When responding to racism in Canada, we need to do better than saying ‘do better’

As Canadian activist and journalist Desmond Cole recently said, "If Minneapolis hadn't burned, would we be having this conversation...?" With the death of George Floyd and the dawning of a global movement, we—as Canadians—must also look inwards at our own racial biases and discrimination. Now is the time to do more than state "we must do better." Now is the time to have the difficult and uncomfortable discussions about race with an open mind. Now is the time to define what “do better” means by acknowledging the past, understanding the present, and working together on a prosperous future. Acknowledging the past means learning about the heroic actions of Black people and other visible minorities who fought for our democracy and civil liberties. In 1946, when civil rights activist Viola Desmond refused to sit in a racially segregated space in a theatre in Nova Scotia, she became a symbol of hope and catalyst for the struggle for equal rights. Twenty-six years later in 1972, Rosemary Brown became the first Black woman to be elected to a Canadian provincial legislature and committed her lifelong work to promoting human rights and equality. Canada’s short, but rich, history is filled with many others who have dedicated their lives to creating a more just and equal society. Yet, we must also acknowledge Canada’s uncomfortable history of racial segregation, residential schools for Indigenous children, and head taxes and bans on Chinese immigrants. Understanding the present means learning about the inequities that exist in our society—from incarceration to employment to education and other areas. We cannot label ourselves an ally or advocate based on our own words or moral judgement. Rather, we must first view each other as human beings and seek to learn and better the experiences of marginalized people with an open heart. Doing better means resolving discrimination in correctional and rehabilitation services. In the past decade, Black people represented roughly eight per cent of people in custody. Despite this steady rate, a 2016 report commissioned by Correctional Service Canada found that Black inmates face systemic discrimination—including being overrepresented in charges that may be considered discretionary and facing lower chances of being granted temporary absences, despite their lower recidivism rates. When it comes to reintegrating back into society, a 2019 report prepared by the Office of the Correctional Investigator found that Black federally sentenced persons have difficulty accessing culturally relevant rehabilitative programming. This disadvantage limits their ability to reintegrate back into our communities and increases the likelihood of repeat offences. Addressing this issue helps the offenders, lowers taxpayers’ burden (the government spends roughly $120,000 per inmate annually), and keeps our communities safe in the long run. Doing better means eliminating employment biases and income inequality. In the last decade, Black people have experienced much higher unemployment rates—10.3 per cent for Black men (compared to 6.5 per cent for non-Black men) and 10.6 per cent for Black women (compared to 5.9 per cent for non-Black women). These stark differences hold even when education level is controlled. This disparity is partially driven by the racial biases in the recruiting and applicant screening process (and empirically proved by Canadian researchers Banerjee, Reitz, and Oreopoulos in 2018). For those with jobs, the perverse shocks of inequality persist. Black people earn $0.76 for every dollar that a non-visible minority person earns. Out of the plurality of visible minorities, Black people are one of the groups that experience the greatest earning gaps. Explaining this gap also requires understanding the imbalances in attaining a post-secondary degree. Doing better means improving students’ access to post-secondary education and the quality of our history curriculum. Increasing access means ensuring that Black students and others are empowered to attain a post-secondary education. A 2020 research report by Statistics Canada found that Black youths were less likely than non-Black youths to attain a post-secondary degree by seven to 11 percentage points. This difference stems from non-Black, elementary school teachers who—consciously or unconsciously—have lower expectations of Black students’ academic performance and few Black teacher role models with whom Black students can associate. No student should ever have to limit his or her imagination and potential based on these factors. Improving the quality of the history curriculum means educating our students on Canadian history with a greater level of rigour that is more comparable to that applied in math, science, and reading. It means weaving in the heroic stories of diverse leaders such as Viola Desmond and Rosemary Brown so that our children are better equipped to flourish in Canada’s diversity and productively contribute to Canada’s inclusion. Working together on the future means defining the specific resources and policies that can ensure more systemic equity. Condemning racism and raising awareness are important, but we must ask our politicians, businesses, schools, and other institutions “What are you doing to commit resources and introduce new policies” to improve our criminal justice system, our employment ecosystem, our education system, and other areas such as access to housing and health care. This means demanding our government develop more culturally appropriate rehabilitation services to limit repeat offences. This means urging businesses to conduct blind resumé screening to debias the hiring process and to report on diversity representation across seniority levels so that they move beyond issuing pro-diversity statements. This means asking our provincial governments and school boards to train teachers to identify their own biases and develop a more rigorous history curriculum that reflects the true diversity of Canada’s past. This means holding these stakeholders accountable even after they define what “do better” means. Critics of these ideas may argue that Black people only represent 3.5 per cent of Canada’s population and are a small minority. Yet, the reality is that many of the systemic issues that impact Black people also impact other segments of our population. In 2019, Indigenous peoples represented 28 per cent of all inmates (compared to 19 per cent a decade ago). In 2016, visible minorities earned only $0.81 per every dollar non-visible minorities earned. A much lower percentage of Latin American Canadians and Indigenous peoples have post-secondary degrees compared to non-visible minorities. Systemic racism and biases are not unique to the United States. In the midst of a global movement, now is the time for us to reflect on our own past, present, and future in order to guarantee the diversity and inclusion that we cherish so dearly. In Canada's arc of history, we have continued to challenge the status quo in the pursuit of a more prosperous, inclusive, and equitable nation. We have always challenged ourselves to do better and now is the time to define and create that “better” Canada. Chu Wang is a diversity, inclusion, and equity researcher at Harvard University. The Hill Times

When responding to racism in Canada, we need to do better than saying ‘do better’

In Canada's arc of history, we have continued to challenge the status quo in the pursuit of a more prosperous, inclusive, and equitable nation.

Fixing post-secondary education key to fixing social inequities

Canada must formally apologize for its historic role in the enslavement of Africans in this country and acknowledge the contributions of Black Canadians

Research excellence requires equity, diversity, and inclusion

Fixing post-secondary education key to fixing social inequities

The fascists and the fanatics in Israel

Poilievre’s promise to expand seal hunt is dubious politics, bad economics

New energy era, new rules needed to develop responsible projects

ZEV sales targets must ride alongside infrastructure commitments

A new Harperian strategy?

Black History Month has turned into HR blackface

Political platitudes do nothing for Black Canadians stuck at back of the bus

At Canada’s universities, institutional racism more than a case of a few bad apples

University education and Black youth

Black student groups lead the charge as StatsCan data gives deep dive on racism in education

News

Get free news updates

Opinion

Submit a guest opinion article

resources

Advertise

subscribe

get help

When responding to racism in Canada, we need to do better than saying ‘do better’

In Canada's arc of history, we have continued to challenge the status quo in the pursuit of a more prosperous, inclusive, and equitable nation.

Get The Weekend Point of View Newsletter