A Canadian candidate for the Parliament of Ontario, humiliating from her race after her rival party had shared a clip of her: “My secret is that I want to be a black woman.”
Amanda Zavitz, a self-proclaimed dei-lawyer who called as the candidate of the NDP party in the upcoming elections of Ontario to represent the Elgin-Middemlesex-London district, was heard in a clip shared by the PC party that her ' Secret 'explained.
“I want to be an expert in inequality with lived experiences of poverty and living in addiction and alcoholism,” she said.
“I want to be able to share my ideas without the barrier of watching the way I do.”
Before she stopped, Zavitz addressed the controversy in a Facebook message and said that she made the comments during a presentation to the United Nations Commission about the status of women in March 2024.
“As part of an exercise that was meant to unpack our prejudices, I made a comment that I understand that was harmful,” she said.
'My apologies unambiguously for that comment and any damage it caused. As a professor in sociology and women's studies, I made my entire life's work to strengthen the voices of marginalized communities. '
Zavitz succeeded this post hours later and said that she withdrew from the race “After further reflection and discussions with members of the community.”
Zavitz, a self-proclaimed dei lawyer and sociology professor at Western University, said she wanted to become a black woman to get the “lived experiences of poverty and life in addiction and alcoholism”
“It has become clear that my comments from the past distract from the critical task of beating Doug Ford and choosing an NDP government from Ontario,” she said in the post.
Zavitz ran to represent Elgin-Middleesex-London in the legislative power of Ontario, who holds Snap elections a year earlier than expected after the Prime Minister Doug Ford of the city had called them early.
Running against Ford's Progressive Conservative (PC) party, Zavitz had shared images of her campaigns in Snow Passakket Ontario earlier this week, but saw her hope on Wednesday when the PC party stormed her comments about X.
In parts of her remark at the UN conference that were not heard in the clip placed by the PC party, Zavitz was heard to clarify her bizarre comments about 'wanting to be a black woman'.
Zavitz spoke with public members during the conference last March, remembered an exercise that she and other participants did at a conference in Toronto, a decade earlier called 'Post Secret', according to Radio Canada.
Zavitz remembered that members were asked to write down their deepest secrets on a piece of paper, and some were then asked to read it to the public.
Zavitz, who campaigned earlier this week, fell out of her race 'after further reflection and discussions with members of the community' on Friday
She said that one public members admitted to an affair, and another spoke about stealing money from their husband's bank account, but she did not speak at the conference 10 years ago.
Zavitz also revealed the secret she wrote that she “wants to be a black woman.”
'If you don't know me, you might ask this in doubt. You might wonder if I lie, or if I really thought this. If you know me, you know 100 percent for sure, it's true, “she said.
She said that she often struggles with labeling a 'karen' – a pejorative term for a combative white woman – and this can hinder her activism to “look like me.”
“The easy answer is that I want to lead the fifth wave of feminism and that if you look like I and people call you a karen, it is difficult to be taken seriously as a leader of the fifth wave of feminism,” she said the audience.
'The more complicated answer is that I want to know everything I know, I want to be a sociologist and professor for women's studies.
'I want to be an expert in inequality with lived experiences of poverty and living in addiction and alcoholism. I want to be able to share my ideas without the barrier of watching the way I do. '
Zavitz is a self-proclaimed dei-lawyer who says that she focuses on the critical investigation of inequalities in various forms'
In a response to CBC News, Zavitz tried to clarify the meaning behind her comments, after many online had taken offense to her remark about 'addiction and alcoholism' as a universal experience of black women.
“The point that I intended to make was that a greater consciousness of the experienced experience of black people and communities would improve the concept of what it is like to cope with systemic racism,” she said.
“I apologize for all the damage caused by my comments.”
Zavitz has never been chosen before and has worked as a sociology professor at Western University for the past 20 years. On her LinkedIn, Zavitz writes that she focuses on the critical investigation of inequalities in various forms. '
She added that she also acts as the 'co-executive director of the Gender Equality Coalition of Ontario, deliberately argues for gender justice that includes the rights and experiences of men, women and gender-diverse individuals through an intersectional lens.
'Together we strive to create a more just society for everyone. I am a lawyer for diversity, inclusion and shares, a feminist, activist, public speaker, co-samenweerer, employee and leader. '
