Prejudice and Racism in Canada Essay - 769 Words

Racism is a Problem in 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†¦show more content†¦This discomfort about discussing racism is common, in my experience. I suspect that many people are afraid of talking about racism because they are afraid they will say something politically incorrect. Employment discrimination is probably the most quantifiable form of racism. Numerous Canadian studies show that although visible minorities as a whole have the highest level of educational attainment and relatively high occupational status compared to White Canadians, they have lower incomes, even controlling for all other factors. Of course discrimination based on race is not the only form of discrimination. Sexism, ageism, homophobia, etc. also exist. What ties different forms of discrimination together is that they all involve ignorance, fear, and/or hate toward groups of individuals who we see as different, unknown, and/or inferior. In a study of twenty-three Anglophone and non-Anglophone immigrant women in Fredericton, Miedema and Nason-Clark found that many women felt that the hardest thing about being an immigrant woman was not being accepted into Canadian society. One visible minority woman commented that people always view her as a foreigner, as if Canada is not really her home (Miedema and Nason-Clark, 1989: 70). 68% of the women, both visible minority and non-visible minority women, reported direct discrimination. One English-speaking visible minority woman reported that shortlyShow MoreRelatedEssay about Prejudice, Racism and the Law in Canada2343 Words   |  10 PagesRacism and the Law in Canada      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1900’s a prominent English scholar Gilbert Murray said: â€Å"There is in the world a hierarchy of races;[some] will direct and rule the others, and the lower work of the world will tend in the long run to be done by the lower breeds of men. This we of the ruling colour will no doubt accept as obvious.†(Walker; 1997) It was very true at the time; everywhere you looked you could see that white men assumed all roles of responsibility.   Canada has been fightingRead MoreEffects Of Colonization On Indigenous People1001 Words   |  5 Pageshappened to many Indigenous people throughout history in Canada. This has been done through the process of colonization. There are many devastating impacts of colonization that has affected Indigenous people all over Canada including racism and stereotyping as well as the downfall of the health of Indigenous people. Racism against Indigenous people has been a major impact of colonialism throughout the years. 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Yet, the fact that Skip was willing to never look Mr. Wilson in the yes again shows that Gates himself was not going to just take the racism any longer, but was willing to fight it in his own unique way. The plot of the story is both simple and complex. The racism Gates experiences is telling and powerful because it is so blatantRead MoreThe Canadian Labor Market Of Canada1274 Words   |  6 Pagesto address discrimination in Canada. Unfortunately simultaneously, Canadians also have a heritage of racism. It is not targeted only at Aboriginal persons, contrary to a common belief; it is also targeted towards other groups also, consisting of Chinese, African, South Asian, Japanese, Muslim and Jewish Canadians. Even today the Canadian structures and systems are affected by this legacy distressing the lives of everyone and especially the racialized people in Canada. This paper is an attempt toRead MoreDiscrimination And Prejudice And Discrimination1608 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscriminating against her. Prejudice is a negative attitude toward a socially defined group and toward any person perceived to be a member of that group. The purpose of my research is to talk about discrimination and prejudices and how they affect our day to day lives. In addition to defining prejudice and discrimination, I will look at their relationship to stereotyping and racism. Stereotyping often leads to prejudice and discrimination, its definition almost mirroring that of prejudice. Stereotypes or characterizationsRead More Comparison Of Racism In History Essay1123 Words   |  5 Pages Comparison of Racism in History amp;#8220; I have a dream... where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.; -Martin Luther King Jr. We have come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Our cities are filled with numerous minority groups with different religions and cultures. We live in a multicultural society where we donamp;#8217;t have to think about hate crime too much. We can feel safe when going to the corner