Anti-Racism
Manual
Content
1. –Contents Page
Pages 2-35
-Introduction
-History of Racism
-Immigration
-Racialization of Poverty
-Injustices towards Aboriginal People
-Injustices towards Black people
-Injustices against Chinese Persons
-Injustices against Japanese Persons
-Stereotypes and the Media
-Historical Figures
2. Tools
Pages 35-60
-Class workshops
-Individual activities
-reflections on workshops
- methods establish a pro-active stance against racism.
-Books and Films
-further readings and films for individuals/classes/family
3. Resources
Pages 60-68
-Youth directed anti-racism/anti-oppression organizations-Local initiatives to get involved in
(volunteer hours)
-OPIRG
-Community and Race Relations Committee
-New Canadian Center
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Introduction
This workshop manual has been put together by the Community Race Relations Committee of
Peterborough for use in high schools in an effort to combat racism and promote positive race
relations within our community. In its narrow definition racism refers to the belief that a specific
race is superior to other races. Racism in Canada dates back to the arrival of European
expeditions who proceeded to violently evict Aboriginal people from their land and confine them
to reserves. During the colonization of Canada, French and British settlers continued to enslave
Africans and Aboriginals. Additionally history has shown us that racist measures and attitudes
have been directed at virtually every group of human that did not fit the racist ideals of colonial
powers which gave the full benefits of citizenship to only Caucasian males. In brief since its
inception as a colony, racism in Canada has consisted of the enslavement, displacement,
oppression and denial of equal citizenship rights to members of racialized and marginalized
groups. Moreover racialized and marginalized people continue to be oppressed through legal
measures and social exclusion that have exasperated their current inequality which has its root
causes in the historical injustices that have been committed against them. As for why racism and
oppression continue to exist, academics and scientist in their research have pointed to the
perpetuation of stereotypes by the media, ignorance and fear that stem from a lack of education
and understanding. In this manual you will gain an in-depth understanding of what racism is,
how detrimental it has been to the lives of those affected by it as well as the history of racism in
Canada including the current prevalence of racist attitudes towards immigrants and groups with
affiliations to a specific ethnicities and religions. Also, inside this manual you will find
individual and group workshops that will lead you to reflect on racism, gain a sense of
understanding of the suffering it causes and ways in which as individuals, we can minimize the
extent that the prevalence of stereotypes influence us subconsciously.
History of Racism
Racism refers to when an individual holds the belief that a group of humans who have certain
characteristics such as a particular skin colour, ethnicity, religion or culture is inferior to that
persons’ race. All human beings belong to one species: Homo Sapiens. The term race refers to
the idea that human beings can be subdivided into various categories depending on their skin
colour, shape of eyes and type of hair. Often people thought that a group of people that possess a
distinct physical or genetic characteristics share a common culture or social traits. In practice,
however, scientists have found it impossible to separate humans into clearly defined races and
most scientists today reject the concept of biological race. Despite its lack of scientific basis, race
persists as a powerful social, cultural, and historical concept used to categorize people based on
perceived differences in physical appearance, and behaviour. Today we know that a racialized
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minority group can be defined by examining the relationship between that group and the
dominant group in society. If the relationship is one of subordination enforced by the perception
of racial difference, the radicalized group is subordinated, meaning they are not treated on equal
terms.
In tracing the emergence of Racism, we can see the conditions that led to the development of
racism and its eventual application in Canada towards Aboriginal, Black, and Asain
communities. Another benefit to understanding its historical development is that it is helpful in
challenging current institutional racism, stereotypes and ideas that sustain existing discrimination
of racialized persons. These ideas, stereotypes and institutional barriers serve to perpetuate the
notion that Asian, Black, White or Red people are different in their natural abilities. This idea
often manifests itself in terms of discrimination, hate and at times violence.
This historical perspective also shows us how the different categorizations of race that seem so
obvious today, were in fact invented by individuals who promoted their race as superior.
Furthermore categories of race have changed over the course of history, for example in Canada
Irish immigrants were once considered to be a different and inferior race in comparison to British
Canadians. This common belief at the time created a feeling among British Canadians that the
Irish were detrimental to the Canadian way of life. “So if these racial categories keep shifting
around so much…what can you really say about the character of a particular group, except
perhaps that we are all human” (Tim McCaskell, Towards Racial Equity, 1990).
Although the word ‘race’ in contemporary times is synonymous with skin colour and we use it to
differentiate people from one another, the term itself is of very recent origin. The term ‘race’ has
spawned a variety of other words and phrases that scientists, educators and people like refer to
in-order to explain ideas and concepts, such as ‘racial discrimination’, ethnocentrism and racism.
The complexity of the word ‘race’ is because it is a social construct, meaning that there is no
scientific basis to characterize human beings into different species.
‘Race’ first appeared in the English language around the 17th century. North Americans began to
use the term in their scientific writings by the late 18th century. Racism was developed and
popularized by scientists in the 19th century, as they were regarded as purveyors of truth. At the
time this ideology also explained political and economic conflicts in various parts of the world
and legitimized the dominant role of British capitalism in the world economic system. Along
with economic reasons for the perpetuation of racist ideologies, the perpetrators also justified
racism on religious grounds.
By the mid-19th century, there was a general agreement that the world’s population could be
divided into a variety of races: groups of people who shared similar phenotypical attributes, eg,
skin colour, hair texture. This process of race categorization is referred to as racialization and is
necessary for the emergence of racism as an ideology.
Racism is an ideology which claims that the human species can be divided into a number of
discrete biological groupings that determine the behaviour and success of individuals within that
group. This belief views "races" as natural and fixed subdivisions of humans, each with its
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distinct and variable cultural characteristics and capacity for developing civilizations.This type of
racist thinking presumes that differences among groups are innate and not subject to change.
Thus, intelligence, attitudes and beliefs are viewed as not affected by ones environment. The
existence of groups at the bottom or top of the social hierarchy is interpreted as the natural
outcome of an inferior or superior biological makeup and not the result of social influences.
Racists reject social integration as the mixing of the group would result in the degeneration of the
superior group. Racist ideology is based upon 3 false assumptions: 1) biological differences are
equal to cultural differences; 2) biological makeup determines the cultural achievements of a
group; and 3) biological makeup limits the type of culture a group can develop.
Research shows these assumptions to be wrong and largely based on the untenable position that
nature (biology) is a single causal agent. Evidence showing that differences within groups are
greater than differences between groups and that social factors have an impact on behaviour
argues strongly against racist beliefs. In fact, although the concept of race is used in everyday
language, primarily to denote different skin colours, it is not, at the biological level, useful.
Institutional Racism
Over time, the concept of racism has been expanded to explain the different ways racism can
manifest itself. In the 1960s, social scientists applied the term beyond individual racism, which is
the belief by one individual about another persons "racial" inferiority. Institutional racism exists
when the political, economic and social institutions of a society operate to the detriment of a
specific individual or group in a society because of their alleged genetic makeup. Cultural
racism is based not on ideas of innate incompatibility of cultural traditions.
Racism in Canada at both the individual and institutional level has been reflected in restrictive
immigration policies and practices regarding aboriginal peoples and nonwhite immigrants,
particularly the Chinese, blacks and Jews. Institutional racism coupled with social exclusion has
contributed to the current socio-economic (shelter, employment, health….) inequalities that
racialized members of Canadian society encounter.
The rise of racist ideologies which was present in not only government policies directed towards
the subordination of racialized persons (institutional racism) but also expressed by some in
society through the use of the media, the denial of employment to racialized persons and through
everyday interactions (social exclusion). In essence, social exclusion amounts to a lack of
belonging, acceptance and recognition. People who are socially excluded are more economically
and socially vulnerable, and hence they tend to have diminished life chances. Specifically the
experiences of people who are affected by institutional racism and social exclusion include low
wages, poor working conditions, societal discrimination and are often unable to rent or buy a
home in areas they desire, thus leading them to be confined to unsafe and underprivileged
housing areas. Along with discriminatory immigration policies, new immigrants who have
overseas training and certification face considerable barriers to having their credentials
recognized in Canada.
5
Today, racism is still present in Canada, although there are less explicit racist policies, the
presence of individual prejudice and institutional racism continues to degrade the living
standards of racialized to communities to sub par levels.
Poverty rates among visible minority persons in Canada, particularly recent visible minority
immigrants, are unacceptably high- greater than 50% for some groups, such as recent black
immigrants. The major causes of poverty include barriers to equal participation in the job market
and lack of access to permanent, skilled, and well-paying jobs. As you can see, racism and the
economic disadvantage that it creates are compounded to create disadvantages for racialized and
indigenous people.
The growth in the number of precarious jobs and the cuts to Canada’s social programs has
resulted in higher poverty rates and deeper, longer-term poverty for many vulnerable groups of
Canadians over the 1990s. However, recent visible minority immigrants have faced some
specific barriers that are attributable, in part, to racism.
