B.C. Green candidate apologizes for imitating Martin Luther King Jr.

by Charlie Smith on April 14th, 2017 at 5:40 PM

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The B.C. Greens were taken off message today after one of their candidates invoked Martin Luther King Jr. on the campaign trail.

Mark Neufeld, a teacher running in Saanich South, imitated the slain civil rights leader's famous "I have a dream" speech, claiming that he, too, had been to the mountaintop.

But his use of a southern accent at the Victoria Convention Centre has outraged some.

Former Vancouver park commissioner Constance Barnes called Neufeld's actions "bloody offensive and totally inappropriate".

Barnes, who's father was the first legislature speaker of African ancestry in Canada, also described the speech as "deplorable".

Neufeld has since apologized twice on his Facebook page.

Here were his first words of contrition:

"Last night at the BC Greens election kick off rally, I was honoured to speak in front of a group of 1300 people. I intended to deliver a speech that was meant to inspire, and one of the biggest inspirations in my life has been Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At no time did I mean to be disrespectful to the work and memory of Dr. King, nor did I ever mean to equate the civil rights movement with the green movement. It’s really hard for me to think that I’ve offended someone least of all those who share the deep respect for Dr. King. To anyone who I’ve offended, I sincerely apologize. I have been and will continue to be committed to making positive change in my community."

Listen to Martin Luther King Jr.'s words juxtaposed with those of Mark Neufeld.

And here's what Neufeld wrote in his second Facebook post:

"In a misguided attempt to share the inspiration of one of the greatest leaders of our time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I made one of the greatest mistakes of my life. I was excited by the crowd, but I was wrong to do what I did. I take responsibility for my actions and I am very sorry.

"It was my intention to honour one of my heroes and instead, I was deeply insensitive. It was a stunning lack of awareness to think that I could somehow honour Dr. King in this way. Instead of ...honouring him and his work, I hurt many people.

"I have to own my white privilege and my station in society. As a teacher of 25 years, I have no excuse. And intention is not enough.

"I regret that my actions have provided a distraction from the visionary policies of the party. This is a lesson that I have learned and will humbly never forget. In the brief time I had to prepare, I should have known better than to try to wing a speech on so important a night. No one, including my campaign manager, saw the speech before I delivered it on stage. No one knew what I was going to say and I apologize for letting my team down.

"One of the core principles of the BC Greens is respect for diversity. We need to strive to improve respect for diversity with every part of our being, as we are far from an equal society. I am deeply sorry that I did not represent this principle in my speech.

"I thank you for taking the time to read this."