From police to parole and courts to jail and almost all other social work areas are thronged with racial bias. The recent anti-racism protests have also sparked a conversation about the culture and policies of Canadian prison systems. Racial biases are often only identified in some social institutions. Accepting that racism exists is a good start, but the identification of all forms of racialism is also crucial. The police are just one of many factors that contribute to racialism. Colonialism also another factor.
When the official government took control 150 years ago for the second-largest country, they were well aware that they were not well equipped to subdue natives. They knew that it would not be an easy task to assert sovereignty over newly purchased Rupert’s Land. The time has since changed, legislations evolved, yet colonial regime is still a part of our system. Our society is full of racist structures, police being the most prominent tip of a submerged iceberg. From police forces to parole and courts to jail and almost all other social work areas are thronged with racial bias.
The Indigenous children, for example, can be taken away from their parents. These children are placed in foster care by social workers. The white oriented foster care system provides no oversight to them and leaves them on their own when they age out at 18. They have no support and can come to be in trouble with the police. Moreover, they are unable to defend themselves in our fair courts. They face jail sentences and have their life spiraling downwards. Since 2012, there has been an increase of about 21.3% in the indigenous inmate population at the time of writing. For the very same, the percentage of non-indigenous inmates decreased by 11.8%. The overall population of indigenous females in Canada is about just 4% compared with the general statistics (census data from Statistics Canada 2011). However, the percentage of female indigenous offenders is 37.9% of the total female inmate population.
In the past few decades, the police force has become more militarized and sophisticated across North America. They now have body armors, an automatic firing range, and most a military-grade assault vehicle. Although it might seem that decreasing funding for the police is a viable option, but it is not that feasible in reality. Public opinion should be a vital input of policing policies and peacekeeping. Police are protectors of people, and the verdict of people strengthens their trust in them.
Every public institute should be ready to change, evolve as per the time, face scrutiny, and still grow. The police force is a public institute, but jails, social agencies, and the overall justice system are all regarded as private entities. They operate under shroud secrecy. But now, it is time to review how institutional racialism works in our society. How it affects people of color in Canada? The recent international movement Black Lives Matter has created a crucial time for a positive change in society.
