On International Human Rights Day, we spent the morning at the unveiling of the Race Relations in Canada 2019 Survey hosted by Environics Institute and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. After Dr. Keith Neuman presented (three) key findings, a powerful panel of
- Akaash Maharaj, Chief Executive Officer, The Mosaic Institute
- Jeffrey Reitz, Director, Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies, University of Toronto
- Marva Wisdom, Principal, Wisdom Consulting (key figure in the Black Experience Project research)
- Ceta Ramkhalawansingh City Builder Activist
opened discussions on what the findings meant to them along with suggesting remedial actions for the future, particularly in lifting those most disproportionately impacted by racism in labour markets, employment, housing options, the workplace but also still bearing the burdens of history, especially the indigenous population and black communities in Canada who reported experiencing the most discrimination from time to time or regularly.
Michael Adams, the author of Could it Happen Here?, and Chairman of the Environics Institute ended the event with his call to action for all: let us become “Xeno-philes,” (instead of Xenophobes), by turning fears of the other into intrigue and interest, along with keeping a constant check on the racial climate, benchmarking progress and calling out racism. The times were changing he said, reflective in how mixed-race unions were on the rise, led by the foreign-born in Canada. The Japanese, Latin Americans and blacks constituted the most visible minorities to be in a mixed union than others, with the South Asians and Chinese being among the least to partner outside their race.
You can read the Race Relations in Canada 2019 Survey report here. Some pictures from the event below, and the event’s video will be uploaded here.
We think it’s a great time to be having these conversations, especially as hatred and hate speech manifest as reality online, but also offline. Stay tuned for our own recently concluded mini-project in this space. We at Generation1.ca took the racism experience to brands, products and service experiences and can’t wait to share our results in the coming days.
