Combating Racism
Race and racism have been a part of all cultures and societies. It is crucial to understand the terminology surrounding race and racism and their impact on individuals socially, physically and psychologically.
Combatting Racism
- Introduction
- Racism
- Racial Discrimination
- Systemic Racial Discrimination
- Historical Context: The Legacy of Racism in Canada
- Racism Against Tamil People in Sri Lanka and Tamil Genocide
- The Impact of Racism
- Combatting Racism
- Resources
1. Introduction
Race and racism have been a part of all cultures and societies. It is crucial to understand the terminology surrounding race and racism and their impact on individuals socially, physically and psychologically. Education about racism will empower individuals to identify their own biases, understand the experiences of racialized communities, call-out racism and raise awareness. This document contains information on defining racism and discrimination, while also discussing key historical events demonstrating racism in communities in Canada and Sri Lanka. Moreover, this document will also discuss the significance of combating racism through equity, diversity and inclusion.
2. Racism
- Definitions -
Race is defined as socially constructed differences among people based on characteristics such as accent, manner of speech, name, clothing, diet, beliefs and practices, leisure preferences, places of origin and so forth. Racism is an ideology that either directly or indirectly asserts that one group is inherently superior to others. Racism can manifest as racial jokes and slurs or hate crimes or can be more deeply rooted in attitudes, values, and stereotypical beliefs.
Structural racism refers to the systems and processes embedded in law, policy, practice, or norms that reinforce racial inequalities and provide advantages to racial groups deemed superior, while marginalizing, oppressing, and disadvantaging groups considered inferior.
Microaggressions
Microaggressions are everyday verbal, behavioral, and environmental slights, snubs or insults that occur in brief instances on a daily basis. They can be either intentional or unintentional, but they communicate hostile, derogatory or negative messages that demean a person or a group’s humanity.
3. Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination is the illegal expression of racism. It includes any action, intentional or not, that has the effect of singling out persons based on their race, and imposing burdens on them and not on others, or withholding or limiting access to benefits available to other members of society. Race only needs to be one factor in a situation for racial discrimination to have occurred.
Racial harassment is a form of discrimination. It includes comments, jokes, name-calling, display of pictures or behaviour that insults you, offends you or puts you down because of your race and other related grounds.
Racial discrimination can often be very subtle, such as being assigned to less desirable jobs, or being denied mentoring and training. It might also mean facing different job standards than other workers, being denied an apartment because you appear to have Aboriginal ancestry, or facing unfair scrutiny from police while driving or from security staff at a shopping mall.
4. Systemic Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination can happen on an institutional – or systemic – level, from everyday rules and structures that are not consciously intended or designed to discriminate. Patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the structures of an organization or an entire sector can disadvantage or fail to reverse the ongoing impact and legacy of historical disadvantage of racialized persons. This means that even though you did not intend to, your “normal way of doing things” might be having a negative impact on racialized persons.
Example:
In the education sector, systemic discrimination can include: stereotyping that streams racialized students towards technical programs instead of academic ones. Also, when promotion practices focus on cultural and organizational factors that are based on the experiences of White educators, the result can be lower numbers of racialized people in leadership roles (such as principals).
5. Historical Context: The Legacy of Racism in Canada
It’s important that we look to the events of the past in order to fully understand and address the current manifestations of racial discrimination and racism. As a nation, we have made some progress in the fight against racism; the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code are such examples. However racism still exists in many forms and there is a lot of work that remains to be done in the fight against racism.
Aboriginals
Through the Indian Act, the Canadian federal government took control over almost all the aspects of the lives of the Aboriginal peoples. Through this Act, Aboriginals were denied the right to own their own lands, vote, freely move about without a pass and denied the right to practice the values and culture which were at the core of being an Aboriginal. Children were forcibly taken away from their homes and sent to residential schools where they were not allowed to practice their culture and traditions, speak their language, or learn about their history. Aboriginal children faced harsh conditions in residential schools and were sexually abused, malnourished, lived in overcrowded conditions and often fell ill.