Source: National Anti-Racism Council of Canada, Canadian Council on Social Development
II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO DISCRIMINATION
IN CANADA’S IMMIGRATION POLICY
Up until 1962 Canadian immigration policies were blatantly racist. For example, the Canadian
immigration Act of 1910, gave Cabinet the power to deny racialized members entry into Canada.
This law stated that the Canadian Cabinet can deny entry based on race “owning to their peculiar
customs, habits, modes of life and methods of holding property and because of their probable
inability to become readily assimilated”. Such direct references for the preferential treatment of a
specific race were replaced by rules and regulations that were worded differently but nonetheless
accomplished the same thing, preferential treatment of one race and discrimination against the
others. In 1962, the regulations in the Immigration Act which prohibited entry based on race was
removed in favour of new requirements that were cast as not racist. However, the regulations
which stated that a person was to be admitted to Canada, based on their finance were inherently
racist as well. It gave preferential treatment to citizens of affluent nations at the time, which were
mostly European countries.
Canada’s immigration policies and treatment of immigrants can in the past be characterized as
blatant racism and although in contemporary times as subtle, they are just as destructive. The
first immigrants from Europe brought with them an ideology that would have such devastating
impact on the aboriginal peoples of what is now Canada, an impact that continues to be felt to
this day. Almost from the time when the Canadian government began to control immigration to
Canada until the 1960s, explicitly racist laws and practices restricted the immigration of certain
groups.
The Chinese were subjected to brunt racism with the introduction of the first federal Chinese
Exclusion Act in 1885 imposed a head tax on Chinese immigrants of $50, which increased to
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$100 in 1900 and $500 in1903. From 1886 to 1923, more than $22 million were collected in
head tax payments. In 1923 the Chinese Immigration Act came into effect, causing the almost
total prohibition of Chinese immigration to Canada. The Act was repealed in 1947, but the entry
of Chinese remained restricted under more general rules relating to persons of “Asiatic race”. In
1907 a Canadian government delegation to Japan concluded a “gentlemen’s agreement” whereby
the Japanese government would voluntarily limit emigration of Japanese to Canada to 400
persons a year. During the Second World War, 22,000 Japanese Canadians were expelled from
within a hundred miles of the Pacific, thousands were detained, and at the end of the war, to
Japan was encouraged. 4,000 people left, two thirds of them Canadian citizens, an act known as
repatriation, which means the returning of someone or group to their place of origin.
In 1908 the Canadian government adopted an Order in Council imposing a “continuous passage
rule” which had the effect of excluding from immigration people who could not make a direct
journey to Canada. One of the main targets of this measure was prospective immigrants from
India, since there was at the time no direct voyage from India to Canada. In 1914 a group of 376
Indians challenged this restriction, arriving in Vancouver on board the Komagatu Maru. After
two months in the harbor and an unsuccessful court challenge, they were forced to return back to
India.
During the years when the Nazis were in power in Germany (and immediately
afterwards), Canadian immigration policy was actively anti-Semitic, with the result that
Canada’s record for accepting Jews fleeing the Holocaust is among the worst in the Western
world. Canadian policy towards Jewish refugees was summed up in the words of one official:
“None is too many”.
Although in the 19th century Canada represented freedom for some black Americans escaping
slavery through the Underground Railroad, in the 20th century immigration of persons of African
origin was actively discouraged. A 1911 Order in Council prohibited “any immigrant belonging
to the Negro race, which race is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada”.
This order was never proclaimed, but the same effect was achieved through measures such as
penalties imposed on railway companies that distributed transportation subsidies to blacks,
requirement for additional medical examinations, and the hiring of agents to actively discourage
black Americans from coming to Canada.
Until the 1960s, Canada chose its immigrants on the basis of their racial categorization rather
than the individual merits of the applicant, with preference being given to immigrants of
Northern European (especially British) origin over the so-called “black and Asiatic races”.
Race officially ceased to be a relevant factor with the introduction of the point system in the
1960sHowever, there are some aspects of current policies that are reminiscent of earlier forms of
exclusion, and the enforcement of seemingly neutral immigration requirements continues to
discriminate against particular racialized groups. The following is a chart published by the
Canadian Council on Refugees in preparation for the UN world conference against racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances; it highlights some of the contemporary
problems associated with Canada’s immigration policies.
APPLICATION OF POLICIES TARGETING CERTAIN GROUPS.
7
Policies
Differential Impact
Examples
The imposition of a visa
requirement on nationals
of some countries
wanting to travel to
Canada
Interdiction measures
result in harassment of
Canadian citizens,
permanent residents and
visitors to Canada,
especially if they are
from visible minority
groups.
Refusal of visitor visa
applications to family
members trying to visit,
attend weddings or
funerals, etc. (or to
others wanting to visit
for other reasons).
It is extremely difficult
for people from some
countries where visas are
required to get visitors’
visa to visit their family
in Canada.
Request for DNA testing
as proof of relationships
prior to approval for
sponsorship.
Requests for DNA tests
are disproportionately
made of applicants of
certain ethnic groups.
Ali Kazimi, a Canadian
documentary film-maker of
Indian origin, told the Toronto
Star in 1999 about the repeated
checks and humiliating
interrogation he had to go
through on his way back to
Canada after participating in a
film festival in Amsterdam. Mr.
Kazimi was finally asked for
his citizenship card despite
holding a valid Canadian
passport.
Julia applied to the Beijing
Embassy for a visitor’s visa in
order to visit her husband who
was in Canada on a timelimited program. The visa was
refused on the grounds that
Julia did not have sufficient ties
to go back. However, she was
leaving her child behind, her
husband had demonstrated his
ability to support her while she
was in Canada, and he had
submitted an employer’s letter
and a three-party contract
indicating that he had a job
back in Beijing and was
obligated to go back.
Ahmed, a Somali, came to
Canada in 1995. After he was
recognized as a Convention
refugee he applied to be
reunited with his three children
and his nephew who he raised
following the death of his
brother. Despite the fact that he
had submitted the birth
certificates for all four children,
CIC asked him and his three
children to undergo DNA
testing. Since he cannot pay the
costs of four DNA tests (over
$2,000), he has been barred
from being reunited with his
children.
The high costs involved
in DNA testing ($975 and
up) create barriers to
family reunification since
many applicants cannot
afford the only proof of
relationship visa officers
would accept.
Recommendations
Adopt a fair approach
in assessing requests
for visitors' visas in
order to facilitate
visits by family
members, and
provide reasons in
cases where visitors’
visas are refused.
Ensure that DNA
testing is always the
exception, rather than
the rule, and that it is
called for only in
circumstances
outlined in published
guidelines.
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The rejection of the explicit racism of immigration policies prior to the sixties was a necessary
and important step in the struggle against racism. We must now come to grips with a much more
subtle form of racism, less conscious and less easy to pinpoint but just as destructive.
It shows how certain policies, although not explicitly racist, and even when applied neutrally,
have a negative impact on certain racialized groups. Examples of such policies are the Right of
Landing Fee, requirements for identity and official documents, and the narrow definition of the
family. A more blatant form of racism is found in policies that directly target certain racialized
groups, based on profiling, stereotyping and public annoyance. Examples of such policies are
“danger to the public” certificates, security and criminality checks, and detention decisions
Finally, a more subtle form of racism in Canadian policies towards refugees and immigrants lies
in structural issues that have a differential impact on some racialized groups, such as the skewed
distribution of visa posts resources and barriers to the access of visible minorities to decisionmaking positions within the Immigration and Refugee Board and Citizenship and Immigration
In the aftermath of Sept11th, there was an attitudinal shift in Canada regarding immigration,
particularly resulting from the United States assumption that the perpetrators of Sept11th came
through the Canadian border. In the midst of this atmosphere Canadian politicians rushed to
capitalize on the anxiety experienced by Canadian citizens. Along with restricting border
movements, the Canadian government introduced and passed the Terrorist Act on December 8th,
2001.
As it was being drafted politicians and protesters raised concerns that the legislation as proposed
trampled on civil liberties because it gave police sweeping new powers, including the ability to
arrest people and hold them without charge for up to 72 hours if they are suspected of planning a
terrorist act.
Highlights of the Anti-terrorism Act:
•
•
•
•
•
•
It gives the police wide, sweeping powers to act on suspected acts of terrorism.
It allows suspected terrorists to be detained without charge for up to three days.
It makes it easier for the police to use electronic surveillance, which used to be seen as a
last resort.
It allows for preventive arrests.
It allows judges to compel witnesses to give evidence during an investigation.
It allows for the designation of a group as a terrorist organization.
