Windsor Halloween display opens generational wounds of racist violence
Kevin Upshaw, an African Nova Scotian man born and raised in Windsor,
said he was shocked when he first saw the decorations, which appear to
depict figures with black faces hanging by their necks from the branches
of a tree. For the Black community, the figures evoke images of
lynchings.
said he was shocked when he first saw the decorations, which appear to
depict figures with black faces hanging by their necks from the branches
of a tree. For the Black community, the figures evoke images of
lynchings.
“I honestly couldn’t believe it at first,” says Upshaw. “I just stood
there for a second. I went home and went to bed and tried to let it go,
but I couldn’t.”
On Halloween, Upshaw made a post on Facebook about the figures. He
says that as soon as he made the post, white people in the community
began attacking him. Upshaw says he is disappointed by the response, and
that he made the post to try to draw attention to the issue and to
express the discomfort members of the Black community feel in the hopes
that the figures would be addressed.