A Winnipeg Blue Bomber legend visited Morris on Saturday after recent accusations of intolerance were leveled at the town.
"I hate to say this, but there's some racism going on in this town,” Milt Stegall told a crowd of reporters at Thea’s Diner.
“It's very unfortunate. You know, I've been through racism my entire life. I saw it with my father."
The owner of Thea’s Diner announced her diner will relocate to Winnipeg at the end of the year. She says she's been the target of racist incidents, including one where someone purporting to be with the Ku Klux Klan replied to an online job posting.
"Around here, it's downplayed,” said Thea Morris. “They don't take it serious. They think it's just someone playing around. Yet, I'm still scared out of my wits. I don't want to be here alone. I have to keep locking the doors."
Since news of the intolerance broke, support has poured in from all over the province.
"It makes me sad,” said Alissa Leforte.“We live in a multi-cultural country where we're known for accepting different cultures, so I found that really disappointing and almost hurtful, being a Canadian."
Impact Security has provided a guard at the restaurant from open until close daily, and hasn't charged the restaurant anything. Stegall arrived wearing an Impact Security jacket, along with several other people dressed in Impact uniforms.
Stegall flew in from his home in the United States to stand up for Thea. He says he loves Manitoba and doesn't want the actions of a few to tarnish the whole community, but he wants people to know racism and intolerance are unacceptable.
“There's still something here that needs to be resolved,” he said. “You know, I wouldn't come up here in the cold, leave my wife and kids, if there wasn't something going on. So hopefully, we can resolve the situation. Hopefully the leaders will step up and do something and the people who are here are leaders. The people who came out today are leaders."
People like Brady Ricketts, who says his Canada includes everybody. "That's a huge part of the population of Canada, is immigrants coming to Canada trying to find a better life, and I feel that the racism surrounding this business is very sad and difficult to hear,” he said.
Thea says knowing she has the support of people like that, and celebrities like Stegall, makes dealing with the racism easier, but she's still moving her business to Winnipeg.
- With a report by Ben Miljure
