No one can deny that although racism is scorned upon by any society around the world, it still seeps within us because we all have our own prejudices. Our differences in our skin color, language, norms, and culture will eventually overcome our perspectives in dealing with other people. As a predetermined mindset towards other people, prejudices may be favorable or unfavorable. In general, the term usually refers to negative attitudes held toward others based solely on their membership in a specific group. Without a doubt, racism is a form of prejudice based on perceived physical differences and usually refers to unfavorable or hostile attitudes toward people perceived to belong to another race. Racism usually results in a belief in the superiority of one’s own race. The trigger of prejudice and racism is the “human tendency to form stereotypes, generalized beliefs that associate whole groups of people with particular traits.” Racial stereotypes are described to be “exaggerated or oversimplified” descriptions of any person’s “appearance, personality, and behavior” (Cavalli-Sforza, 2005).
Despite the fact that Canada wields itself as a nation that strongly supports a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, it’s sad to say that some minorities are still suffering the brunt of racism in their daily lives. As the Canadian government generally respects the civil and human rights of their people, there are few notable exceptions that somehow negate their concern over isolated cases of racism in the country. There is still unprecedented violence and harassment being done against religious minorities and the indigenous population all over the country.
Recently, one outright proof of Canada’s racism issues had come into international scrutiny. The United Nations (UN) had frowned upon Canada’s racism issues because of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination report that identified Canada’s use of the term “visible minorities” in its Employment Equity Act as wording that “may not be in accordance with the aims and objectives of the Convention.” Patrick Thornberry, a British law professor who is a member of the committee, explained that “the use of the term seemed to somehow indicate that ‘whiteness’ was the standard, all others differing from that being visible.” However, Canada’s use of the term was defended by Tom Flanagan, a University of Calgary political scientist. He said that the committer misunderstood this ‘visible minority because it is just “a preferential term.” He shot back by saying that there is no way of making companies come to terms with having a certain percentage of minorities in their staff under the Employment Equity Act. This means that the companies have to explain why they do not have the suggested number of minorities on their payroll. Moreover, the UN-sponsored committee castigated Canada’s 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act because the provisions “might lead to racial profiling.” Other criticisms were also voiced out like:
- The Criminal Code does not provide for stiffer sentencing for criminals belonging to organizations deemed to be promoting hatred;
- Canada has a high rate of incarceration of aboriginals relative to the general population;
- There is a wide gap in living standards between aboriginals and
- The general population, like African-Canadians, still faces discrimination in the workplace and in recruitment, remuneration, access to benefits, job security, and qualification recognition (Smith 27, 2007, p. 10).
White-generated racism in Canada and across most of the world generally provokes strong emotions and moral outrage among its targets and, often but not always, those who research it. Taillon (2000) cited a case of four young white men who murdered Betty Osborne, a 19-year-old Native American student, in November 1971. These happenings took place in the town of The Pas, in Manitoba, Canada. The Manitoba government did not even prosecute the confessed killers until sixteen years later. In addition, without understanding white racism, one cannot understand why, three decades later, in 2000, the Justice Minister of Manitoba – who eventually admitted the government’s mishandling of the criminal investigation – felt the need to apologize specifically to the Osborne family (Taillon, 2000).
It’s not only the African Canadians and the aboriginals that have been suffering from racism in the country. In the book entitled The Silent Debate: Asian Immigration and Racism in Canada, the authors have talked about the status of racism in Canada for Asians who had flocked there. According to a book review, globalization pushed forward multitudinous changes in international migration and unleashed “new racism and racist backlash.” The review pointed out that Laquian, Laquian, and McGee (1997) classified the Asian migration in Canada produced only a small fraction of the multifaceted human saga that arose in the country because it was shocked by the upsurge of Asians trooping there in recent years. In the book, the case of Vancouver had been cited that this city had discriminated against business immigrants from Hong Kong, which showed not only that the type of immigration reflects the forces of globalization, but Canadian cities are also increasingly internationalized. Finally, the book invited the readers to demand Canada’s revision of immigration policies because Canada’s “instrumental view of immigration” is a stark reminder that policies of immigration cannot be immune from politics of immigration (Li, 1999, p. 161).
Injustice to Asian immigrants in Canada has clearly existed for more than a hundred years. This is why the Canadian Prime Minister apologized for the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act last year because of the realization that Canada has struck Chinese workers with exorbitant taxes, although they rendered service to the nation. Speaking in the House of Commons, the Canadian Prime Minister stated that they should “offer a full apology to Chinese Canadians for the head tax and express our deepest sorrow for the subsequent exclusion of Chinese immigrants.” This is to recognize the fundamental role that Chinese Canadians had played in the nation-building construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR); the Prime Minister observed how–once the line was completed—”Canada turned its back on these men” as it imposed a $50 Head Tax on Chinese migrants in 1885, increased this to $100 in 1900 and then to $500 in 1905, and finally expanded the scope of its exclusionary measures in 1923 to make it all but impossible for Chinese immigrants to resettle legally in Canada through into the post-Second World War period. Although the various race-based measures instituted to exclude Chinese migrants were deemed to be legal at the time, they were, according to the Prime Minister, “inconsistent with the values that Canadians hold today” (Anderson, 2007).
Sadly, it is not only discrimination of race that emanates in Canada. There’s also discrimination against religions. Like in 1998, there was an upsurge of anti-Semitism in Canada as two hundred and forty incidents were reported, a rise of 14 percent over 1997 (Anti-Semitism Worldwide, 1998). Even during the arrests made lean mostly to colored people as they are thought to be engaged in crimes than their white counterparts. Statistics from the US and Canada indicate that Asians are among the least arrested by police (Flynn, 1999). The numbers, of course, differ depending on how one defines Asian, but it raises interesting questions about whether racial profiling is based on simple discrimination, experience, or some combination of the two. But holistically, it has no basis as an indicator of culpability to commit a crime. Prejudice has been an age-old issue, and it has to be put into perspective. Law enforcement agencies should be warier about racial profiling that it does not lead to discrimination against people who also bears civil liberties.
To promote a society that frowns upon racial discrimination, the Canadian government should take a solid step to annihilate the obvious disparities based on race and ethnicity. Thus, the debate on racism is definitely consumed greatly by incidents that could hypothetically have been prevented had it been practiced to the extreme. Racism denies people equality, and in a democratic state that neglects their people’s rights and privileges can be reduced to a prison cell that promotes “gangsterism” and anarchy. Canadian should push for equality more vigorously to influence the lawmakers to make changes that really matter to the welfare of everybody.
Works Cited
- Anderson, Christopher G. “The Senate and the Fight Against the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act/ Le Senat Canadien et le combat contre la Loi de l’immigration chinoise de 1885.” Canadian Parliamentary Review (2007): 21-33.
- Anti-Semitism Worldwide. “Canada (Anti-Semitism)”, US: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
- Cavalli-Sforza, L. Luca. “Race”. Microsoft® Encarta® 2005 [CD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005.
- Flynn, Kevin. “State Cites Racial Inequality in New York Police Searches”, New York Times, 1999.
- Laquian, Eleanor, Laquian, Aprodicio and McGee, Terry (Eds). The Silent Debate: Asian Immigration and Racism in Canada, Vancouver: Institute of Asian Research, 1997
- Li, Peter S. “The Silent Debate: Asian Immigration and Racism in Canada.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, (1999): 161.
- Smith, Jordan Michael. “Pot Calls Kettle Black”, Western Standard 4.3 (2007): 10.
- Taillon, Joan. “Manitoba Government Apologizes to Osbornes”, Windspeaker (2000).