Enough is enough.
This was a shared feeling among Salmon Arm residents taking part in a peaceful demonstration support of the Black Lives Matter movement along Highway 1 on Thursday, June 4.
The Salmon Arm demonstrators added their voices to chorus of protest that has risen world over in response to the killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by police officers.
Demonstrator Melissa Currie took part in the demonstration to speak out against the systemic racism.
“It feels like every week there’s a new name to add to the list of black people who have been murdered due to the colour of their skin and I’m here to be a part of that change,” said Currie.
Fellow demonstrators Taigan Radomske and Kairo Mair stressed racism is not just a problem south of the border.
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“Canada is not exempt from the racism that exists in America because we’re also on stolen land here,” said Mair.
Rory Baldwin views the ongoing targeting of vulnerable populations in the U.S. and Canada as a human rights crisis that cannot be ignored. He said the local protest was a way of highlighting that we need to do better as a society.
“I think it’s time we make positive systemic changes so everybody in our society can flourish and benefit…,” said Baldwin. “Personally, I just don’t understand how somebody can write another person off or treat somebody more poorly simply based on something that is so irrelevant as skin colour.”
Many of those attending the Thursday demonstration wore masks, while attempting to maintain physical distance from others involved. An employee with the Bank of Montreal offered masks to demonstrators nearby who came without.
A second demonstration is scheduled to take place on the highway at Alexander Street at noon on Saturday, June 6.