Racial diversity is something that is often discussed on college campuses. As a student who self-identifies as a minority in more ways than one I often feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the subject of racism and race. However, often times when these issue are discussed I learn something new; this was the case when reading the articles this week. This week’s articles examined the issue of race from different perspectives. This allowed me to re-examine the issue in a fuller manner; it also allowed me to question some of my own notions that I hadn’t really challenged before.
Looking back on my previous thoughts on race it is sad how ignorant I was. I grew up in Orange County in a predominantly white community. I really had minimal interaction with people from different races or ethnicities. Even when I did interact with my peers who were of different races they did not know about or embrace their culture. Lack of interaction with different cultures caused me to have no real knowledge about the lifestyles and hardships people of other cultures endure in America. I thought we lived in an ideal world where the color of your skin didn’t matter and everyone had the freedom to practice their beliefs or religion freely. I truly believed that discrimination and racism had ended decades ago when segregation and slavery were abolished. Of course I saw stories on the news and heard stories about the South and racism that still exists there, but I never thought anyone living in San Diego or even California would be discriminated against based off the color of their skin. Although I was not necessarily excited to take this course at first, I am now so grateful for the awareness and knowledge I gained from this amazing class. My beliefs about race and ethnicity have been completely transformed by this course and all I have learned.
I came into this class not so naïve as some students may have been. I’ve grown up going to public schools, living in a diverse small town, and having interracial relationships in my family. Although I was informed on some forms of racism and the fact that racism does in fact still exist, I didn’t realize it was extensive as it really is. All the readings, videos, and lectures have directly related back to the purpose of the course. As a whole, I feel like this class has grown in knowledge not only about how racism affects people, but how to change and make a difference. This class has informed me a lot more about the unfortunately thriving acts of racism in the United States.
Many will agree that the root of the horrendous conducts stipulated in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report is an old classical racism; but has this classical racism vanished or just done a cosmetic face lift over time? It would be naïve to think that the report in question had any impact on the basis of racism in Canada. Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada may have opened some eyes, but correspondingly, has not and cannot eradicated the source of racism, so as to stop racist based injustices from reoccurring. The probability of repeating such racism stipulated in TRC report looks feeble in today’s Canada, nonetheless a kind of modern racism which is complicated, hard to penalize, and is multi-dimensional, that has developed in the recent years, and needs to be addressed, exists. As defined contemporary racism is the
even though it didn't occur overnight, i came to the understanding that instituationalization and public-reinforcement of race is very real in the United States. and that I didn't have to conform to one race because that is what society expects of me.
Inequality is like water. Not only does it come in many forms, but it takes the shape of whatever society is holding it. For example, racial inequality in India takes the form of the Caste System, whereas in Canada it takes the form of residential schools and everyday discrimination. Our history as a Canadian society has always involved some sort of inequality but like water, it is constantly flowing and shifting to focus on an era’s socioeconomic structures. Canadians, in the 21st century, face inequalities in gender, race, social status, and income – issues that are not new to Canadian society but have shifted from one group to another. Yet, there is one people group who have continually been subjected to inequality and that is the First Nations people of Canada and the inequality they face extends back to colonialism and has not changed in perception or action until recent years.
In March of 2012, a white power rally in Edmonton drew out a dozen or two members of the Blood and Honour racist group. They were met and peaceably challenged by hundreds of participants in an anti-racism rally, which was "coincidental" (Dykstra). Therefore Canada still does have lurking racism, but in its overt forms it is socially unacceptable. This paper will address the overt forms of racism evident in Canada, which include hate groups like Blood and Honour. However, it is the covert forms of racism and bias that threaten to undermine the social fabric of Canada.
