WOOW Campaigns Against Racism

KPU’s feminist club and women’s collective promotes acceptance

Women Organizing Opportunities for Women (WOOW) Organizer Natasha Lopes believes that racist sentiments are becoming more common because “people are scared that their way of life is dying out,” therefore making them more susceptible to the messages of groups like the KKK and the Soldiers of Odin.

Only a few months ago, the KKK began sending flyers to houses in the Fraser Valley, using fear tactics to recruit new members. Soldiers of Odin, a European-based organization that has been dubbed “an extreme anti-refugee group” by the Anti-Defamation League, have recently made appearances in the Lower Mainland, including Vancouver and Cloverdale.

Lopes, who lives in Cloverdale, says that she has “heard people speak in very bad tones about other groups of individuals, about other cultures, just because they didn’t take the time to learn about the culture, to listen about their religion, and they think their way of life is the right way of life,” in her neighbourhood.

In response to this and other signs of intolerance and bigotry in Canada, WOOW is launching a campaign against racism.

“WOOW is trying to combat racism by standing in solidarity with the other collectives, so we’re trying to make sure KPU is a warm and welcoming place,” says Lopes. “We’re explaining how, if you take the time out of your day to learn something about somebody else, you’re going to realize there’s no threat to you. WOOW is just trying to make sure our community respects the individualistic rights of everybody else.”

Confronting racism and bigotry can be a difficult task that often leads to heated discussion, but Lopes has managed backlash from engaging in political discourse before.

“We have dealt with issues of aggression in the past…because WOOW and the KSA are both pro-choice organizations, so by stating we’re pro-choice, we do get hate,” says Lopes. “I have received hate messages, I have been harassed when I table for WOOW. This has just become something that is normal when I go out and table.”

Because of that opposition, Lopes says that it’s important for WOOW to look to its allies for help in the fight against racism. She has already been in contact with community groups and will be speaking to the students of colour representative about the campaign soon.

She remains optimistic about the outcome of the campaign and believes that racism should be confronted through open and honest discourse.

“The best way you can affect any movement in society is to talk about it,” says Lopes. “By talking about it you make it normal, and by making it normal you make it easier for other people to talk about it. So by that process, you will make it easier for other students to understand what’s going on.”