"It's sickening.”
Summerland's former mayor Toni Boot was on her way to the community market early Sunday morning when she came upon a sign on Summerland Secondary School that had been altered overnight to include a racial slur.
The sign had been changed to say: “Welcome back ******s.”
Boot, Summerland's first Black mayor, reported the incident to police and has since heard from a school employee that the slur was removed from the sign Sunday morning.
“I grew up in Summerland and I know what it's like to be Black in a super white community,” Boot said. “So I've experienced it all my life. It's not shocking but it's sickening.”
Boot says she's heard from others that the sign vandalism was likely “just kids being kids,” but she says it's emblematic of a wider problem in the community.
“That's easy for a white person to say, but where do the kids pick it up? It might have been a kid who changed the sign, but where are they picking it up? They're getting it from their parents and from others in society. It's not OK.”
Boot says she dealt with racism while she was mayor of Summerland, from 2018 to 2022.
“I love this community. There's been other incidents that haven't been reported, other than to the police, while I was the mayor, directed at me,” she said. “People need to know. Maybe they don't care but in my view it's something that needs to be addressed.
“It's a great community here, but one of the things that impacts the health of our community is this kind of stuff. I feel like it should be something that the community is aware of and wants to address as a community."
Back in July 2020, the community organized a car parade of support for a family whose home was targeted with racist graffiti.
"The only way to make the change is to create awareness and then people who want to learn more can learn more," Boot said.
