A common message at Saturday’s Unity in the Community event at Ottawa’s Walsh Park is that race relations could be better if people would get to know each other and talk about the problem. A lot of people in Ottawa feel the community, although mostly white, is very welcoming to everyone.
Eden Fox and D.J. White are high school students who say they do feel racism’s sting. Both say they’ve heard the N-word and have had other experiences where their race was the subject of amusement.
Debbie Damron says she worked at Ottawa High School and she agrees there’s room to improve in school.
Angel Patterson, who organized some of the local Black Lives Matter marches, organized the Unity in the Community event. She says she didn’t just want to protest what’s wrong. Celebrating what’s right and bringing people together are important too.
Mayor Dan Aussem cooked ribs at the event. He’s not been asked much to deal with race relations in his role. But he says the conversation is long overdue. He says when people find something they have in common, they can overcome the things that keep them apart.
Left to right: Ashten Circelli, Angel Patterson, Sandy Brown. Patterson organized the Unity in the Community event with help from Circelli and Brown.
Playground scene at Unity in the Community
Face painting
Eden Fox, DJ White, Debbie Damron, and Susan Burstzynsky talk after a meal.