A few years ago in Smalltown, CA a burning cross was placed in the lawn of a visible minority family. Although the media seemed shocked at this explicit racial attack and portrayed the attackers as a group of abnormal, twisted deviants, I was not surprised. As an Asian student who is writing her Sociology honours thesis on visible minorities in Canada, I know on a personal and academic level that racism in Canada does exist. Although explicit racial incidents are not a common occurrence, they do happen. Here at school, a visible minority student left the school when a car sped past her, while the young men inside shouted racial slurs. Two weeks ago The school paper published an article about a group of
My belief was that people of African descent were the only group that experiences racism, but when I migrated from the Caribbean to a multicultural country—Canada, I soon realize that my understanding of racism was inaccurate and did not reflect social reality. As a result of my new environment, I learnt that racism is solely based on supremacy where a person of a different background may justify their advantages/power by placing a negative meaning behind cultural differences, thus resulting in unequal treatments. In particular, this short journal will briefly explore how slavery affects(d) people of colour in and over race of people in Canada.
Prejudice comes in different shapes and sizes, so treatment of culture minorities differed with the circumstances.
Statistics Canada estimates racialized groups will make up a third of Canada’s population by 2031; that is one in every three Canadians (Block & Galabuzi, 2011). With a number being estimated like that, racial discrimination should have been ended a long time ago; that is 1/3 of our future society being discriminated against! Racial discrimination negatively impacted people all over the world, and this is unfortunately true for today as well. Race is based on what we can see; someone’s physical appearance. Inequality between the races become prevalent when people are being treated differently purely due to which race they identify with. Over the years, problems with races and inequality seemed to have decreased rapidly, but has it really? Racial inequality has become prevalent today unfortunately, and it is not being talked about. We are just letting this ‘slip through the cracks’ instead of fighting for the rights of true, unbiased, equality between the races. Although racial discrimination is a sad reality in both Canada and the United States, it is statistically worse (more prevalent) in the United States. This paper will explain the unemployment rates in Canada and the United States between men and women, ‘resume white-washing’, and the wage gap between men and women, and the wage gap between Caucasians and the Visible Minority. It will also explain how your skin colour could negatively affect you in your own career just because of others bias’, whether conscious or
Many events shaped Canada to be the way it is now, but which ones really made the difference? Canada used to be discriminatory when it came to immigration, now they are open to every race without question. It is now multicultural with large populations of many backgrounds. Canada is known for having a mix of cultures, as it accepts them instead of trying to mix them all together like the US has done. Women’s rights have changed significantly since the beginning of the 20th century. Suffrage groups had been around since the 1800’s, but through the 1900’s, women completely changed the way that they were viewed and the way that Canada treats women today. Thirdly, after World war one, the government became a much larger part of Canadians’ lives,
First off, I will tell my friend that we are all responsible, and it’s a fact and an debated opinion. Partaking in Canada’s systems and institutions is us directly contributing to the modern-day dehumanization and genocide that is happening towards Indigenous people today. Indigenous Canadians are not being treated equally; they’re treated worst. Only recently after several years of disappearance, the Canadian government has begun to discuss and bring awareness towards the murdered and missing Indigenous woman of Canada. (Anderson, 2016, p.90) While, some can only perceive that the negative stereotypes surrounding Indigenous daughters contributed to the lack of government attention, in comparison to other women. Thus, these stereotypes created
Great questions, I feel that in order for Canada to better represent the people of Canada they have to have the different views in order to ensure the best option for the country. In order to eliminate negative stereotypes, they have to rid a label that has been created by the media or the government. The only way to get rid of a label is to allow different cultures or group to be given the power during policy-making to ensure they are not being victimized which will have large social repercussions. Canada has to realize that they are not just trying to make the majority of Canadian happy when they have branded themselves a multicultural country. That means that they have to be accepting of all background and not create stereotypes which might
Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a persistent theme in Canada’s history as well as present-day times. The occurrence of actions and attitudes that impose a sense of one being less equal than another on the basis of one’s race in Canada’s workplace inhibits both our nation’s ability to move forward as well as strengthen unification within our country. The belief in a more egalitarian society, where one’s race and ethnic background have little to no impact on employees (or potential employees) standings within the job market, would seemingly be reinforced by the majority of Canadians, who consistently show support for Canada’s multicultural identity. Couple that with the noticeable strides Canada has made in the past several