Beaten up, called the N-word at 14, award-winning P.E.I. musician tries to find the good
Thinh Nguyen | CBC News | Posted: February 2, 2022 8:38 PM | Last Updated: February 2, 2022
'Besides a few incidents, I've had a wonderful time'
Island musician Scott Parsons was 14 when he learned what racism was.
It was in the early 1970s, and he was walking down a Charlottetown street with a friend when they saw two bigger guys ahead.
"Get off our street," one of them said, calling Parsons the N-word.
Parsons and his friend looked around — but there was no one else.
Then the guys beat them up. Parsons returned home bleeding. Horrified, his parents called the police and the two guys got off with a warning.
"Nothing really happened back then," Parsons said. "There's a few other times where I've had to deal with that sort of racism on P.E.I."
One incident that sticks with him was at school, when a teacher told the class — seemingly out of nowhere — that "nobody should go out and date anybody who wasn't from their own race."
Parsons turned to a classmate, the only other student of colour in the class. They knew what the teacher meant.
The next day, Parson's father — a decorated Second World War veteran — spoke with the principal and the teacher.
"That teacher never bothered me ever again. Never. Sometimes I would see him looking at me with hatred," Parsons said.
'Besides a few incidents, I've had a wonderful time'
But Parsons said he also met many wonderful Islanders growing up on P.E.I.
A career that spans nearly five decades — having received numerous awards from Music P.E.I. and the East Coast Music Association — started when Parsons was first encouraged to play music by a Catholic nun teaching at his elementary school.
There's always a few idiots no matter where you go ... the good people outnumber them, I'd like to think
— Scott Parsons
In junior high and high school, he was supported by music teachers, including the late P.E.I. music legend Gene MacLellan.
When Parsons found a classical Goya guitar he liked on sale for $150, MacLellan loaned him the money.
The songwriter's career had just taken off after the release of the song Snowbird.
Parsons paid MacLellan back when he got his cheque. He still has the guitar. And he's never forgotten the advice MacLellan gave him.
"Just keep playing your guitar, and everything else will be OK," Parsons recalls his mentor saying.
As for Parsons, he chooses to look on the bright side.
"There's always a few idiots no matter where you go," he said. "The good people outnumber them, I'd like to think.
"I always try to take the high road and use a bit of diplomacy and try to educate people and make them more aware of how much everyone is really the same."
Social work
Parsons moved out west at 18. He kept performing and spent years doing social work. He worked as a youth and child-care worker, ran group homes, and dealt with some of the most difficult high-priority youth cases.
People will see the benefit of having a more diverse population here on the Island. — Scott Parsons
"I had a wonderful group home at one point," he said. "Some of the guys that were in that group home, they still keep in touch with me, which is really nice that they're now grown men in their 40s."
Parsons returned to the Island to care for his parents in 2000. He continued his social work by organizing a program called Around the Block with the P.E.I. Council of People with Disabilities.
There, Islanders with disabilities were trained in puppetry. Then the troupe performed a play at schools across the Island about acceptance and anti-bullying.
"I really enjoyed the social work that I've done," he said.
Recently he arranged a one-hour concert with students in Cole Harbour, N.S., as part of his busy schedule for Black History Month 2022.
And times have changed, Parsons said.
"I really am enjoying seeing different people from all over the world move to Prince Edward Island. That certainly wasn't the case when I was a kid growing up here."
Most Islanders are good people who welcome change and the growing diversity in P.E.I.'s population, he said, but education takes time.
"This is all new to P.E.I.," he said. "I think, in the long run, people will see the benefit of having a more diverse population here on the Island."
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.