新斯科舍省选举历史上第一次，所有骑马的候选人都是黑色

普雷斯顿骑行中的候选人（从左到右）：安吉拉·西蒙兹（Angela Simmonds）（自由主义者），Archy Beals（PC）和Colter Simmonds（NDP）

For the first time in Nova Scotia history, there is a riding in the upcoming provincial election where all of the candidates for MLA are Black.

In the riding of Preston, which encompasses Nova Scotia’s most predominantly Black community, Angela Simmonds (for the Liberals), Archy Beals (for the PC’s), and Colter Simmonds (for the NDP) are all vying to replace Liberal MLA Keith Colwell, who has served four terms as the riding’s MLA since 2003.

科尔韦尔（Colwell）是上次选举中骑马的唯一白人候选人，他宣布他不会在本月早些时候重新赠送，这是两天前宣布安吉拉·西蒙兹（Angela Simmonds）将竞选自由主义者。

Angela Simmonds is a lawyer from Cherrybrook, and served as vice chairon the commission这表明，尽管人口减少了（这次选举的建议），但仍将普雷斯顿骑马和骑行与其他“感兴趣社区”的骑行与其他“感兴趣的社区”转移到原始形式。她还担任该省公平与反种族主义办公室土地冠军倡议的执行董事。

Archy Beals来自北普雷斯顿。他是普雷斯顿镇紧急响应和影响队的联合主席。Beals was the last African Nova Scotian representative on the Halifax school board before the McNeil Liberals replaced it with an unelected advisory council in 2018.

Colter Simmonds’ online bio says he is “from all the communities that make up the Preston district.” Simmonds is a basketball coach, nicknamed “C.C.” (short for “Coach Colter”), and is the founder of a community organization, We Will Win Youth Association, that focuses on educating and developing community youth.

Where Black people make up roughly only 3% of the province’s overall population, mathematically it’s hard to make the argument that there is a strong voting block of Black voters — ie: a “Black vote” — that has a significant impact on election issues in the province, let alone overall voting results.

不太可能“黑人问题” - 诸如非洲中心教育，司法系统中的种族主义，医疗保健中的种族主义，针对皇家骑警的种族主义和市政警察部队的具体指控，市政服务中的种族主义，种族主义与种族主义与热门话题之间的任何特定相关性心理健康和心理健康服务，甚至是种族主义，超越了一般的谈话要点 - 将以即将举行的选举中任何重大竞选问题的形式形成。他们从不这样做。

Simply put: Black issues are arguably of little-to-no interest to most Nova Scotians. They don’t see them as applicable to them.

Sadly, the mere mention or suggestion of any sort of “Black issue(s)” annoys a lot of people. Many people find it offensive. Some, if not many, would argue their mere suggestion to be, in of itself, racist or indictive of “reverse-racism.” And then there are people who, themselves, are simply racist. An argument could be made that the racist people alone vastly outnumber the mere 3% of the province’s Black population. The stark reality is: we’re全部eligible to vote.

但是，与其他54次骑行不同 - 绝大多数人的黑人人口低于3％ - 普雷斯顿社区在整个加拿大大西洋地区的黑人人口密度最高。And though the riding itself encompasses additional surrounding communities that are mostly white, and whose voters are believed to still outnumber the “Black vote” in the riding, it’s not unlikely that Simmonds, Simmonds, and Beals will have more knowledge of, and freedom to openly and honestly discuss “Black issues” with voters on the campaign trail.

强调和参与问题 - “黑人问题” - 实际上，这些问题可能会使其他候选人投票使其他三名候选人之一超越该职位所需。当您停止考虑时，这是一个令人震惊和悲伤的讽刺。

至于普雷斯顿（Preston）骑行的历史性动态，东普雷斯顿（East Preston）的本地人马歇尔·威廉姆斯（Marshall Williams Jr.）发现理由对此保持乐观。他说：“至少他们不能真正分配投票，以便“其他人”能赢得胜利。”“我通常投票NDP，但在这种情况下，我可能会根据谁在跑步以及我对他们和他们的想法的感觉而弯曲。”

Nova Scotia’s 41^stgeneral election takes place on August 17. Of the three major political parties, there are a total of 11 candidates who are Black – another historic first.