The last residential school closed in 1988.
African Canadians
From the early 1600s to the early 1800s, about 3000 individuals of African origin came to Canada, many of whom were kept as slaves. In 1793, An Act was passed in Ontario to prevent the further introduction of Slaves, and to limit the term of contracts for Servitude within this Province; this was the first act to limit slavery in the British Empire. This act led to the development of the “underground railroad,” a way for those fleeing slavery to escape from the United States to Ontario. In 1833 the British Parliament's Emancipation Act abolished slavery in all parts of the Empire, including Ontario.
The end of slavery did not end the discrimination that African Canadians faced. They were denied access to schools, public places, churches, hospitals and public transportation and lived in segregated communities. African Canadians were only hired for low paying jobs, but were exhausted in labour.
Chinese Canadians
Labourers from China were recruited to take on dangerous jobs in the building of a railway through the mountains. These labourers worked in dire conditions, but were alienated and seen as a threat to society once their work was no longer needed; they faced racial discrimination following this. Chinese immigration was limited by the passing of various laws including the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act which imposed a $50 “head tax” on all Chinese individuals who entered Canada. This “head tax” was increased to $500 in 1903.
In 1872, Chinese Canadians were denied the right to vote in provincial and municipal elections in British Columbia. Laws were also placed that affected their ability to own property, operate businesses, serve the public and enter certain professions.
South Asian Canadians
South Asian Canadians also faced discrimination through discriminatory laws that controlled their economic and social mobility and right to vote. Discriminatory immigration laws also impacted South Asian Canadians; these laws preferred immigrants from northern and western European countries.
In 1914 a ship of 400 individuals from India were denied entry at Vancouver, British Columbia. They were held aboard the ship for about three months, after which they were forced to return to India.
Japanese Canadians
In World War II, 23 000 Japanese Canadians living on the west coast of British Columbia were sent to relocation and detention camps in isolated areas in the interior of British Columbia, southern Alberta, Manitoba and northern Ontario. Near the end of World War II Japanese Canadians were threatened with further expulsion. They were to either relocate to areas east of the Rocky Mountains, or leave Canada and repatriate to Japan. As a result of this, about 4000 Japanese Canadians left Canada in 1947. Japanese Canadians were also stripped of their property, businesses and savings.
Japanese Canadians who were forced to relocate were not released until 1947 and it took another 2 before they were able to resettle on the west coast. As an apology for their treatment, 12 000 surviving Japanese Canadians were paid $20 000 each in compensation as a formal apology in the year 1988.
Jewish Canadians
Jewish Canadians have faced anti-Semitism and been subjected to legalized discrimination in Canada.
"None is too many" was the response given by a high level Canadian government official when asked how many Jews should be accepted as immigrants into Canada during the time of the Nazi persecution of Jews. This describes the immigration policies that were in place during World War II, which closed the doors to Jewish refugees. Jewish Canadians were also denied access to public places such as hotels, resorts and beaches. There were also restrictions which limited where Jewish Canadians could live or own property.
Islamophobia
Islamophobia can be described as stereotypes, bias or acts of hostility towards Muslims or followers of Islam in general. In addition to individual acts of intolerance and racial profiling, Islamophobia leads to viewing Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level.
6. Racism Against Tamil People in
Sri Lanka and Tamil Genocide
According to archaeological evidence, the Tamil people have the most extended history on the island of Sri Lanka. They are indigenous to the island with a long history, having a culturally and linguistically distinct identity, and thus by UN definition, they constitute a nation. When the British arrived on the island in 1795, Tamil people lived in the North and East of the island while the Sinhalese people occupied the south of the island and ruled as separate Kingdoms. The British captured the entire island, joined these two nations in 1833, and ruled the island called Ceylon for their administrative convenience.