Due to the concerns that racialized communities have about the Terrorist Act, with respect to the
infringement on liberty and concerns of racialized profiling, the government of Canada
established the Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security. The Cross-Cultural Roundtable on
Security was created to engage Canadians and the Government of Canada in a long-term
dialogue on matters related to national security. The Roundtable brings together citizens who are
leaders in their respective communities and who have extensive experience in social and cultural
matters. It focuses on emerging developments in national security matters and their impact on
Canada's diverse and pluralistic society. However, human rights advocates continue to challenge
some of the definitions and clauses contained in the act.
9
Mohammad Momin Khawaja was the first man charged under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act.
He was arrested March 29, 2004, accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist group,
and facilitating a terrorist activity. The RCMP raided Khawaja's house in Orleans, a suburb of
Ottawa, and his workplace. The raid was part of an investigation involving Canada and Britain in
which nine men of Pakistani heritage were arrested. Khawaja was the only person arrested in
Canada.
The charges allege that terrorist activities took place in London, England, and Ottawa between
November 2003 and March 29, 2004. Khawaja had made trips to London but his brother said it
was to find a wife. Khawaja had also been working on contract as a computer software operator
for the Foreign Affairs Department, but authorities said he had no access to classified documents.
On Oct. 24, 2006, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruling on Khawaja's case struck down the
motive clause of the Anti-Terrorism Act, saying it violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
This clause defines a terrorist act as one committed "for a political, religious or ideological
purpose, objective or cause."
Although the judge struck down this part of the law, he said Khawaja's trial on the charges could
go on.
On Oct. 29, 2008, Khawaja was found guilty of five charges of financing and facilitating
terrorism and two Criminal Code offences related to building a remote-control device that could
trigger bombs. Five months later, Judge Douglas Rutherford of the Ontario Superior Court
sentenced Khawaja to 10½ years jail, calling him "a willing and eager participant" in a terrorist
scheme. The fact that the judge stated the motive clause violated the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, should have been enough to post-pone the trial, as Khawaja as a Canadian is entitled
to a fair trial.
Source: Canadian Council on Refugees and CBC News In-depth
INJUSTICE TOWARDS ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
A common misconception is that racism only happens to people who are new to Canada, but we
only have to look at the treatment of Native people to realize that racism has a long history in
Canada. The history of Canada, in large part, is the history of the colonization of Aboriginal
peoples. This colonization, as an historical event, or series of events, has been amply
documented by historians and many other academics; and is certainly being documented by
Aboriginal scholars, writers and artists.
10
Modern historians believe that Aboriginals arrived from Asia 30 000 years ago by way of a land
bridge between Siberia and Alaska. Some of them settled in Canada, while others chose to
continue to the south. When the European explorers arrived, Canada was populated by a diverse
range of Aboriginal peoples who, depending on the environment, lived nomadic or settled
lifestyles, were hunters, fishermen, or farmers.
They lived in every region of the country. Often their survival in Canada's harsh climate
depended on cooperation, sharing, and respect for the environment. They probably migrated over
the Bering Sea from Siberia after the last ice age, between 10 000 and 30 000 years ago. At the
time of European contact, they had developed distinct nations throughout what is now Canada
with a total population of perhaps 350 000.
Colonization refers to both the formal and informal methods (behaviors, ideologies, institutions,
policies, and economics) that maintain the subjugation or exploitation of Indigenous Peoples,
lands and resources. Colonizers engage in this process because it allows them to maintain and/or
expand their social political and economic power. Only does colonization result in the loss of
major rights such as land, and self-determination, but most of their contemporary struggles
(poverty, family violence, chemical dependency, suicide, and the deterioration of health) as also
direct consequences of colonization.
Moreover, colonization can be defined as some form of invasion, dispossession and subjugation
of people. The invasion need not be military; it can begin—or continue—as geographical
intrusion in the form of agricultural, urban or industrial encroachments. The result of such
incursion is the dispossession of vast amounts of lands from the original inhabitants. This is often
legalized after the fact. Historically, First Nation peoples (defined as Status Indians by the Indian
Act) lost some 98% of their original lands through various legal means such as treaties and the
Indian Act. Métis Nation peoples lost some 83% of their Red River lots through the Scrip
program. The long-term result of such massive dispossession is institutionalized inequality. The
colonizer/colonized relationship is by nature an unequal one that benefits the colonizer at the
expense of the colonized. An example of the extent to which the colonizers exercised this power
are the establishment of residential schools, denial of access to education, employment and the
eviction of Aboriginal people from their land.
In 1928, a government official predicted Canada would end its "Indian problem" within two
generations. Church-run, government-funded residential schools for native children were
supposed to prepare them for life in white society. But the aims of assimilation meant
devastation for those who were subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Decades later,
aboriginal people began to share their stories and demand acknowledgement of — and
compensation for — their stolen childhoods. The following map shows the locations and
prevalence of residential schools that were setup throughout Canada.
11
The apology offered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on June 11th, 2008 to the Aboriginal
community highlights the intent of the residential schools. “For more than a century, Indian
Residential Schools separated over 150,000 Aboriginal children from their families and
communities. In the 1870’s, the federal government, partly in order to meet its obligation to
educate Aboriginal children, began to play a role in the development and administration of these
schools.
Two primary objectives of the Residential Schools system were to remove and isolate children
from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into
the dominant culture. Indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the
child". Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm,
and has no place in our country. Moreover, in addition to psychological abuse resulting from the
isolation experienced by the children and families, psychical and sexual abuse at the residential
schools were rampant. The last residential school closed in 1983 and was in Tofino, British
Columbia.
Harold Cardinal (a famous Cree writer and advocate for First Nations people) said of the Indian
Act of 1876 “"Instead of implementing the treaties and offering much needed protection to
Indian rights the Indian Act subjugated to colonial rule the very people whose rights if was
supposed to protect". In 1876 Canada’s Indian Act is enacted which attempts to consolidate
many Indian laws and makes Indians wards of the government. They are placed in a different
legal category from all other Canadians; Act gives individual Natives the right to seek Canadian
citizenship by renouncing their rights and privileges. In other words, assimilation into
mainstream Canadian society and the loss of culture and all rights associated with a culture are
the main themes. The Act governs all aspects of Native life including the denial of the right to
vote in an election.
12
The Constitution Act of 1982 recognized three main groups of Aboriginal peoples in Canada: the
First Nations and the Inuit, who were the first Aboriginal groups in Canada, and the Metis, who
emerged after the settlement of Canada. Today, there are more than 53 distinct languages spoken
by Aboriginal peoples. Most of these languages are found only in Canada.
People of the First Nations lived in all areas of Canada. Those who lived on Canada's coasts
depended on fishing and hunting while those who lived on the prairies moved with buffalo herds
which they hunted for food, clothing, and tools. First Nations people who lived in central and
eastern Canada hunted and grew vegetable crops. Today, more than half of the First Nations
people live on reserves; others live and work in cities across Canada.
The Inuit lived and settled throughout the northern regions of Canada. They adjusted to the cold
northern climate and lived by hunting seals, whales, caribou, and polar bears. The majority of
Inuit people live in the new territory called Nunavut and some still hunt for food and clothing.
Many of the early French fur traders and some English traders married First Nations women.
Their children and descendants are the Metis people. The Metis were an important part of the fur
trade and they developed their own distinct culture on the prairies.
When Europeans arrived in what is now Canada, they began to make agreements, or treaties,
with Aboriginal peoples. The treaty making process meant that Aboriginal people gave up their
title to lands in exchange for certain rights and benefits.
Most of the agreements included reserving pieces of land to be used only by Aboriginal peoples.
These pieces of land are called "reserves". Today, Aboriginal groups and the Canadian
government continue to negotiate new agreements for land and the recognition of other rights.
Today, Aboriginal peoples in Canada are working to keep their unique cultures and languages
alive. They are trying to regain control over decisions that affect their lives - in other words, to
become self-governed.
If we are to learn from our past mistakes, the treatment of the Aboriginal people at the hands of
the Canadian government, it is that racism affects all Canadians because it hurts people, impairs
relationships and produces social conflict. Generally, racism affects the quality of life in our
society. Yet it is distressing how many Canadians remain unaware or apathetic about the history
and nature of colonization and racism. Canadians have not dealt with racism effectively or
compassionately. Many continue to deny that racism even exists, blaming Aboriginal peoples for
their socio-economic marginalization. We must all be vigilant to ensure that the ideals of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are put into practice, both in everyday life and in our
social and institutional arrangements. This means taking our society towards anti-colonial and
anti-racist directions.
Current Snapshot of Canada’s Aboriginal Population
CHILDREN
• 1 in 4 First Nations children live in poverty, compared to 1 in 6 Canadian children.
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• The rate of disabilities among First Nations children (about 1 in 8) is almost double the rate
among Canadian children.
