TORONTO -- In 1996, Donovan Bailey spoke up about racism in Canada months before he ran the fastest 100-metre race in history up to that point, earning an Olympic gold medal and cementing his place in the history books.
Twenty-five years later, many things have changed. Bailey, who has three world championship titles alongside his two gold medals, is now in his 50s and retired from sprinting.
But as he watched the events of the past two weeks unfold, he knew that one fact was the same: racism was still pervasive in our society.
鈥淭he last two weeks -- I鈥檓 tired,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淔rankly, I鈥檓 numb. I really am. I鈥檓 emotionally exhausted.鈥�
Speaking to CTV News during a Sunday segment called Realities of Racism, Bailey said that when he saw the video of a white Minneapolis, Minn. police officer kneeling on George Floyd鈥檚 neck for more than eight minutes while the Black man begged for air, he was 鈥渄isgusted.鈥�
鈥淚t appears way too easy for a police officer, that police officer in particular, to snuff the life out of a man who seems to be very helpless,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淚 thought it was probably one of the most despicable and disgusting things that I鈥檝e seen.鈥�
Ever since Floyd was killed on May 25, the U.S. has been embroiled in protests, with Americans taking to the streets to call for an end to police brutality against Black people.
Canadians have responded by organizing marches, protests and vigils in solidarity with the movement in the U.S., and to draw attention to Canada鈥檚 own issues with anti-Black racism and police violence against marginalized communities.
鈥淎t this juncture, I keep asking myself, and my friends 鈥� is this past two weeks just another episode of what we鈥檝e seen so many times before, or is this time, we鈥檙e going to see some results?鈥� Bailey said.
At the height of his career, Bailey made headlines with a quote that appeared in an interview in Sports Illustrated in 1996, shortly before his record-breaking run in that year鈥檚 summer Olympics.
鈥淐anada is as blatantly racist as the United States. We know it exists,鈥� Bailey was quoted as saying. 鈥淧eople who don鈥檛 appear to be Canadian -- people of colour -- don鈥檛 get the same treatment.鈥�
Bailey would dispute the exact quote shortly after, saying in a Toronto Star interview from the same year that he had actually said Canada was 鈥渘ot as blatantly racist as the United States, but it does exist.鈥�
He told CTV News on Sunday that the 鈥渟ystemic racism -- that鈥檚 certainly in Canada -- has got to be dealt with.鈥�
Blatant racists, he said, are 鈥渞eally easy to deal with,鈥� because people who are loud about their bigotry have 鈥渁lready shown you their cards.
鈥淪o essentially, you can go around them, you can go over them, you can go under them or you can go through them,鈥� he said.
The danger of Canadian racism is that 鈥渋n Canada, it鈥檚 racism with a smile,鈥� he explained.
鈥淭here鈥檚 gotta be a different game plan for each of [these types of racism].鈥�
He said Black people and other people of colour in Canada are invited 鈥渋nto the room鈥� or to apply for jobs, but that often this show of inclusion and diversity is only symbolic.
鈥淲e know for sure that in many cases, [the] decision鈥檚 already been made,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that that鈥檚 a big part of the problem.
鈥淥ne of the things that we certainly encourage, is that you have to be able to vote,鈥� he said, speaking on how people of colour can make themselves heard in Canada. 鈥淵ou have to be able to own businesses, you have to be able to be in the boardroom 鈥� be a part of the decision-making process. You have to be entrepreneurs.鈥�
Bailey was born in Jamaica, but grew up in Oakville, Ont. He said he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 get the same treatment that I hear a lot of my brothers and sisters talk about,鈥� in terms of police harassment when he was a teenager and that 鈥淥akville was amazing.鈥�
However, he said he 鈥渁lways knew that colour mattered.鈥�
鈥淢y parents were community leaders,鈥� he said. Bailey鈥檚 mother and father started the Canadian-Caribbean Association of Halton, a non-profit organization that promotes diversity and still operates today. 鈥淪o we were encouraged to give back when we鈥檙e blessed.鈥�
He points to his parents鈥� influence as one of the reasons that he was 鈥渘ot afraid to speak up.
鈥淗ence me being called arrogant,鈥� he added, referring to the reputation he had garnered in the sports world for being outspoken during his time in the spotlight.
That confidence didn鈥檛 just help him snatch medals and set world records in the 1990s though. It helped him stay true to himself despite adversity.
鈥淚 thought that I was Black and I was proud and I was beautiful,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause that鈥檚 what my mother and my father said to me.鈥�
