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Monday, 9 January 2012

It is High Time That Canada Ends Racism, Racial Discrimination & Segregation, Once and For ALL

As any of you who regularly follow  my blogs already know, I am very proud of my Irish and Scottish fore-fathers/heritage; but I am not Scottish or Irish.
I am Canadian--true, like all Canadians, a mongrel mixture of blood lines--but non the less Canadian.
Although I am of English, Irish, Scottish blood lines (BritishCommonwealth/Empire/United Kingdom) I could not live as my fore-fathers once did. I would not want to, nor did they--which is why they came too this great country CANADA the best country on this earth.
It is up to us to keep it that way.


How do we do this? We do it by treating all Canadians as Canadians—nothing less, nothing more.
The Ontario Human Rights Code provides for equal rights and opportunities, and freedom from discrimination. This code supposedly recognises the dignity and worth of every person in Ontario on an equal basis. It supposedly applies to all areas of employment, housing, facilities and services, contacts, and membership in unions, and trade and professional associations. Under this Ontario code, every person has the right to be free from racial discrimination and harassment.

You should not be treated any differently because of your race (self-identified or otherwise) or other related grounds, such as your ancestry, ethnicity, religion, or place of origin, while you are at work, at school, trying to rent an apartment, or eating a meal in a restaurant.
Canada, its other provinces and territories, also have supposedly strong human rights laws and systems in place to address discrimination.

 At the same time, we also have a legacy of racism—particularly towards the Chinese and Islamic, but, to other groups as well including Japanese South Asian Hispanic and even the so called First Nations—a legacy that profoundly permeates our systems and structures to this day, affecting the lives of not only racialist persons but 
all people in Canada.

The Human Rights Commission describes communities facing or practising any form of racism as “racialized”. This is because our government and society artificially constructs the idea of “race” based on geographic, historical, political, economic, social and cultural factors, as well as physical traits, that have no justification.

Racism is a broader experience and practise than racial discrimination. It is an IDEOLOGY that either directly, or indirectly, asserts that one group is, INHERENTLY, superior to, or ENTITLED TO PRIVILEGES not available to others.

Racism can also be openly displayed in racial jokes, slurs, or hate crimes but is also more deeply rooted in attitudes, values, and stereotypical beliefs. In some cases these are unconsciously held and have evolved over time, becoming embedded in our systems and institution but they are also associated with the dominant group’s power and privilege.

Racial discrimination is supposedly legally prohibited; but more often a legally encouraged and produced expression of racism. It is ANY action based on a person’s supposed race, intentional or not, that imposes burdens on a person or group and not on others, or that provides access to benefits not available to other members of society. Race only needs to be one factor in a situation for racial discrimination to have occurred.

Racial harassment; which includes: comments, jokes, name-calling, display of pictures or behaviour that insults you , offends you, or puts you down because of your race or other related grounds; is also a form of discrimination.

Racial discrimination can often be very subtle, such as being assigned to less desirable jobs, or being denied advancement or development opportunities. It might also mean being subjected to different management standards than other workers, being denied an apartment because you appear to have Asian ancestry, or facing scrutiny by police while driving, or by security staff at a shopping mall because you have a dark complexion. 

Racial discrimination may also be “reverse discrimination” in which case it is you who refuses to accept that you are a Canadian—nothing else and not entitled to any special benefit (including treaty), privilege, or treatment..

RACIAL HARASSMENT CAN AND OFTEN DOES LEAD TO VIOLENCE.

SILENCE, TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK, OR DOING NOTHING, WILL NOT MAKE IT GO AWAY;
 SO OFTEN THE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, EXPLOITED, HARASSED OR PERSECUTED,
COUNTRY, OR PERSON, HAS LITTLE CHOICE-- BUT TO DO SO.

©Al (Alex Alexander) D Girvan 2011. All rights reserved.

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