• Over one third of First Nations households with children are overcrowded
• High school completion among First Nations youth is half the Canadian rate. At the current
rate, it will take 28 years for First Nations to catch-up to the non-Aboriginal population.
• Suicide accounts for 38% of all deaths for First Nations youth aged 10-19.
HOMES
• First Nations homes are about four times more likely to require major repairs compared to
Canadians overall.
• Overcrowding in First Nations homes is almost double the Canadian rate (4.8 vs. 2.6
person/room). About 1 in 6 homes are overcrowded.
• Nearly one in 30 live in homes without hot running water (3.7%), cold running water (3.5%) or
flushing toilets (3.5%). 5,486 of the 88,485 houses on-reserve (6%) are without sewage services.
• About one in 3 First Nations people consider their main drinking water supply unsafe to drink.
12% of First Nations communities have to boil their drinking water.
• Mould contaminates almost half of all First Nations households.
• First Nations have limited access to affordable housing: 73% are in core need, most are
spending more than the standard of 30% of their income on rent.
COMMUNITIES
• Applying the United Nations Human Development Index would rank First Nations
communities 68th among 174 nations. Canada has dropped from first to eighth due, in part, to the
housing and health conditions in First Nations communities.
• Most First Nations (80%) peoples have personal incomes below $30,000 per year. Half of all
households have total household incomes below that level.
• More than half of First Nations peoples are unemployed. Of those who have not completed
high school, about two in three are not employed compared with only about one in six of
university graduates.
• Life expectancy for First Nations men is 7.4 years less, and 5.2 years less for First Nations
women, than Canadian men and women respectively.
• Diabetes among First Nations peoples is at least three times the national average
14
• Tuberculosis among First Nations people is 8 to 10 times more common than the Canadian
population.
*Source:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Assembly of First Nations, National Indian &
Inuit Community Health Representatives Organization and the National Film Board
INJUSTICE TOWARDS BLACK PEOPLE
By Afua Cooper
The enslavement of Blacks in Canada is a little-known fact. However, slavery was practised
under both the French and British colonial regimes, and lasted for more than two centuries. It
was recognized by law and custom. The enslavement of Black people in Canada was part of the
larger process of the Transatlantic Slave Trade which ripped upwards of twenty-five million
people from the shores of Africa to the New World.
In 1608, French explorer and colonizer, Samuel de Champlain, established a settlement at
Québec, and launched the era of French colonization in what is now Canada. The earliest record
we have of a Black enslaved person in Canada dates back to 1628. In that year, the Kirke
brothers, Huguenot pirates working on behalf of the English Crown, captured the feeble colony
at Québec. The Kirkes had with them a nine-year-old boy from Madagascar whom they promptly
sold to a Québec clerk. The boy was baptized and given the name Olivier Le Jeune—the first
name being that of his owner, and the last name belonging to the Jesuit priest, Paul Le Jeune,
who baptized him. This African child was to live in Quebec as a domestic slave for the rest of his
life. He died in 1654.
By the end of the century, a steam of Black people entered the colony as enslaved persons. New
France’s colonists continually experienced a labour shortage and they felt that only slaves could
relieve such a shortage. Owned by a variety of individuals and corporations, enslaved people
toiled as farm labourers, domestic workers, garbage collectors, hangmen, rat catchers, trappers,
miners, and canoeists. It is important to note that Native people also suffered enslavement in
Canada. Native slaves were colloquially called Panis.
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The origins of Black slaves in Canada were diverse. Some came from the thirteen American
colonies, others from the West Indies, Africa and Europe. Of course, many were born in the
colony throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.
Under the French regime, slavery was given legal foundation in Canada in 1689 when Louis XIV
authorized the entry and sale of enslaved Africans within the colony. Furthermore, aspects of the
Code Noir and additional colonial ordinances were used to regulate slavery within the colony.
Enslaved people, both African and Aboriginal, resisted the system of slavery in specific ways.
The most spectacular challenge came from Marie-Joseph Angélique, a 29-year-old Portugueseborn Black woman, who was charged with setting fire to Montréal in April 1734. The fire
destroyed half of the city, and ruined most of the principal merchants as their homes and
businesses were burnt. Angélique had a history as a rebellious slave, who talked back to and
cursed her owner, and who left the house whenever she wanted. Prior to the fire, the slave
woman had fled Montréal but was caught and returned to her slave mistress.
Angélique underwent a two-month trial. She was found guilty and sentenced to hang. But before
she was hanged, she underwent the torture of the Brodequins, a device attached to her legs which
resulted in their breaking. After the hanging, the corpse of the slave woman was burnt and the
ashes scattered to the four winds.
So important was slavery to the colony that in 1760 at the time of the Conquest of Canada by
Britain, the French bargained with the conquerors to insert a clause in the Treaty of Capitulation
that gave them the right to continue using their slaves, and permission to trade in their bodies.
The appropriate clause reads:
Negroes and Panis of both sexes shall remain, in their status as slaves, in
possession of the French and Canadians to whom they belong; they shall be at
liberty to keep them in their service in the colony or sell them; and they may
also continue to bring them up in the Roman religion.
With the Conquest and the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, New France ceased to exist, and the
new British colony of Québec came into being. Under the British dispensation, the enslavement
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of Africans actually increased. Right after the Conquest, numerous colonists from the Thirteen
Colonies migrated to Québec and brought with them their slave property. After 1783, thousands
of settlers, now dubbed “Loyalists” from the former Thirteen Colonies came as a result of the
British loss during the American Revolution. Likewise, slave property again accompanied them.
These white Loyalists were settled in the five older colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,
Québec, Prince Edward Island and Ontario.
Enslaved people under the British Regime, as during the French period, built roads and
highways, public buildings, farms, homes, cooked and cleaned for their owners, minded their
children, and did every conceivable work that was vital in establishing new settlements. Much
credit must go to these enslaved Africans for creating communities out of the wilderness.
Because plantation slavery was not the norm in Canada, many believed that the Canadian variant
of slavery was mild. However, documents reveal that Canadian slaves were treated as harshly as
their brethren in the rest of the New World. Enslaved Blacks in Canada were murdered, whipped,
tortured, starved, imprisoned, punished and brutalized in other ways by their masters.
As in other forms of American slavery, enslaved people were ripped apart from their families
and sold and traded within the colonies and outside their borders. The following advertisement in
the Halifax Gazette of 30 May 1752 for the sale of slaves reveals that Canadians were buying
slaves from beyond its borders.
Halifax Gazette, 30 May 1752. Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management
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However, enslaved people protested their enslavement through a variety of means, chief among
them being flight. Numerous colonial newspapers recorded the escape of slaves, as this early
example in the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle reveals.
Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle, 1 September 1772,
Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management.
Enslaved Africans, especially in Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, perhaps encouraged
by antislavery reformers, also took their masters to court in their bid for freedom. One example is
that of enslaved woman Nancy Morton, owned by one Captain Caleb Jones of Fredericton, New
Brunswick. In 1800, Morton sued Jones for wrongful ownership. The case reached the New
Brunswick Supreme Court, but Morton lost and was returned to Jones. Although she was
unsuccessful, Morton nonetheless showed tremendous agency in challenging her owner by
taking him to the highest court in the land.
Slavery began to decline in the Canadian provinces by the end of the eighteenth century. In
Upper Canada (now named Ontario) in 1793, influenced by the brutal removal of slave woman
Chloe Cooley to New York State, Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe passed an act in the
legislature to ban the importation of new slaves into the colony. The act did not free one slave,
but it did pave the way for the eventual end of slavery, and was the first antislavery legislation
passed in the British Empire. In Lower Canada (Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia,
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growing opposition of the courts of law, by 1820, ensured the decline of slavery. However, it
took the British Emancipation Act of 1833 to formally end slavery in the Canadian provinces.
Several enslaved Blacks, came forward, on 1 August 1834, when the Act took effect, and gained
their freedom.
Upper Canada Gazette, 19 February, 1806. Archives of Ontario
INJUSTICE TOWARDS CHINESE PEOPLE
Throughout its history, Canada has been dependent on the contributions of diverse cultures and
people to both enrich Canadian society and in helping to build its economy. Although some
historians cite the arrival of the Chinese in Canada much earlier than the mid 1800’s, the start of
the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the need for gold and coal mine laborers are
seen as the catalysts for the full fledged arrival of Chinese persons in Canada.
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Chinese laborers building the national railway.
They risked their lives to help build Canada's railroad in the 1880s. But as soon as the work was
done, Canada just wanted them gone. It was the beginning of a difficult history for Chinese
immigrants to Canada. They struggled through the head tax, personal attacks and job
discrimination. But the Chinese in Canada persevered. And today, Chinese-Canadians are an
integral part of Canada's multicultural society, forging their own cultural identities. In the 1880s,
thousands of Chinese immigrants worked to help build Canada's railway. But as soon as their
work was over in 1885, the message was clear: Chinese people weren't welcome in Canada
anymore. The Canadian government went to great lengths to keep Chinese immigrants out of the
country, including an extremely expensive head tax on all Chinese immigrants.
