Concert hall under fire: Indigenous teacher alleges racial profiling

An Anishinaabe teacher is calling for a formal apology saying she was singled out by security officers and repeatedly demanded to show ID at a school event hosted at the Centennial Concert Hall.

Seven Oaks School Division administration has requested a meeting with management of the downtown venue to discuss allegations of racial profiling reported by the teacher and a colleague who witnessed security guards confront her.

“I didn’t blend in, in their eyes. I didn’t fit their vision of what a professional teacher looks like,” Pamela Morrison told the Free Press about the moments that left her feeling “dumbfounded” and “othered” upon arriving at the concert hall Tuesday.

Hundreds of Seven Oaks teachers gathered in downtown Winnipeg that morning for the division’s annual professional development conference.

Following a recent injury, Morrison showed up with a boot-cast on her right foot — that’s why she said she initially tried to access the venue via side entrances with accessibility push buttons.

The long-time Anishinaabe culture and language teacher said all of them were either locked or broken so she “hobbled up” to the main doors on Main Street around 8:25 a.m.

When she entered the vestibule, she was stopped by a security guard who asked her, ‘Are you supposed to be here?’ after she smiled at him and mentioned the building’s accessible doors weren’t working, she said.

Morrison said the initial interaction led to repeated questioning from the man, as well as another uniformed guard who joined in, about her employer and proof of identification.

Neither security officer stopped anyone else to request ID, the teacher said, noting that colleagues had started streaming into the venue to find seats in the auditorium.

She noted that the men followed her inside when she refused to show them her ID, at which point a colleague of hers intervened and she went to get a coffee to remove herself from the escalating situation.

“I know how to stand up for myself. This is not my first incident and it won’t be my last, sadly,” added the teacher who is from Musk-kosiminiziibing (formerly Big Grassy River First Nation) in northwestern Ontario.

Robert Olson, president and chief executive officer of the Manitoba Centennial Centre for Arts and Culture, said an internal investigation into what happened that morning is now underway.

Olson confirmed in an email that the security guards involved are employees of the centre, not contracted staff.

He declined to provide further comment, saying this personnel issue has been referred to human resources for “follow-up and investigation.”

The Seven Oaks conference was officially scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., although doors opened at 8:15 a.m.

There were two keynote speakers — Anishinaabe author Kevin Chief and high school teacher Sarah Anderson — at this year’s event.

A mentor-in-residence on the Seven Oaks Indigenous education team, Chief was invited to discuss his new memoir. Anderson spoke about her journey to becoming a teacher with a neurological movement disorder that causes muscles to contract involuntarily.

The local teachers association president said he was appalled about what Morrison told him when they met up midday after formal presentations.

“This should not be happening at all. Not at all. This is not reconciliation,” said Jeff Cieszecki, who represents about 950 educators in Seven Oaks, including classroom teachers, principals and student services personnel.

Morrison noted that the event took place within walking distance of multiple social services agencies where First Nations people are often visibly struggling with addictions, mental health issues and housing insecurity.

“I could get eaten away by being angry but I try to educate people on their racist attitudes or what ‘my people’ are like through education,” she said.

She wants the security guards who confronted her to participate in cultural sensitivity training and learn about how colonial policies have impacted Indigenous people.

Superintendent Tony Kreml said he was unaware of any other employees who’d been asked to present ID on Tuesday and said she believes it was a case of to“racial profiling.”

Olson has been cooperative, but Kreml said it’s important to him that Morrison has the opportunity to share her experience with the CEO in her own words during a group meeting.

“It’s unsettling and it serves as a reminder to us, as we talk about and act upon our commitments to truth and reconciliation, that we need to continue the work on this,” he said, adding that truth — in this case, Morrison’s experience — has to come befome reconciliation.

This fall marks 10 years since Morrison’s school, Riverbend Gikinoo’amaagewigamig (Riverbend Community School), became the first of its kind in Winnipeg to launch an Anishinaabemowin immersion program.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca