Racial Profiling in Canada Today
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Canadian Government and Racism
3. Increasing Diversification of Immigrants and its effects on Racism in Canada
4. The Question of Canada’s Multiculturalism Act
5. Conclusion
In the past, Canada was not known for its multiculturalism or seemingly racism-free ideals. Similar to the U.S., the United Kingdom, and several European nations, it held the belief of white supremacy. Examples of overt racism against visible minorities in Canada’s past include the introduction of the Chinese Head Tax, where only Chinese people entering Canada had to pay a fixed fee, and the St. Louis incident of 1939 when Canada turned away 907 Jewish refugees due to racist …show more content…
ORRRR The CAN gov’t has helped significantly/enough?? in combatting racism in Canada.
Michael Adams, author of “Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism,” argues that the Canadian governments strive to create a welcoming environment has resulted in the overall decline of racist attitudes and actions in Canada today. He writes, “…when it comes to welcoming newcomers from around the world and incorporating them into a new society…people in the countries we admire look to Canada when they seek lessons in managing diversity” (Adams 8). Adams does not state that Canada is free of racism, but because of its open attitude and continuous efforts to combat racism, Canada’s progression towards a more equal, racism-free society is something that all other countries can learn to take after. Adams proves that the Canadian government has taken great action in opposing racism in how “Canada has the highest proportion of foreign-born legislators in the world” (Adams 69). He explains the importance of having such a racially diverse bureaucracy in that “Those who vote for the foreign-born are saying that new Canadians are just as qualified to represent their communities as anyone …show more content…
He believes that “instead of reinforcing mythologized cultural differences” as multiculturalism does, Canada needs to administer anti-racism education (McCreary). McCreary explains the importance of anti-racist education in that it goes further than merely addressing the obvious cultural differences in Canada; anti-racist education further delves into how and why “these differences came to be vested in hierarchies of social, economic, and political power” (McCreary). While Multiculturalism appeases to our tastes by introducing new foods and by allowing us to freely partake in various cultural festivities, it does not solve racism in Canada. Taking McCreary’s argument further, Dr. Sunera Thobani of the University of British Columbia criticizes Canada’s Multiculturalism policy for actually promoting segregation and racism, as explained in her article “Multiculturalism Displaces Anti-Racism, Upholds White Supremacy.” In particular, she believes that multiculturalism upholds white supremacy, therefore ensuing racism against all other ethnicities. Thobani explains that Canada’s bilingualism/biculturalism represents the French and English while multiculturalism represents all other cultures different from the French and English (Thobani). Thobani therefore argues that Canada can only define itself as
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Canadian Government and Racism
3. Increasing Diversification of Immigrants and its effects on Racism in Canada
4. The Question of Canada’s Multiculturalism Act
5. Conclusion
In the past, Canada was not known for its multiculturalism or seemingly racism-free ideals. Similar to the U.S., the United Kingdom, and several European nations, it held the belief of white supremacy. Examples of overt racism against visible minorities in Canada’s past include the introduction of the Chinese Head Tax, where only Chinese people entering Canada had to pay a fixed fee, and the St. Louis incident of 1939 when Canada turned away 907 Jewish refugees due to racist …show more content…
ORRRR The CAN gov’t has helped significantly/enough?? in combatting racism in Canada.
Michael Adams, author of “Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism,” argues that the Canadian governments strive to create a welcoming environment has resulted in the overall decline of racist attitudes and actions in Canada today. He writes, “…when it comes to welcoming newcomers from around the world and incorporating them into a new society…people in the countries we admire look to Canada when they seek lessons in managing diversity” (Adams 8). Adams does not state that Canada is free of racism, but because of its open attitude and continuous efforts to combat racism, Canada’s progression towards a more equal, racism-free society is something that all other countries can learn to take after. Adams proves that the Canadian government has taken great action in opposing racism in how “Canada has the highest proportion of foreign-born legislators in the world” (Adams 69). He explains the importance of having such a racially diverse bureaucracy in that “Those who vote for the foreign-born are saying that new Canadians are just as qualified to represent their communities as anyone …show more content…
He believes that “instead of reinforcing mythologized cultural differences” as multiculturalism does, Canada needs to administer anti-racism education (McCreary). McCreary explains the importance of anti-racist education in that it goes further than merely addressing the obvious cultural differences in Canada; anti-racist education further delves into how and why “these differences came to be vested in hierarchies of social, economic, and political power” (McCreary). While Multiculturalism appeases to our tastes by introducing new foods and by allowing us to freely partake in various cultural festivities, it does not solve racism in Canada. Taking McCreary’s argument further, Dr. Sunera Thobani of the University of British Columbia criticizes Canada’s Multiculturalism policy for actually promoting segregation and racism, as explained in her article “Multiculturalism Displaces Anti-Racism, Upholds White Supremacy.” In particular, she believes that multiculturalism upholds white supremacy, therefore ensuing racism against all other ethnicities. Thobani explains that Canada’s bilingualism/biculturalism represents the French and English while multiculturalism represents all other cultures different from the French and English (Thobani). Thobani therefore argues that Canada can only define itself as