Racism is a systemic force in Canada

In a week when an American congressman questioned the contribution of “non-whites” to human civilization, I am infuriated to see an opinion piece published in our nation’s capital that diminishes the experiences of black Canadians. Randall Denley has chosen to put forward sweeping generalizations that ignore systemic issues in our society.

Saying that black Canadians are better off than African-Americans does not mean that racism and white privilege don’t exist. The most recent Ottawa police report on random street checks stated that black Canadians are stopped at a disproportionate rate (20 per cent of checks for a demographic that makes up less than six per cent of the population). Black and aboriginal populations are overrepresented in our prisons, as well. A 2011 report from Statistics Canada details how secondgeneration black Canadians face a wage gap of about 10 to 15 per cent, even when controlled for education and location.

Most disturbingly, Denley writes, “If other immigrant groups are doing well in our white privilege society, why not blacks?” The author reasons that immigrants from Asian countries come from a culture that emphasizes hard work, the implication being that immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean are not as hardworking. This ignores the fact that Canada is notoriously bad at matching skilled immigrants, regardless of their origin, with jobs. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 23 per cent of Canadian immigrants are living in poverty, higher than the 17 per cent average for OECD countries. Given our pointsbased immigration system, many of these poor immigrants are here despite possessing university degrees and considerable skills.

Denley argues that recent immigrants are bound to occupy lower rungs on the economic ladder. Surely by now black Canadians, who began arriving in Nova Scotia in the late 1700s, should be occupying the highest offices in our country? Or perhaps, as the author fails to recognize, there are systemic forces at work.

It is undoubtedly a good thing that police officers are not gunning down racialized people in Canada on a daily basis. However, that does not mean Canada is a racism-free, multicultural paradise. Not when a foreignsounding name can reduce your chances of receiving a job interview. Not when black Canadians are overrepresented in Toronto foster care and group homes. And not when black Canadians can turn to the newspaper in their national capital to see their experiences of racism and discrimination dismissed.

This past weekend, a multicultural group of Canadians stood in front of Parliament Hill and asserted that black lives matter. We need more constructive dialogue between Canada’s diverse demographics if we want an inclusive society. That starts by decrying ahistorical and reductionist narratives, such as Denley’s, that seek to pit people against one another.

Colton Brydges, Ottawa