of participants experienced indirect racial slurs, while 23 per cent experienced direct racial slurs.
Rogers said that community leaders can no longer stay silent and need to take a stand against racism.
“That cannot happen. We need to stand up,” he said.
Fernandez said that the video encourages everyone to learn and do better.
“This video is a testament that we can really find strength in our diversity when we have that mutual respect and understanding,” she said.
READ MORE: Survey hopes to shine light on racism in the South Okanagan
READ MORE: Working to counter racism in Salmon Arm, Shuswap
@aaron_hemensaaron.hemens@kelownacapnews.com
