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The double Olympic champion has reflected on his controversial 1996 remarks, emphasising his intent to advocate for fairness and open dialogue.
Jamaican-Canadian legend Donovan Bailey has clarified the statements that got him into hot soup in 1996 when he talked about racism in Canada.
Bailey has always been a vocal personality and at times, he tends to say some things that are taken out of context, landing him in trouble. In 1996 in particular, he was asked about the state of racism in Canada and he noted that it existed.
The double Olympic champion revealed that people who are of another nationality are always treated as lesser human beings, something that caused a lot of uproar.
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"We know it exists. People who don't appear to be Canadian don't get the same treatment,” he said. When asked about if Canadians would ever go on to love black athletes, he said: “I hope so."
However, he came out to clarify what he meant about the comments, noting that he only wanted to be heard by the relevant authorities and have a meeting with them. Bailey added that he is not an activist and does not label himself as one, explaining that times have since changed.
Donovan Bailey added that having the opportunity to talk about things like racism publicly is a step in the right direction but back in 1996, there was no avenue for that. The last time he did that, he found himself on the front page of a newspaper.
“I was asked a question in 1996 about whether racism existed or not and it was very simple, because I’m no activist I mean, I’m probably more of a capitalist than anything. I’m by no means an activist and my parents were community leaders but I was asked the question,” Donovan Bailey said.
“The fact that I dared to actually answer the question, me being my authentic self I was on the front page and was like ‘Of course, it exists.’ In 1996, I simply wanted a meeting, I wanted to meet with the head of Athletics Canada and the head of COC (Canadian Olympic Committee) and tell them some things were happening in our team and people needed more assistance and they felt like they are not getting the assistance and I wanted to have that conversation.”
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