Race Relations Essay, Research Paper

In a country dedicated to promoting the concept of free and eternal equally among the cultures from within and around the world. A country that sets forth policies and supports organizations dedicated to protecting people of every race and securing a future where race is no longer an issue, concern or judgement. A country that retains the mission of peacekeeping and fighting for justice to benefit ourselves and our future generations. A country of diversity and a country with a somewhat masked society, scattered throughout the country in various groups with the same compassion for this country, but with different ideologies as to our social concepts and model of diversity. Racist ideologies are found more common in our society than we believe them to be, and anti-racial organizations across Canada are fighting to eliminate this social threat and retain the peace and free will that we so eagerly promote to the world. Although the progress in retaining a more liberal and equal road in race relations throughout Canada has improved, the issue of racism is still threatening millions of people everyday.

The Masked History

Racism is a social behaviour and a social attitude, where members of one race are seen as superior to members of all others. On account of this “supremacy”, racists justify various forms of abuse perpetuated against members of the designated “inferior” races.

?Throughout history, racism was used to justify the severe exploitation of certain races. In case of Spanish exploitation of peoples of America, the rationale was that “the Indians… were not human in the same sense (as the Spanish) and that there was no need to accord to them the same treatment as to one’s fellow human beings.” (Britannica). Similar justification was used in the exploitation of African slaves in Canada and the United States during the 19th century.

Racism was often used to achieve practical purposes. It was used to justify the severe exploitation of non-white people, especially Africans, from late 15th to late 19th centuries. Racism itself wasn’t the reason for the institution of slavery; profit was considered the main reason (Williams).

In Capitalism & Slavery , Eric E. Williams details the history of profit slavery and the unjustified treatment of other minority groups. Racial propaganda on supporting segregation and hate crimes by supremacist groups were the main concern of the 20th century where groups like the Ku Klux Klan occupied a small transition of power in the southern United States which affected the northern U.S. and Canada.

Today, although the threat of racial slavery in Canada has diminished, we are still effected by the luring racial acts of slurs, hate crimes, and segregation movements by individuals and supremacy groups that are still masked within our society. Groups supporting neo-nazism and white pride as well as a small growing number of other racial groups promoting their ethnic pride and the abolishment of other races (CRRF). A large fraction of these groups retain a hidden stance in society but the threat of their presence in society is still large as they are embedding the racial policies into our economic society through businesses and trades.

Identifying The Facts

Canada s booming economy is not translating into equitable access to employment for Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities who still face polite racism when job hunting. (Kunz). In a study released January 9th, 2001, Dr. Kunz sets forth the results proclaiming that the fear of racial bias and prejudice are still very much so present in our everyday society. Racism is a hidden thing in the workplace, and subtle discrimination includes being passed over for promotion and senior positions often held mainly by white Canadians. (Kunz). A disturbing revelation in the study is that even with post-secondary education, job opportunities may still be out of reach for Aboriginal peoples and that Aboriginal youth lagged far behind in their rates of university completion compared to all other groups (Kunz). Dr. Kunz adds that: Clearly the talents of Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities are being under-utilized or wasted as a result of systemic discrimination. This is not good for the productivity of the Canadian economy and the cohesion of our society. These results brought forth the bi-sectional agreement as to the reasoning behind why these problems exist and whether the level of social discrimination against Aboriginals and minority groups is as bad as Dr. Kunz explains it to be. Many people tend to disregard social claims like this and believe that racial discrimination is not as bad as its perceived to be. This disregard of fact is usually retained by most of the public because they have somewhat adapted to the level of racial slurs to which they hear in their everyday lives.

Realizing The Problem

When asked about the concern of racism in our society, many people shrug off the issue without admitting the realization that racial discrimination is present in our society and even noticeable in the speech of people walking on the street or when discussing a non-relative issue. C mon, your not turning Paki on me are you? ; why is that Indian working here, government not giving him enough beer money . ; Damn Chinks, can t they build anything right? . These are only some of the negative misconceptions that are heard everyday from people living in our society. Many of these same people do not realize the message that they are issuing to our children and others when they make these misconceptions and prejudice remarks.

People commonly believe that because the level of hate crime is lower in Canada than in other parts of the world than there is no problem, but the problem is always ignited by the common racial slurs which over time become the moral perception of people because of their continuing confrontations with them. Throughout the country many anti-racial organizations such as the Canadian Race Relations Foundation are discovering these trends of misconceptions and discriminatory behaviour and are working hard to eliminate the current problem as well as its potential to increase through our children.

Canadian Race Relations Foundation

In 1988, the Government of Canada and the National Association of Japanese Canadians signed the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement. The Agreement acknowledged that the treatment of Japanese Canadians during and after World War II was unjust and violated principles of human rights. Under the terms of the agreement, the federal government also promised to create a Canadian Race Relations Foundation, which would “foster racial harmony and cross-cultural understanding and help to eliminate racism.” (CRRF)

The federal government proclaimed the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Act into law on October 28, 1996 and the Foundation officially opened its doors in November 1997. The Foundation s office is located in the City of Toronto but it operates nationally to deal with issues of racism and the correct roads in which to solve the growing concerns of racial discrimination and prejudice.

The Foundation is operated by the terms of their Mission Statement which states: The Canadian Race Relations Foundation aims to help bring about a more harmonious Canada that acknowledges its racist past, recognizes the pervasiveness of racism today, and is committed to creating a future in which all Canadians are treated equitably and fairly. (CRRF)

The Foundation serves its mission, goals and objectives through their Sponsorship Program for Initiatives Against Racism which was created to promote the objectives to increase the understanding of racism and discrimination in Canada; to expose the causes and manifestations of racism; to inform the general public of the facts about groups affected by racism and discrimination; and to highlight the contributions of groups affected by racism and discrimination, notably Aboriginals and racial minorities. (CRRF)

In Canada, there are many different organizations and foundations dedicated to promoting the awareness of racial discrimination and racial prejudice like the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. They strive to rehabilitate the immoral racial concepts that are spurred from groups whose base their patriotism solely on ethnic origin. These foundations speak and address that in Canada, there still is racial movement groups dedicated to promoting the rise of their own race and the abolishment of all other races.

In Conclusion

The illustration of living in a society of freely tolerated discrimination and prejudice remarks where we are known by our neighbouring countries and the world as peacekeepers and a multicultural country is skewed and abstract. Even though today racism is generally an officially unwanted occurrence, it is still present within many world countries. It is especially strong in multi-racial societies, such as Canada and the United States. The concept of living in a racial and multicultural society, when judging its moral values are seen as unjustified and unrealistic but the presence of discrimination and prejudice in our society exists and although its presence does not largely affect us personally in our small community, this aging social justice issue still threatens millions of people throughout Canada everyday in their home communities and in their workplaces. No person deserves to live a life threatened because somebody does not like the colour of their skin and justice will only prevail when the topic of racism is no longer an issue when hiring a person, meeting new people, and walking down any street in any community. Unfortunately that day will be long coming.

Bibliography

Canadian Race Relations Foundations – Toronto (CRRF)

Website: www.crr.ca

Encyclopaedia Britannica – Volume Five (Britannica)

Copyright 1988 by Britannica – Toronto, New York, London

Growing Racial Concerns in our Canadian Workplaces (Kunz)

Dr. Kunz – Released January 9th, 2001

Capitalism & Slavery (Williams)

Eric E. Williams – Copyright 1979

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