Ever since the British left the island in 1948, successive Sri Lankan governments led by Sinhalese Nation from the south have systematically discriminated against the Tamil people. Tamil people have been continuously and intentionally discriminated and targeted for annihilation for over seven decades, which constitutes genocide. Successive Sri Lankan Governments were mainly elected based on Sinhala Buddhist supremacist propaganda, which led to periodic pogroms against Tamil people, including rape, sexual humiliation, enforced disappearances, mass murder, torture, and destruction of Tamil-owned property and business on the island.
Successive Sinhalese-led governments instigated these major pogroms in 1956, 1958, 1961, 1977, 1983, and more frequently after that. From 1983, the Tamil genocide continued with aerial bombardments of Tamil villages and towns, which rose to a crescendo resulting in a genocidal onslaught leading up to May 18, 2009. The Government of Sri Lanka urged the Tamil People fleeing the Sri Lanka army’s shelling to go into designated “No Fire Zones.”
After herding the tens of thousands of innocent Tamil children, women, and men into the “No Fire Zone,” the Sri Lanka troops, mainly composed of Sinhalese, used internationally banned chemical weapons and multi-barrel rocket launchers to attack them. Until today, there has been no accountability or justice for the massacre of innocent Tamil people, numbering over 70,000 by U.N. accounts. Trophy video footage taken by the Sri Lanka army personnel show murder and mayhem unleashed upon unarmed Tamil civilians by the Sri Lanka army.
Furthermore, Tamil people continue to suffer structural genocide even today, resulting in Tamil people fleeing Sri Lanka seeking refuge elsewhere. Many of them are languishing in detention centers in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and many other countries for over three decades. Over 1.5 million Tamil people (25% of the original population) have fled the island as refugees.
Despite the overwhelming weight of evidence, successive Sri Lankan governments adamantly denied killing anyone! They have also used all diplomatic channels to continue to deny their culpability in the genocide using their embassies and expatriate community members loyal to them. While those denials compound the grief of the remaining survivors of the genocide, the Sri Lanka Governments continue to prevent the remembrance of the victims' memories and cause continuing trauma and pain not only within the island but also overseas as well, including Canada.
While Tamil people commemorate May 18th as “Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day” worldwide, the Sri Lanka government continues to celebrate May 18th as “Victory Day,” continuing to inflict psychological war on the survivors. The occupying army also prevents Tamil people on the island from remembering their loved ones killed by Sri Lanka armed forces.
The Prime Ministers and Presidents of Sri Lanka claimed that there would not be any foreign judges or international involvement in the investigation of War crimes, contrary to the promises made in the UNHRC resolution that their governments pledged and co-sponsored. While Land grabs, Militarization, Colonization, Sexual violence continues on at an accelerated pace, there is no reasonable improvement in the Release of Political prisoners.
It is also important to note that the current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, yet to resign, was the Defence Secretary, serving near the top of the chain of command at the height of the Tamil Genocide in 2009. His brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who just resigned as Prime Minister, and served as the President and Commander of all the forces in the war against the Tamil people in 2009. Both individuals are credibly accused of serious allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The UNHRC gave 18 months for implementing the HRC Resolution 30/1 and then HRC Resolution 34/1, and then 40/1 gave further extensions of two years to implement the resolution. After foot-dragging for five years with extensions, none of the four transitional justice mechanisms that the Sri Lankan Government pledged has been implemented. Continuous reports detailing severe ongoing human rights violations, including widespread torture, suggest that Sri Lanka’s culture of impunity has not been addressed.
This inaction bears testimony to the fact that the Sri Lankan State is unwilling to deal with the past crimes or on-going violations and restore genuine justice to the Tamil victims.
As you read this report, many factual evidences have been provided clearly proving Tamil Genocide by Sri Lanka. In order for the victims and families to heal from the trauma and to bring about justice, it is of great importance that UNHRC investigate the genocide against Tamil people.
