A Facebook post seeking people to join a South Shore group of the KKK has grabbed the attention of the public, police and Bridgewater’s mayor.
The post asking “Whom would be interested in the Group of South Shore KKK” made its way around yesterday and has since been taken down.
Posts and comments like this goes against what millions of people are currently fighting for, including the town, says Mayor David Mitchell.
“We had the ‘Take a Knee’ event just a couple of weeks ago, and the world is finally waking up to the realization that we need to act now to deal with racism, especially anti-black racism,” he said.
“But then, in less than two weeks, to have something like this to appear on Facebook, it was disheartening at best.”
The post, which has been removed, asks people to join a South Shore Chapter of the KKK. Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell says he has never heard of such a group in the South Shore.
The Bridgewater man who made the post lists himself as the Head Gardener at LaHave River Berry Farm.
The company has since made a public post denouncing his employment there, stating he worked at the farm during the summer of 2018, and has not hired him back since.
They have also requested he remove their company from his page, but has no received an answer.
Mitchell said while no single person can represent a community, actions like this highlight that no community is immune to racism.
“It certainly reminds us that (racism) is at the forefront, and we need to act now,” he said. “We all need to work towards change, no matter how big or small we are.”
Mitchell noted the town is working towards change by implementing Bridgewater’s Anti-Racism Task Force, as well as reviewing all operations of the town, housing, education, policing and health care among others.
The post has since been reported to the Bridgewater Police Services, who spoke with the man directly.
Sgt. David Ramey of the BPS said in a case like this, it comes down to freedom of speech.
“Until you actually have a specific victim, There is really limited stuff anyone can do about it,” he said.
“There’s been no offence committed, and we have no complaints from the public on this individual (before this).”
Ramey said his understanding is the man never meant to make the post, but instead was trying to send it as a joke to a friend.
Mitchell said even if the post was made as a joke, racism is not a laughing matter.
“I think there’s a percentage of the population that just believes ‘Oh, racism is when you say something out load that directly hurts somebody,'” he said.
“A joke about race, is still racist.”
