How to address racial injustice in Canada

As both a human being and a journalist, watching the scenes of rage, racism and political catastrophe occurring around the United States has provoked a lot of emotions, and a lot of questions.

I’m talking about the kind of emotions I fear I’m incapable of resolving and questions I worry I’m incapable of answering, but which I also feel need to be expressed.

This is, after all, an essential role of a journalist, even if we stumble a bit in the process.

Like many, I’ve been inspired by the images of peaceful protesters coming together to call out racial injustice. And I’ve been dismayed by those who have used the protests as a shield to create mayhem, along with instances of unacceptable violence by police and those targeting police.

With my journalist hat on,

I’ve particularly disturbed by the numerous stories of media colleagues being attacked while trying to cover a watershed moment in American life, violence perpetrated in some cases by law enforcement officers, and in other cases by protesters or those pretending to be protesters.

Our industry has its failings, but is not deserving of the dangerous denigration it has been shown from some in the political class and from extremist elements who claim to be part of our profession. Assaults on journalists were always going to be an inevitable result of such vilification.

At the same time, I’m aware that even bringing up this issue of which I have an ingrained self-interest risks detracting from the far more important story of the struggle against racial injustice and inequality.

That is, indeed, where the focus should be.

While the United States will forge its own path, I hope we can resist the impulse toward boastful hypocrisy and instead use this moment for reflection on our own deficiencies in Canada, Alberta and Edmonton.

Unfortunately, some in our society want to perpetuate the myth that this is unnecessary, and do so by twisting any talk of entrenched racism here into some sort of grand insult against all well-intentioned Canadians.

This kind of framing imposes an unhealthy lens of competition that tries to comfort us with the idea that racism isn’t the scourge here that it is in other places.

To me, that’s the wrong way to look at it, because it encourages ignorance and inaction.

Racism is racism and injustice is injustice, does it matter that much who is better or worse at it?

For those uncomfortable with the question of whether Canada is a racist country, then I’d suggest asking a slightly different one that may be easier to answer: Does racism remain a prevalent influence in our society?

Asked that way, no answer other than yes is reasonable when you consider the overwhelming evidence: from the cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women that remain unsolved, to the threats and vandalism against mosques and synagogues, to the overrepresented minorities in prison populations.

At moments like this, when I worry that silence is unhelpful but feel unsure what to say, I put some questions to a handful of people from minority communities, including Adil Hasan of Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council, Teresa Woo-paw of Act2endracism and an Indigenous

person who did want to be identified.

While there was not complete unanimity on every issue, some common thoughts emerged.

More people should learn about the history of racism in Canada, and why it still has resonance. This doesn’t require a university course, but at least a couple of hours reading about things like the Sixties Scoop, residential schools, Japanese internment, the Chinese Exclusion

Act, and examples of segregation aimed at black Canadians.

“Understand that racism is a deeply personal issue that affects people in a very profound way,” said Hasan. This means people will react to it in various ways, not all of them productive. But that doesn’t mean you should give up trying to be part of the solution, and sometimes that means being a good listener.

Recognize that we too often live in silos, particularly in our online interactions. Echo chambers are hard to identify when you’re in the middle of one, but can cause false beliefs that everyone sees the world through the same lens.

The most important moments of change often happen around the kitchen table, over a (virtual) beer with friends, or by getting to know your neighbours.

Advocate for more diversity in decision-making positions. And if this isn’t happening naturally, advocate for ways in which we can increase equality of opportunity.

“At some point, we need to stop talking about systemic change as a concept, and figure out how to action it,” said Woo-paw, a former MLA now leading a group dedicated to tackling fear and mistreatment of Asian Canadians during COVID -19.

Multiculturalism, while ultimately rewarding to our society, is messy. It’s a relationship that needs constant work to be successful.

In that vein, it’s OK to note, even celebrate, the progress our society has made on racism, yet it’s equally important to acknowledge instances of regression and how much more work there is to do.

How we get that work done is one of the great conundrums of our time, but it begins with more and more of us using pivotal moments like this to begin to ask those questions.