7. The Impact of Racism
1. The Impact of Racism
Racism can have a significantly negative impact on those who experience it. Racism not only impacts the individual who faces it, but it can extend to the individual’s family and even to their entire community. Individuals who race racism face disparities in various aspects of their life; these include:
●
Education ●
Justice
● Employment ● Health
● Housing ● Socioeconomic status
For example, disparities in education include having students from specific race groups receiving harsh discipline, harassment, and being streamed into specific academic levels. The justice system also has demonstrated over-policing, racial profiling, use of force and sentencing disparities towards racialized communities. Furthermore, this discrimination is further portrayed in the media with stereotypical portrayals of racialized minorities and lack of representation of minority culture individuals and cultural values.
Below are some significant statistics on the impact of racism on communities:
● 43% of hate crimes in 2017 were motivated by hatred of a race or ethnicity
● 16% of hate crimes in 2017 were specifically against Black populations.
● Hate crimes targeting Muslims accounted for 17% of all hate crimes in
Canada in 2017.
● Black males living in Toronto are 3 times more likely to be stopped and
asked for identification by police.
● Employers are about 40% more likely to interview a job applicant with an
English-sounding name despite identical education, skills and experience.
● 27% of the federal prison population in 2017 were Indigenous people, who
only comprised 4.1% of the Canadian population.
One of the most prominent cases of systemic racism is evident in the healthcare sector. Racialized patients face disparities in the way they are treated in the health care system. These disparities include:
● mistreatment by healthcare providers
● misdiagnosis and poor connection to healthcare
● not having a regular doctor or a doctor who looks like them
● coronavirus disparities in healthcare
Systemic racism was also evident in the Covid-19 response in Canada; disparities in healthcare were evident and this led to different outcomes in racialized communities in Canada.
As compared to white Ontarians, other racial groupings had:
● 1.2- to 7.1-fold higher age-standardized per capita rate of infection.
●
1.7- to 9.1-fold higher age-standardized per capita rate of COVID-19-related
hospitalization.
●
2.1- to 10.4-fold higher age-standardized per capita rate of COVID-19-related
critical illness (ICU admission).
●
1.7- to 7.6-fold higher age-standardized per capita rate of death following
COVID-19 infection
These statistics stress the need to apply anti-racist approaches to identify systemic causes of health inequities.
The Impact on Mental Health
Racism not only leaves individuals at a disadvantage in healthcare, education, and employment, it can also have many psychological impacts.
● Victims of racism experience internal dilemma
○ Did I interpret that correctly?
○ Did she say what I think she said?
○ What did he mean by that?
○ Should I say something?
○ Saying something may make it worse.
○ They’ll probably think I’m overreacting.
○ Speaking up is going to hurt more than it helps.
● Lower self-esteem
● Increased mental illnesses
○ Depression
○ Trauma
○ Anxiety
○ Sleep difficulties
○ Substance Abuse
○ Suicide
According to research conducted by Monnica Williams et. al (2022), individuals who have historical experiences trauma or racial discrimination have an added vulnerability to experience heightened levels of trauma from new experiences of overt and covert racism. Some emotional experiences include being fearful, angry, and even shocked. When these experiences are undermined, individuals can experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
To further exacerbate the situation, structural racism, and barriers to obtaining healthcare make the experiences of victims worse. As a result, these individuals are left vulnerable and untreated (Williams et al, 2022). Multiple studies have been conducted to prove the information mentioned above.
Therefore, it is crucial that individuals, communities, organizations, policy makers, politicians and governments are held accountable to work towards a racism-free society.
8. Combatting Racism
Identifying and Addressing Racial Discrimination
Organizations must take proactive steps to make sure they are not taking part in, condoning or allowing racial discrimination or harassment to happen.
A good place to start is to develop a solid anti-racism program that can help prevent and address individual and systemic forms of racial discrimination. This might include:
● Collecting race-based numerical data in appropriate circumstances
● Accounting for race-based historical disadvantage
● Reviewing policies, practices, decision-making processes and workplace culture, for adverse impact
● Putting in place and enforcing anti-racism, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and education programs.