Even before Railway construction began, the Residents of British Columbia were afraid that the
Chinese would take away their jobs. A motion was then passed by the BC Legislative Assembly
to prevent Chinese from working on Government projects.
As the anti-Chinese feeling grew in British Columbia, Onderdonk
assured the community that he would give white laborers preference
over the Chinese. He indicated that he would hire Native Americans
and Chinese only if he could find no other workers in Eastern Canada
or elsewhere. About a month after the construction started, Onderdonk
found that many of the white workers that he hired from San Francisco
were unreliable. He was forced to hire Chinese Laborers, who were
recruited from San Francisco and Portland. It was estimated that
approximately 1,500 experienced Chinese railroad workers came to Canada from the United
States between 1880 and 1881 to help build the railroad in British Columbia. As more railway
workers were needed in 1881, Onderdonk began dealing with the Lian Chang Company to hire
2,000 workers from Hong Kong. In total, 15,700 Chinese were recruited though only 7000
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worked directly on the CPR at any given time. The initial tasks given to them involved grading
and cutting out hills to fill ravines and gullies. Later they were assigned the more dangerous job
of tunneling and handling of explosive. The wages for Chinese workers were $1.00 a day and
they had to purchase their own camping and cooking gear. In contrast, white laborers received
$1.50 to $2.50 a day and did not have to pay for their gear.
Many Chinese workers often died from exhaustion due to the hard work and long walks between
the job site and the work camp. Some perished in rock explosions or were buried in collapsed
tunnels. Many others were drowned in the river due to the collapse of unfinished bridges, then
the Canadian winter brought another dimension of hardships to the workers. Arriving from a
warm temperate climate, none of the Chinese workers expected to suddenly face the severe
winter of interior British Columbia in ill-prepared facilities. There were few medical facilities
available and many died from scurvy. The Chinese workers were dismissed during the winter of
1882-1883 due to bad weather and again during the mid winter of 1883-1884 when the work was
completed in the Fraser Canyon.
The Chinese indeed helped to link Canada from coast to coast, leaving tracks built on hard work,
determination and perseverance, for later generations to follow. The last spike of the CPR was
driven in November 1885, though none of the Chinese workers were invited to attend this
historic ceremony. Instead, most of the Chinese workers were simply let go. Some went back to
China while others found work in industries such as forestry, saw mills, fishing canneries, coal
mines and domestic services. Most moved to the eastern provinces in search of other job
opportunities.
As for those abandoned workers who stayed and could not find employment, the Chinese
community did not just sit and watch them die. In Victoria 31, local community groups came
together to establish the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association to serve the needs of the
abandoned workers and new immigrants. The CCBA looked after the poor, ill and homeless
workers. The organization also fought racism, acted as an Ombudsman in dispute between the
Chinese and white community, and represented Chinese Canadians community before the
Canadian government. The existent of the CBA demonstrates that there was a permanent and
stable Chinese force dedicated to the aid of Chinese people in Canada.
THE HEAD TAX AND EXCLUSION ACT 1912-1947
Chinese Canadians have experienced a long history of racial discrimination in Canada. An
intense period followed the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). When the last
spike was driven, the government undertook a series of legal measures designed in both deter
and profit from Chinese immigration.
In 1885, newspapers, politicians, various labor groups, and the people of British Columbia,
pressured the government of Canada to exclude the Chinese in response, the federal government
enacted the Chinese Immigration Ac. Among many other restrictions, the "Head Tax" as it was
called by the community imposed a $50 tax on all Chinese entering Canada. After the act was
introduced, the number of immigrants drops considerably. However, the regulation proved to be
effective for only five years because, until about 1890, the trend was reversed and the number of
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immigrants increased. Fearing an "oriental invasion", the government was again pressured by
interest groups to pass legislation to controlling the entry of the Chinese. The government raised
the "head tax" to $100 in 1900 and again in 1904 to $500. At this time $ 500 was equivalent to 2
years of labor. Between 1885 and 1923, an estimated $23 millions in head tax was collected (this
is worth over $1 billion today).
After much deliberation by Ottawa and hesitation from British Columbia, the Exclusion Act was
repealed in May 1947. The repeal of the Act seemed to be the reward for Chinese service and
loyalty to Canada. It did not however give Chinese the same rights with other non-Asian
immigrants. It made it easier for the Chinese to obtain citizenship, but there were special
regulation governing Asian entry. Only the wives of Canadian citizens and their children who
were under eighteen were allowed to enter Canada from China. Up until the late 1950’s the
Chinese community continued to pressure Ottawa to allow for families to reunite. In 1949, the
age of admissible children was raised to nineteen and again to twenty one in 1950. In 1951
Chinese Canadian women was able to bring in their husband, just as men was able to bring in
their wives. Finally in 1955, the age limit of admissible children was raised to twenty-five.
Little changed in Canadian immigration policies since, until 1967, when Canada adopted a point
system for all immigrants; at last Chinese and other Asian were admitted under the same criteria
as everyone else.
On June 22, 2006, on behalf of the Government of Canada, the Prime Minister apologized in the
House of Commons for the Chinese Head Tax, to formally turn the page on an unfortunate
period in Canada’s past.The Government of Canada recognized the stigma and hardship
experienced by the Chinese-Canadian community as a result of past legislation related to the
imposition of the Chinese Head Tax. Although legally authorized at the time, the Head Tax was
inconsistent with the values Canadians hold today.
Heads Tax Certificate taken from Archives Canada.
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Source: Chinese Canadian National Council and Citizenship and Immigration Canada
INJUSTICE TOWARDS JAPANESE PEOPLE
from:(www.lib.washington)
This notice was distributed throughout British Columbia. If any Japanese were
found in the prohibited areas listed, they would be incarcerated.
With news of the attack on the American naval base at Hawaii on December 7, 1941, years
of smoldering fear and resentment against Japanese Canadians exploded into panic and
anger in British Columbia.
At the time there were about 22,000 Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, some
descendants of the first immigrants who sought work in Canada in the late 1800s. From the
beginning, these newcomers had been subject to intense discrimination by a largely white
Canadian society.
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Muriel Kitagawa, a young mother of Japanese descent, wrote to her brother Wes, a medical
student at the University of Toronto.
"We have been tempered for the anti-Japanese feeling these long years. It has only
intensified into overt acts of unthinking hoodlumism like throwing flaming torches into
rooming houses and bricks through plate glass."
Within days of the Pearl Harbor attack, Canadian Pacific Railways fired all its Japanese
workers, and most other Canadian industries followed suit. Japanese fishermen in British
Columbia were ordered to stay in port, and 1,200 fishing boats were seized by the Canadian
navy.
In Ottawa, top RCMP and military officials said fears of disloyalty and sabotage by Japanese
Canadians were unfounded. But the war had offered a convenient excuse for British
Columbians to act on entrenched anti-Asian sentiments.
Ian MacKenzie, the federal cabinet minister from British Columbia pushed the Canadian
government to take action.
"It is the government’s plan to get these people out of B.C. as fast as possible. It is my
personal intention, as long as I remain in public life, to see they never come back here. Let
our slogan be for British Columbia: ‘No Japs from the Rockies to the seas.'"
Persecution intensified on December 18th, 1941 when Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong
and killed or imprisoned most of the 2,000 Canadian soldiers defending the island.
"B.C. is falling all over itself in the scramble to be the first to kick us out from jobs and
homes ... it has just boiled down to race persecution, and signs have been posted on all
highways ... JAPS ... KEEP OUT." Muriel Kitigawa wrote to her brother. "We are tightening
our belts for the starvation to come. The diseases ... the crippling ... the twisting of our
souls ... death would be the easiest to bear."
On January 14, 1942, a 100-mile wide strip along the coast was designated a "protected
area" by the federal government and all male Japanese Canadians between the ages of 18
and 45 were to be removed from the area and taken to road camps in the interior
On March 4, 1942, all people of Japanese racial origin were told to leave the protected area.
A dusk to dawn curfew was imposed and enforced by police. Most of the Japanese with
either naturalized citizens or born in Canada.
Japanese Canadians were told to pack a single suitcase each and taken to holding areas, to
wait for trains to take them inland. Vancouver's Hastings Park was one of areas where
families waited, sometimes for months, to be relocated.
"Hundreds of women and children were squeezed into the livestock building," remembered
Yukiharu Misuyabu, an interned teenager. "Each family separated from the next by a flimsy
piece of cloth hung from the upper deck of double-decked steel bunks. The walls between
the rows of steel bunks were only five feet high, their normal use being to tether animals."
