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So what would it actually look like if the the majority of #HamOnt city councillors were to start taking systemic racism and the threat of the far right seriously, as opposed to the few who currently do so? What might council do differently?
First of all, I have to say that I'm not pronouncing on this as some kind of expert. There are lots of people in the community who have way better answers to these questions than anything I could come up with, so the first thing council should do is listen to them.
And secondly, it's important to note that these are two different things, though they are related. And taking the systemic racism part seriously means not thinking that far-right activity in the city is some how solvable via policing.
But, with those caveats in mind, here are three broad things that would be different if the majority of #HamOnt city councillors actually took systemic racism and the threat of the far right seriously. They would...
1. Say better things. This is a super low bar, given how easy it is to make an excellent statement and then do nothing, but they haven't even been doing that, and it's an important start: They would name systemic racism & the far right as problems, and show they understand them.
2. Reallocate resources. This would look like supporting #DefundThePolice and #JustRecoveryHamOnt ( https://justrecoveryhamilton.ca/ ). It would mean spending money to meet community needs in anti-racist and anti-oppressive ways.
3. Apply the lens. It would be routine for staff reports and debates at council to centre the impacts that council decisions would have on BIPOC, poor, working-class, trans, queer, disabled, and otherwise marginalized people...
...because if a policy improves the lives of the people who are the most marginalized, it almost always improves everyone else's lives too.
And, like, this is pretty basic stuff. It isn't even touching on the kinds of struggles that are actually necessary to get to the roots of things – it's just the kinds of things that a city council could do without pushing the boundaries of its legislated mandate.
And again, these are just a few general ideas from a non-expert – I'm sure there are a lot of better and more concrete ideas out there for what #HamOnt city council should be doing. (What do *you* think they should do?)
But the fact that they are resistant to doing even these quite basic things shows that, notwithstanding the occasional claim otherwise, the majority of #HamOnt city councillors *don't* take systemic racism and the threat of the far right seriously.
