An Ontario woman was left shocked and speechless after a racist letter was delivered to her workplace.
Nadine Davis of Peterborough has worked at the FreshCo grocery store on Brock St. for nearly 18 years. However, when she arrived at work on Jan. 31, she says a letter made out to her name was waiting for her.
Davis described what was written inside as “unbelievable”, and was signed anonymously by “One of the ones who pay your wages.”
Image courtesy of Nadine Davis via Facebook.
The anonymous sender wrote, “After the years you’ve been working with white people, you haven’t learn their gentle, courteous ways. You are still arrogant in your manners. Many customers feels uncomfortable around you. Educate yourself, refine your very cultural background. You may fit better in Toronto than in this town. Think about it it.”
Davis said that the only word she could use to describe her feelings was “hurt.” After years of serving her community, to be met with nothing more than hateful words, who could blame her?
After sharing the letter online, Davis received dozens of supportive comments from people who were shocked to see such ignorance so close to home.
Sarah Dawson, Public affairs lead at Sobey’s Inc., the parent company that owns FreshCo, shared a statement with Peterborough This Week on Friday morning.
“One of our teammates received a letter from an external unknown sender that was deeply offensive and racist in tone. We will not tolerate this treatment of our teammates and hope that whoever sent it understands they are not welcome to shop with us,” Dawson wrote.
“This incident is particularly disheartening as we reflect and engage during Black History Month; we know there is much more work to do as a society in the fight against racism and intolerance, and this is another unfortunate example.”
Davis says that while the letter was signed “One of the ones who pay your wages”, she believes the letter has come from an external source and has only received support from her employers at FreshCo.