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After months in animal stalls, the Japanese-Canadians were shipped on sealed trains to the
interior Husbands and wives, parents and children were separated -- the men to work on
road gangs: women and children to shantytowns in the B.C. wilderness.
Yukiharu Misuyabu and his family went to Lemon Creek, where 2,000 Japanese lived in
shacks.
"The walls of our shack were one layer of thin wooden board covered with two-ply paper
sandwiching a flimsy layer of tar. There was no ceiling below the roof. In the winter,
moisture condensed on the inside of the cold walls and turned to ice."
In January 1943, the Canadian government succumbed to more pressure from B.C.
politicians and authorized the sale of all the properties seized from Japanese Canadians. The
homes, cars, businesses and personal property left behind were sold for a pittance. The
lives Japanese Canadians had built in Canada were erased.
Kitigawa raged against her government.
"The bitterness, the anguish is complete," wrote Kitigawa. "You, who deal in lifeless figures,
files and statistics, could never measure the depth of hurt and outrage dealt out to those of
us who love this land. It is because we are Canadians, that we protest the violation of our
birthright. "
The movement of 23,000 Japanese Canadians during the war was the largest mass exodus
in Canadian history.
After the war, the federal government decided to remove all Japanese Canadians from
British Columbia. They forced them to choose between deportation to war-ravaged Japan or
dispersal east of the Rocky Mountains. Most chose the latter, moving to Ontario, Québec
and the Prairie provinces.
Public protest would eventually stop the deportations, but not before 4,000 Japanese
Canadians left the country. On 1 April 1949, Japanese Canadians regained their freedom to
live anywhere in Canada.
Source: CBC History
STEREOTYPES AND THE MEDIA
The persistence of racist beliefs in our society is perpetuated by the role of popular culture and
media in the reinforcement of stereotypes, and the creation of images. By depicting racialized
groups in specific ways on a consistent basis, these mistaken beliefs are maintained throughout
communities of all colours and age groups. There are many well-known stereotypes that are held
about racialized groups — to the extent that they are considered common facts and not creations
of popular culture. One example is that of the “black athlete.” Through advertising, movies, and
images of professional sport, Black youth are depicted to be natural “super-athletes” in the form
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of sprinters, boxers, football players, basketball players… the list is endless, but well-known
(Jordan & Weedon 1995).
The role of popular culture in creating symbols that further perpetuate stereotypes is
phenomenal. The example of Aunt Jemima serves to illustrate how symbols are woven into
everyday culture. Aunt Jemima is depicted as a smiling Black woman, and is reminiscent of a
servant who is about to prepare pancakes for the White family she works for. Such symbols are
so intricately woven into our culture, that most people do not even notice them anymore. In the
meantime, they actively promote stereotypes (Henry et al. 2000: 316).
Popular images also create ideals for beauty and sexuality, and define ugliness. White women are
often the subject of “high art” (usually Western art) depicted as angelic and otherworldly, while
it is common to see the features of people of African descent exaggerated and made into objects
of humour in cartoons and caricatures (Jordan & Weedon 1995: 259-260). In Canada, however,
mainstream cultural institutions (including museums, art galleries, theatres, symphonies, writers’
and performers’ unions) all too often work to marginalize people of colour by defining “great
works of art” and “classics” as predominately Western or European in origin.
For the media, ideally whose role it is to relay information and educate the public about matters
of societal interest, transmitting and perpetuating cultural standards and myths has become a
principal function (Henry et al. 2000: 296). It does so through various means, one of which is the
invisibility of people of colour in the news, advertising, and programming. The Canadian Ethnocultural Council reported in 1985 that “the relative absence of minority men and women in the
Canadian media is remarkable” (CEC 1985: 92). Still in 1993, researchers looked at 2141 photos
published in six major Canadian newspapers during a random week and found that visible
minorities were depicted in only 420 images. Of those, 36% were pictures of athletes. The
media, as image-makers, hold up a false mirror to society that leads to the invisibility and
misrepresentation of people of colour. Even more damaging, however, are the resulting
stereotypes which are created of racialized groups. The table below serves to outline some of the
most typical images that are depicted of three racialized groups.
Images of Various Minority Groups
Aboriginal Peoples
Savages
Alcoholics
Uncivilized
Uncultured
Murderers
Noble
“At one with nature”
Needing a White Saviour
Victim
Dishonest
Passive
Blacks
Drug Addicts
Pimps
Prostitutes
Entertainers
Athletes
Drug dealers
Murderers
Gangster
Butlers and Maids
Savages
Primitive
Free-riders
Needing a White Saviour
Asians
Untrustworthy
Menacing
Unscrupulous
Subhuman
Submissive
Maiming
Quaint
Gangsters
Prostitutes
Fresh Off the Boat (FOB)
Indistinguishable from each
other
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A Burden on Society
Threatening or aggressive
*Source Henry, Frances et al. The Colour of Democracy: Racism in Canadian Society. Toronto: Harcourt, 2000.
Historical Profiles:
The following historical profiles are of members of racialized groups that have advocated on
behalf of racialized groups in Canada. Despite their significance, some of these historical figures
are often pushed to the fringes of history in Canada.
Chief Issap'mahkikaaw (Crowfoot)
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Crowfoot was born around 1830 near the Belly river in southern Alberta into the Blood tribe of
the Blackfoot Confederacy. As a child he was known as "Shot-Close" or "Astohkomi", however
after a raid on a Crow camp he became known as Crowfoot or "Isapo-muxika" and, later, Chief
Crowfoot of the Blackfoot Nation.
His father passed away at an early age and his mother remarried into the Blackfoot tribe.
Although he was not born into a family of chiefs, he demonstrated his leadership skills early on.
As a teenager he began to accompany older warriors on raids against enemy tribes. An astute
warrior and natural leader, Crowfoot fought in many battles and amassed a great wealth in
horses. He became a minor chief and worked to establish friendly relations with the white furtraders and missionaries. On several occasions he defended Hudson's Bay Company outposts and
missionaries such as Father Lacombe from hostile Cree attacks. By 1869, he had become one of
three head chiefs of the tribe.
A skilled diplomat, Crowfoot dedicated his life to ensuring the safety of his people. Although he
was chief only of the Blackfoot tribe, the new authorities in the west, the North West Mounted
Police, did not understand the complexities of the Blackfoot Confederacy that included the
Blood, Peigan, Northern Blackfoot tribes and their allies, the Sarcee and Gros Ventres. As a
result, white men in the area tended to place him in a position of authority that he did not in fact
occupy. He worked hard to help his people ward off the devastation of alcohol and inter-tribal
warfare and it was primarily due to his respect for the North West Mounted Police that white
settlement in Blackfoot territory occurred with little violence.
Although a favourite of the Canadian governmental officials for his diplomacy and loyalty to the
government, Crowfoot's last years were not happy. Sickened over the treatment of his people by
the government, he spent his last days travelling around Alberta and visiting old friends. Despite
his numerous wives Crowfoot only had 4 children who survived childhood, three of which were
girls. His adopted son, Cree Chief Poundmaker, died abruptly only shortly after his release from
jail in 1886. Crowfoot followed, passing away quietly on his reserve in 1890.
Source: Alberta Heritage
Louis Riel
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Born in 1844, Louis Riel was the eldest son of a prominent St. Boniface Métis family. At 14, he
was sent to Montreal to train for priesthood. By 1868, he had left school and was back in St.
Boniface supporting his recently widowed mother and siblings.
Riel found the Red River Métis distressed by Canada’s plans to annex Hudson’s Bay Company
lands. They feared losing traditional lands and livelihoods. An 1869 land survey by the
Government of Canada stirred Riel into action. He formed a militia, turned back surveyors, took
possession of Upper Fort Garry and began the Red River Resistance.
During the winter of 1869-1870, Riel, just 25 years old, formed a provisional government and
presented Canada with a Bill of Rights that, on May 12, became the Manitoba Act, 1870. Riel’s
provisional government approved it on June 24 and the act came into effect on July 15.
Unfortunately, while his provisional government negotiated with Canada during the winter of
1870, Riel allowed an agitator to be tried and executed for insubordination. Vilified in eastern
Canada for the execution, Riel feared lynching by the approaching Wolseley expedition and fled
to the U.S. in August 1870.
In following years, Riel was elected to the Canadian Parliament and denied his seat on three
occasions. In 1874, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the 1870 execution.
Within months, Riel received amnesty on the condition that he remains in exile for five years.
In 1884, Riel was raising a family and living in Montana as an American. Asked to negotiate for
Saskatchewan Métis as he had done at Red River, Riel saw opportunity to create a Métis
homeland, but Canada sent soldiers instead of negotiators. Métis resistance was defeated in the
North-West Rebellion at Batoche in May 1885. Found guilty of high treason and hanged in
Regina, Riel’s life ended November 16, 1885.
