Pickering Anti-Black Racism Taskforce (PABRT) yesterday said it was “horrified and deeply concerned” by ‘modern-day slave’ comment made by Pickering Councillor Lisa Robinson on September 26.
The PABRT statement echoes Mayor Kevin Ashe’s recent statement in which he called the comment “wildly offensive” (see below).
Councillor Robinson lost 30 days of pay after an investigation by the city’s integrity commissioner.
“Councillor Robinson’s comparison to losing 30 days of pay to the likeness of being enslaved is heinous. It demonstrates a blatant disregard for the weight and impact of her words as well as how it inflicts harm to others. Councillor Robinson’s comment diminishes a dark, traumatic chapter in history that continues to affect Black people in Canada and worldwide profoundly,” said the statement issued in an open letter to the Pickering community.
Councillor Robinsons’ use of the term “modern-day slave” as a White person with privilege is problematic due to the historical context, inaccuracy, insensitivity, and potential to perpetuate harmful misconceptions about race and oppression. Referring to oneself as a “modern-day slave” is problematic because the term “slave” carries a specific, deeply ingrained historical context of racial oppression, particularly in the United States and Canada, where slavery was predominantly a system of Black enslavement and oppression of Indigenous people,” the statement said.
It said misusing this term can trivialize the immense suffering and historical injustices enslaved groups have faced.
“Councillor Robinsons’ statement also shows a definite lack of accuracy. In contemporary society, individuals who are not subjected to forced labour, human trafficking, or similar forms of extreme exploitation should avoid likening their circumstances to slavery. Modern slavery involves human trafficking, forced labour, and other heinous crimes that result in severe human rights violations, said the PABRT.
For someone who can make a choice not to work and be sanctioned because of her actions, likening that to the outcome of slavery because she is not happy with the unanimous decision of the council shows the complete lack of awareness and sensitivity that should be displayed by someone who was chosen to represent the people of Pickering at City Council, said the statement.
It strongly requested that proper training and disciplinary action as a mitigation strategy be developed at minimum to address these issues.
[Image above is a file photo]
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