Important conversations about systemic racism, power and politics are taking place in a variety of online spaces as protests continue around the world. One online group for the Leslieville neighbourhood has been embroiled in debate for days now, after members began to notice that posts regarding Black Lives Matter were being removed.
The public Facebook group I am a Leslievillian! was founded in 2007 and has more than 14,000 followers. That number has been declining since June 2, though, when members began to ask why the group admins appeared to be removing numerous posts on the subject of Black Lives Matter, and in some cases seemingly banning the authors of the posts from the group at large.
In a group where the average post interaction is often between two to 50 people, posts like the one pictured above received an avalanche of support. There were also calls for group admin Jason Davie to explain why posts were being removed. Much of the back-and-forth that took place on Tuesday between Davie and other members has since been deleted, but it has ignited another debate over whether a neighbourhood community group is the “right” space to talk about politics.
Many members pushed back against the idea that a neighbourhood collective isn’t the place to get into political debates. Members posted explaining that these topics are more than relevant, and that it’s a privilege to be able to decide when and where one speaks or thinks about racial inequality.
Davie responded to the group in a post on Tuesday afternoon that stated: “I stand against racism. There are so many posts up and have not been deleted.” His post concluded with, “Again, we are not a political page, and I will not stand for being called a racist or enabler.” Davie declined to provide a comment to TRNTO.
Many members decided to leave the Facebook group, and now a former member — Keegan Wiebe — has started a new community page called Leslieville Collective. This private group quickly received more than 1,700 members.
“I started Leslieville Collective shortly after I noticed a pattern of members of the Leslievillian group having their posts deleted,” said Wiebe. “And a number of users being removed after posting about Black Lives Matter. There were members of our local community who were being displaced from a group that they had come to rely on for community discussion and information, and that didn’t sit well with me.”
Wiebe is excited to see what type of community and resource the new group will grow into as membership continues to spike.
“The goal for Leslieville Collective is to create a true community group,” said Wiebe. “One where neighbours treat each other as they would expect to be treated on our streets, and where they can enjoy a truly inclusive and safe environment.”
