Couple starts new life in Canada after fleeing racism in U.S.

A Canadian couple is starting over again in Sackville, N.B. after racist incidents forced them to flee their home in the United States.

Robin Attas, Nicolás Narváez Soza, and their two small children lived in Burlington, N.C. for the past four years but left after they started fearing for Narvaez Soza's life.

The "final straw," they told Now or Never host Ify Chiwetelu, was when a police officer pulled Narváez Soza over, falsely accused him of not wearing his seat belt, and reached for his gun. 

Narváez Soza, who is originally from Nicaragua, faced repeated racist remarks while doing everyday things like jogging and playing with his kids. He said incidents started worsening in 2015 as white supremacist rallies like the kind held recently in Charlottesville, Virginia began to intensify.

"I got very angry and suspicious with everybody," said Narváez Soza. "So I started putting my head down instead of looking people in the eyes or smiling at them."

Attas quit her tenure-track position as an assistant professor at Elon University and Narváez Soza bailed out of a fine arts degree program so the family could move to Canada, where Attas was born and raised.

Narváez Soza said he's finally starting to smile at strangers again. But as Attas starts a one-year teaching contract at Mount Allison University, she said she can't help feeling once bitten, twice shy.

"This place also claims to be a hip college town," said Attas. "Is it really or is it not?"

So far there's at least one positive sign: Neighbours recently brought over fresh vegetables for them.

Still, Attas noted that racism exists in Canada, too, pointing to a recent incident near her hometown of Pinawa, Man. when a Calgary woman wearing a headscarf was accosted by a man. "It's exactly the same as the stuff that happened to Nico," said Attas.

But Attas said she feels emboldened being back on her home turf.

"Being Canadian means I can stand up and say this is not acceptable in my country in a way I didn't feel comfortable doing in the United States," she said.