Today, Louis Riel is widely regarded as the Father of Manitoba.
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*** the previous two historical profiles seem to be a little fluffy, you may want to focus more on the
key movements these people lead … Wikipedia is actually an ok resource for this.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel)... Up to you tho
Maher Arar
Maher Arar is a 34-year-old wireless technology consultant. He was born in Syria and came to
Canada with his family at the age of 17. He became a Canadian citizen in 1991. On Sept. 26,
2002, while in transit in New York’s JFK airport when returning home from a vacation, Arar was
detained by US officials and interrogated about alleged links to al-Qaeda. Twelve days later, he
was chained, shackled and flown to Syria, where he was held in a tiny “grave-like” cell for ten
months and ten days before he was moved to a better cell in a different prison. In Syria, he was
beaten, tortured and forced to make a false confession.
During his imprisonment, Arar's wife, Monia Mazigh, campaigned relentlessly on his behalf
until he was returned to Canada in October 2003. On Jan. 28, 2004, under pressure from
Canadian human rights organizations and a growing number of citizens, the Government of
Canada announced a Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation
to Maher Arar.
On September 18, 2006, the Commissioner of the Inquiry, Justice Dennis O'Connor, cleared Arar
of all terrorism allegations, stating he was "able to say categorically that there is no evidence to
indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offence or that his activities constitute a threat to the
security of Canada."
** you may want to place these profiles in chronological order
Source: Government of Manitoba
Harriet Tubman
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Tubman was born a slave in Maryland's Dorchester County around 1820. At age five or six, she
began to work as a house servant. Seven years later she was sent to work in the fields. While she
was still in her early teens, she suffered an injury that would follow her for the rest of her life.
Always ready to stand up for someone else, Tubman blocked a doorway to protect another field
hand from an angry overseer. The overseer picked up and threw a two-pound weight at the field
hand. It fell short, striking Tubman on the head. She never fully recovered from the blow, which
subjected her to spells in which she would fall into a deep sleep.
Around 1844 she married a free black named John Tubman and took his last name. (She was
born Araminta Ross; she later changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother.) In 1849, in
fear that she, along with the other slaves on the plantation, was to be sold, Tubman resolved to
run away. She set out one night on foot. With some assistance from a friendly white woman,
Tubman was on her way. She followed the North Star by night, making her way to Pennsylvania
and soon after to Philadelphia, where she found work and saved her money. The following year
she returned to Maryland and escorted her sister and her sister's two children to freedom. She
made the dangerous trip back to the South soon after to rescue her brother and two other men.
On her third return, she went after her husband, only to find he had taken another wife.
Undeterred, she found other slaves seeking freedom and escorted them to the North.
In 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act made it dangerous for runaways to remain in the North. Harriet
made 11 trips to Canada leading more than 300 Underground Railway "passengers" to Canada.
They moved only at night, sheltering in barns, chimneys and haystacks. She allowed no dropping
out or turning back. She drew a pistol on one discouraged fugitive, saying, "Move or die." He
and the rest of the group reached Canada in safety.
Elijah McCoy
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Depending on your source, Elijah McCoy was born on either May 2, 1843 or 1844 in Colchester,
Ontario. He was the third of twelve children. His parents were runaway slaves from Kentucky
who had escaped via the Underground Railroad.
When McCoy was a child, his family returned to the United States settling near Ypsilanti,
Michigan, where his father worked in the logging industry. As a boy, Elijah showed exceptional
mechanical abilities. At the age of 15, his parents decided to send him to Edinburgh, Scotland to
pursue a Mechanical Engineering apprenticeship. This was at a time when it was difficult for
Negroes to obtain the same kind of training in the United States of America.
On his returned to the United States, McCoy realized that as qualified as he was, he could not get
a job as a mechanical engineer. The only type of job he could get was as a fire or oil man. The oil
man job led him to become interested in the problems of lubricating machinery that were in
motion. He perfected a method for over two years to steadily supply oil to machinery in
intermittent drops from a cup. McCoy eliminated the process of shutting down machinery to
lubricate them. Little did he know at that time that his name would one day become synonymous
with perfection.
During his lifetime, Elijah McCoy was awarded over 57 patents. He was known throughout the
world. His inventions were used on engines, train locomotives, on Great Lake steam ships, on
ocean liners and on machinery in factories. He patented inventions in France, Austria, Germany,
Great Britain, Russia, Canada and the United States.
32
The expression The Real McCoy probably sounds familiar. Machine buyers used to insist on
getting the real McCoy. They would not accept anything else but the inventions of McCoy.
Hence, they wanted the real McCoy. To this day, McCoy's name is still associated with
authenticity
Because of his inventions, Elijah McCoy became mechanical consultant to several firms
including the Detroit Lubricating Company. Many were not aware of his race and were often
surprised that to see that this so-called genius was a Negro. He faced racial prejudice and there
were times when his scheduled appearances were cancelled at the last moment.
McCoy left many legacies. With the exception of an Ironing Table and a Lawn Sprinkler, all of
his inventions were in the field of automatic lubrication. Today, his lubrication processes are
used in machinery such as cars, locomotives, ships, rockets and many other machinery. He is
credited with having helped modernize the industrial world with his inventions.
David Suzuki
Dr. David Takayoshi Suzuki was born on the 24th March, 1936, in Vancouver Canada. Suzuki
became famous throughout the world for his devotion to being an environmental activist and his
work as a science broadcaster.
Suzuki is a third-generation Japanese-Canadian, his paternal and maternal grandparents
immigrated to Canada at the start of the 20th century. Suzuki had quite an unpleasant experience
in his early childhood, he and his family suffered internment, when the Canadian government
declared war on Japan in 1942. His father was sent to a labour camp in Solsqua, a small town in
B.C.'s interior. Two months later their dry-cleaning business was sold by the government and
Suzuki, his mother and two sisters were sent to a camp in Slocan City, which was a few hundred
kilometers from where his father was held.
33
When the Second World War finished Suzuki and his family like so many other Japanese
Canadians were forced to move to the east of the Rockies, here they first settled in Islington, then
they moved to Leamington. The Suzuki family then moved to London, Ontario where his father
and mother began work for Suzuki Brothers Construction Company, this business was run by his
father's brothers.
Suzuki's education included Mill Street Elementary School and Grade 9 at Leamington
Secondary School, Suzuki went to London, Ontario where he attended London Central
Secondary School. In 1958 Suzuki received his B.A. from Amherst College in Massachusetts,
and in 1961 he received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Chicago.
Suzuki went to Berkeley, California to further his studies. While studying Suzuki started to back
black Americans in their fight for equal rights and at the time he had the same views and theories
as Martin Luther King Jr. He also joined the NAACP, he was the only non- black member.
Suzuki had a quite large broadcasting career. His career started in 1979, where he hosted
"The Nature of Things" which aired around fifty countries worldwide. Suzuki also hosted a
television series called "The Secret of Life". He also won an award, the United Nations
Environment Program Medal in 1985 for his hit television series "A Planet for the Taking".
Suzuki also did a four hour mini-series called "The Sacred Balance" which aired in 2001.
Suzuki has won many honours and awards these include, Canada’s most prestigious award, the
Order of Canada Officer which he won in 1976 it has been upgraded to Companion status in
2006, he was awarded the UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for science 1986 and the Order of British
Columbia in 1995 as well as numerous other Canadian and international honours. Suzuki was
nominated as one of the top 10 "Greatest Canadians" by viewers of the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation.
http://www.blackhistorysociety.ca/Braithwaite_Public.htm
Governor General Michaëlle Jean
34
Michaëlle Jean was born in Port au Prince, Haiti. She immigrated to Canada with her family in
1968, fleeing the dictatorial regime of the time.
After pursuing Masters studies in comparative literature at the University of Montreal she taught
at the Faculty of Italian Studies at the same university. Three scholarships allowed her to pursue
her studies at the University of Perugia, the University of Florence and the Catholic University of
Milan. She is fluent in five languages: French, English, Italian, Spanish and Creole.
During her studies, Ms. Jean worked for eight years with Quebec shelters for battered women,
while actively contributing to the establishment of a network of emergency shelters throughout
Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. She later ventured into journalism and became a highly
regarded journalist and anchor of information programs at Radio-Canada and CBC Newsworld.
She also took part in documentary films produced by her husband, filmmaker Jean-Daniel
Lafond, including A State of Blackness: Aimé Césaire’s Way (La manière nègre ou Aimé
Césaire, chemin faisant), Tropic North (Tropique Nord), Haiti in All Our Dreams (Haïti dans
tous nos rêves), and Last Call for Cuba (L’heure de Cuba), all of which earned awards both in
Canada and internationally. The couple have a daughter, Marie-Éden.