An anti-racism program will also make it easier for organizations to promote equity and diversity goals, and it makes good business sense.
To file a complaint – called an application – contact the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario at:
Toll Free: 1-866-598-0322
TTY Toll Free: 1-866-607-1240
Website:
www.hrto.ca
If you need legal help, contact the Human Rights Legal Support Centre at:
Toll Free: 1-866-625-5179
TTY Toll Free: 1-866-612-8627
Website:
www.hrlsc.on.ca
Implementing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Practices
It’s important that policies addressing equity, diversity and inclusion are implemented in schools, work and organizations. These policies will create a more welcoming environment and provide opportunities to all individuals, irrespective of their race or culture.
Equity: The act of ensuring that processes and programs are impartial. It promotes fairness and justice for individuals and take into consideration issues that may impact an individual’s experience and needs.
It’s important to distinguish the difference between equity and equality. Equality is when everyone is treated the same way with the intention of giving everyone equal access to opportunities and benefits in society. We must however acknowledge that there are differences between individuals and giving everyone equal access does not address the imbalance. Equity is an impartial approach where some people are treated differently, to take into consideration some people’s particular needs and situations.
Diversity: The representation of all our varied identities and differences (race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, tribe, caste, socio-economic status, thinking and communication styles, etc.), collectively and as individuals.
In order to be diverse, it’s crucial that we are aware of the different identities and cultural differences that are around us.
Diversity and cultural competency: An awareness of one’s cultural beliefs and values and how these may be different from other cultures—including being able to learn about and honor the different cultures of those you work with.
Inclusion: The practice of creating an environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging and is treated with respect.
Strive to be inclusive and remember, “exclusion is a form of bullying.”
Each of us plays a role in combatting racism. To promote an antiracist environment, we must all play our part. It’s crucial that we make a conscious decision to be equitable. In order to achieve this, we must educate ourselves, self-reflect and be conscious of assumptions that we may be unconsciously making. Be an advocate and stand up for others. Racism is an ongoing issue that will only change when we all make a conscious effort.
9. Resources
Alberta Health Services. (2021). Racism Impacts Mental Health. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/amh/if-amh-ke-racism-impacts-mental-health.pdf
City or Toronto. (2020). Addressing Anti-Black Racism as a Public Health Crisis in the City of Toronto. toronto.ca. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2020.HL17.9
Government of Canada. “Facts and Figures.” Www.canada.ca, 16 Oct. 2020, www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/federal-anti-racism-secretariat/facts-figures.html. Accessed 25 July 2023.
Ontario Health. (2021). Report: Tracking covid 19 through race-based data. https://www.ontariohealth.ca/about-us/our-programs/provincial-equity-indigenous-health/equity-inclusion-diversity-anti-racism/report-tracking-covid-19-through-race-based-data
Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2009). Policy and guidelines on racism and racial discrimination. Policy and guidelines on racism and racial discrimination | Ontario Human Rights Commission. https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-and-guidelines-racism-and-racial-discrimination
Sarah Adomako-Ansah is a teacher with Edmonton Catholic Schools, co-founder of the B. T. A. of A. and the M. 2021-2023 E. in Residence. (2023). Pass the mic: Let’s talk about racism. CMHR. https://humanrights.ca/story/pass-mic-lets-talk-about-racism.
The University of British Columbia. (2021, March 19). Systemic racism: What it looks like in Canada and how to fight it? . Vice-President Finance & Operations Portfolio (VPFO). https://vpfo.ubc.ca/2021/03/systemic-racism-what-it-looks-like-in-canada-and-how-to-fight-it/
Williams, M. T., Khanna Roy, A., MacIntyre, M. P., & Faber, S. (2022). The Traumatizing Impact of Racism in Canadians of Colour. Current trauma reports, 8(2), 17–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40719-022-00225-5