The City of Windsor is re-examining its anti-racism initiative after the Multicultural Council of Windsor withdrew its services.
At the July 19 meeting of Windsor City Council, the MCC presented the "Our City, Our Culture" anti-racism proposal which was approved by councillors. The proposal used the $200,000 allocated in the city's 2021 budget to address racism in the community.
The proposal was criticized by some members of council, the city's diversity committee, and the Black Council of Windsor for lack of consultation with the people the proposal was intended to help.
“It is unfortunate that this initiative has now become divisive when our goal was to bring people together. The very heart of this proposal was inclusion. As an apolitical organization, we feel it is in our best interest to remove ourselves from this process and proceed on our own,” said MCC Executive Director Kathleen Thomas.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says this will further delay the city's efforts to address racism in the community.
"After the events of the past year, our goal was to take action to combat racism in all its forms and to generate tangible results for marginalized communities. The proposal put forward by the MCC reflected dozens of conversations with diverse stakeholder groups in Windsor and proposed meaningful steps, suggested by local individuals and grassroots organizations," said Dilkens.
Council will now need to decide how to spend the $200,000 allocated to anti-racism in the last budget.
