Challenges are social, political, and economic factors that inhibit one’s ability to grow, live, work, and age in their community. While different groups have these adverse experiences, Canada’s black population has it worse as they face systemic inequities and discrimination.
Recent studies reveal racism as a dominant contributor to inequalities amongst racialized Canadians, specifically black Canadians. This unhealthy bias results in discrimination against people of African descent in power, resources, and opportunities
In education, black youths educated in Canada experience discrimination, leading to gaps in achievement and opportunities. For example, Black students are more likely to be suspended than their white colleagues in Toronto.
These Black students are more likely to be streamed into special education and applied programs. At the same time, they are less likely to enroll in college and university than their white counterparts.
Employment is another noteworthy area where Canada’s black population faces discrimination. According to studies, African Canadians make up 1.9% of elementary school teachers and 1.6% of high school teachers in Canada.
The reason behind this larger teacher diversity in Canadian schools is biased hiring. Essentially, hiring managers present more offers to non-black candidates despite having similar qualifications.
Black youths argue that without these African-Canadian teachers, they are inadequately equipped to push back against racially motivated punishments. Furthermore, this underrepresentation raises questions and doubts about the reliability of a black teacher in class, further promoting discrimination.
This employment discrimination extends outside Canada’s educational sector and other areas due to hiring biases. In a study detailing employer responses to resumés, people with Franco-Quebecois names were interviewed 38.3% more than equally qualified candidates with African names.
Unfortunately, such covert racism results in Black Canadians experiencing less recognition for achievements or gaining access to opportunities for job stability or career advancement. These issues are worse for immigrants who speak with an accent and are unfamiliar with workplace norms.
This discrimination may also result in apathy towards the Black person’s work experience, previous education, and other credentials vital to the job. However, this dismissal is more blatant in the housing sector.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently reported that black Canadians experience increased difficulty renting a house since Landlords reject them due to stereotypes. Essentially, these homeowners either view the black individual(s) as criminals or have too many problematic children.
To prevent people of African descent from renting, some landlords use exclusionary screening methods or include additional financial barriers like increasing rent on some months to discourage renting.
While this level of discrimination is problematic, it becomes even worse for people with a darker skin tone. Studies show that black Canadians with darker skin tones experience more racism than their lighter counterparts.
Therefore, African immigrants residing in Canada experience systemic racism at full force because their skin is darker than most of the population. Such experiences make living, working, growing, and functioning in Canada as a person of colour tricky.
While there are several attempts to eliminate anti-black racism from Canada, it is still present covertly in the educational section, hiring processes, corporate environment, real estate market, and more. Hopefully, as time progresses, people of African origins in Canada can experience more acceptance in a system that promotes their creativity and value.
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