The B.C. government announced the province’s first anti-racism act and said it will launch an anti-racism awareness campaign as part of a $1.9 million investment, designed to make B.C. more inclusive.
The province made the announcement on Black Shirt Day, which is also the birth date of Martin Luther King Jr (Jan. 15).
“We stand alongside every person who has faced and continues to face racism today and every day. Black Shirt Day is a grassroots initiative to show solidarity with Black and racialized communities in B.C. in their ongoing struggle for equity, equality and justice,” said a joint statement by Rachna Singh, parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives and Jennifer Whiteside, minister of education.
The province said it will work with representatives of the BC Black History Awareness Society to strengthen its curriculum’s anti-racism focus.
“We’ve also expanded the Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network and increased support for community projects focused on addressing anti-Indigenous, anti-Black and anti-Asian racism,” reads the statement.
