Racism

Definition:

Racism can be classified into two separate types: Racial Prejudice and Racism. Racial Prejudice is the hatred of a particular racial group. There is a strong belief to the superiority of a certain race over all others. While racism on its own is the barriers placed on people from different racial, religious and cultural backgrounds on different aspect of life such as jobs, education etc These barriers are usually put in place and practice by those in power, positions of power or from a particular group that are in power. Though most people do not practice racial prejudice they sometimes practice racism.

General Information:

Facts:

Not all immigrants are visible minorities and not all visible minorities are immigrants.
Only 15% of the world’s population is white, of European heritage.
12% of the Canadian population is people of colour. (Aboriginal people, blacks, Asians and East Indians.)
One in five women in Canada is an Immigrant

What can you do?:

Contact organizations in the community that deal with this type of oppression
Racism at times can lead to a hate crime or can be considered a hate crime and should be reported to the local law enforcement.
Do something positive in your area to combat racism
Never fight with the person who makes racist comments, this never changes anything. Educations and position action is the only positive solution.
It’s smart to ensure your neighbourhood is aware of the racist behaviour that you have encountered.
Youth should often alert family members

Legal Issues:

In Saskatchewan and Alberta native people make up more than fifty percent of the prison population, although they make up only ten percent of the general population. In those provinces a native woman is almost one hundred times more likely to be imprisoned than a white woman.
Census data on earnings show that immigrant women are among the poorest people in our country. Immigrant women are more likely to be found in the lowest paid, lowest status jobs.
In Ontario and Québec a black person is at least five times as likely to be sent to prison for the same offense as a white person. In comparison, a native person is twenty times more likely.
The overall participation rate of immigrant women in the paid labour force is consistently higher than that of Canadian-born women, but the type of employment and income derived from it tends to be poorer.