Ms. Jean has won numerous honours, including the Prix Mireille-Lanctôt for a report on spousal
violence; the Prix Anik for best information reporting in Canada for her investigation of the
power of money in Haitian society; and the inaugural Amnesty International Canada Journalism
Award. She has also been named to the Ordre des Chevaliers de La Pléiade, by the Assemblée
internationale des parlementaires de langue française, and has been made an honorary citizen by
the City of Montreal and the Ministère de l’Immigration et des relations avec les citoyens of
Quebec in recognition of her accomplishments in communications.
Michaëlle Jean became Canada’s 27th governor general in September 2005.
*Source: Governor General Website
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Governor General Adrienne Clarkson
Born in Hong Kong in 1939, Madame Clarkson came to Canada as a refugee with her family,
during the war in 1942. She received her early education in the Ottawa public school system and
later obtained an Honours B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from the University of
Toronto. She also did post-graduate work at the Sorbonne in France and became fluently
bilingual.
A leading figure in Canada's cultural life, Madame Clarkson had a rich and distinguished career
in broadcasting, journalism, the arts and the public service. During her career Madame Clarkson
received numerous prestigious awards both in Canada and abroad in recognition for her
outstanding contribution in professional and charitable endeavours. She was appointed an Officer
of the Order of Canada in 1992, and upon her appointment as Governor General in 1999, she
became Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada.
Madame Clarkson was the 26th Governor General of Canada from October 7, 1999 to September
27, 2005.
Source: Governor General Website
36
TOOLS:
Teachers of anti-racism education seek the following outcomes among students.
1) Positive and non-stereotypical attitudes towards cultural diversity, and a balanced view of the
importance of different cultural and racial groups, including their own.
2) Abilities to interact effectively in mixed cultural settings at schools, in the community, and in
the workplace.
3) Critical thinking skills required for recognizing bias and inequity.
4) Problem-solving strategies for counteracting prejudice and discrimination in many contexts,
including school.
5) Cultural enrichment through the arts, literature, and other forms of cultural forms of
expression.
6) Equitable levels of academic achievement among students of all ethnocultural backgrounds.
*Adapted from University of Ontario: Ontario Institute For Studies In Education
Anti-Racism Education Principles for Facilitators
As an anti-racist educator, one must be aware of their own privilege, in the case of a white
teacher facilitating a discussion on racism and oppression, its important to keep in mind the
power and privilege of white middle class Canadians. Recognizing that you’re in such a position
will be helpful in minimizing the values and ideas of ones class. The following are 10 principles
that facilitators of anti-racism and anti-oppression should keep in mind.
1. The first principle of anti-racism education recognizes the social effects of “race”, despite the
concept’s lack of scientific basis. The concept of race is central to anti-racism discourse as a tool
for community and academic political organizing for social change. There are powerful social
meanings of race which are anchored, particularly, in the lived experiences of minority groups in
white dominated societies.
2. Knowledge is produced out of a series of socio-political arrangements, such as the particular
intersections of social oppressions. Lived personal experience is central to the formulation of any
social knowledge. However we must be careful to not view lived experiences as not-to-be
37
questioned voices, while recognizing that anti-racism theory draws heavily on the lived
experiences of racialized people as a basis for intellectual inquiry.
3. The study of anti-racism knowledge is dependent on a concrete understanding of the dynamic
social order, in particular the hierarchal distribution of power and with it privilege. Thus it is
necessary to formulate an anti-racism education that recognizes these social divisions as
exclusionary measures that produce and reproduce inequality.
4. Despite its lack of scientific basis, an understanding of race as a key contributing factor of
social oppression is necessary. Although arguably social relations are organized around race, we
must also acknowledge the intersectionality of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality and
ability. Despite the fact that race is considered the primary factor within anti-racism discourse,
we must be careful not to privilege one form of oppression from another.
5. The fifth principle involves extending discussions about integrative anti-racism to include
global political economic issues. Central to this is building an understanding of how current
practices of globalization contribute to the formation of ones identity and social practices within
Canadian society. Globalization is characterized as a transnational phenomenon in which
national boundaries are broken down in-favour of a global economy, culture and knowledge
which in turn create a global hierarchal structure of power and privilege among nation states.
Therefore recognition of how globalization contributed to the changing nature of immigration
policies and face of immigrants in Canada is essential to anti-racism education.
6. This final principle outlines the methods that educators, students and activists can utilize to
alter the socially ascribed social status. This process of transformation starts with the individual
by recognizing the factors that have contributed to ones oppression or power and privilege and
incorporating such an understanding within anti-racism education. In essence an integrative antiracism approach to social change is necessary, because due to ones race, gender, class or sexual
orientation it may be easier or difficult to assess oppression or privilege within Canadian society.
* Adapted From: “Anti-Racism Education: Theory and Practice” By George J. Sefa Dei
The Role of an Effective Facilitator
The role of the facilitator in popular education is very different from that of a teacher. The
facilitator must be prepared to share leadership, to learn from participants and to help develop
thoughts or ideas they may not agree with. The facilitator of anti-racism and anti-oppression
workshops is in a tough predicament, while they are in a leadership position they are not
necessarily more knowledgeable, for they have not having been exposed to the wide range of
discriminatory or oppressive social constructs. Keeping in mind the six principles listed above as
well as the following elements will be helpful in maintain an effective facilitation.
Elements of Effective Facilitation
Elements of an Effective Space:
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Interactive
Fun
-Provide motivation
Challenge fears and stereotypes
Personal Reflection
Interest in others
Create a comfortable and open space
Open communication
Rules of presentation
Relate to participants’ lives
Time for reflection
Encourage going out on a limb-trying
something new
Create something together (Art, learning chart,
list, anything)
Non judgemental
Pass-it-off approach to discussion
Build trust
Having an open mind, be open to discussion
Non-intimidating
Facilitation as method of organization not
control
Creation of a comfortable atmosphere
appropriate body language and tone of voice
* Adapted from KWIC facilitation workshop template
WORKSHOPS
White Privilege
Purpose:
To get the white participants to feel a sense of the privileges they have within a white dominated
society and to recognize some of the inequalities that racialized people often encounter in day
to day life.
Group Size:
Individual or group workshop. This workshop is specifically aimed at Grade 11 and 12 students.
Task:
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White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports,
code books, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks. (McIntosh, 1989). The following are
examples of ways white individuals have privilege because they are white. Please read the list
and place a check next to the privileges that apply to you or that you have encountered. At the
end, try to list at least two more ways you have privilege based on your race.
___ 1. I can arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
___ 2. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed
or harassed.
___ 3. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my
race widely represented.
___ 4. When I am told about our national heritage or about .civilization,. I am shown that people
of my color made it what it is.
___ 5. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the
existence of their race.
___ 6. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a
supermarket and find the food I grew up with, into a hairdresser.s shop and find someone
who can deal with my hair.
___ 7. Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work
against the appearance of financial responsibility.
___ 8. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing, or body odor will be taken as a
reflection on my race.
___ 9. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
___ 10. I can take a job or enroll in a college with an affirmative action policy without having my
co-workers or peers assume I got it because of my race.
___ 11. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
___ 12. I can choose public accommodation with out fearing that people of my race cannot get
in
or will be mistreated.
___ 13. I am never asked to speak for all of the people of my racial group.
___ 14. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk with the .person in charge. I will be facing a
person of my race.
___ 15. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven.t
been singled out because of my race.
___ 16. I can easily by posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and
children.s magazines featuring people of my race.
___ 17. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in .flesh. color and have them more or less
match
my skin.
___ 18. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
___ 19. I can walk into a classroom and know I will not be the only member of my race.
___ 20. I can enroll in a class at college and be sure that the majority of my professors will be of
my race.
** Students should have an open discussion about their reactions to these. From previous experience
with this workshop, there is a tendency to feel “white guilt’ which is not very productive. The facilitator may
want to discuss the concept/process of decolonization, which is a life time process.
Racial privilege is only one forms of privilege. What are other examples of privilege? (e.g., privilege based
on gender, sexual orientation, class, and religion). Can you think of ways one might have privilege based
on these factors? (e.g., that you do not have to worry about being verbally or physically harassed
40
because of your sexual orientation; or you can be sure that your religious holiday will be acknowledged
and represented in store displays, classroom discussions, etc.). Please list these forms of privilege.
Blue and Brown Eyes Workshop
Tips for Facilitator:
It takes a great deal of experience to safely and productively facilitate Jane Elliott's "blue
eyes/brown eyes" exercise, so unless you have special training in diversity and/or psychology, it
is not recommended that you attempt to duplicate her experiment. You can, however, use the
film to engage students in a deep exploration of the central issues. Here are some tips that can
help ensure productive discussion:
Set ground rules for discussion. Ask students what rules would help them feel safe enough to
participate openly. Typical guidelines include: no one may interrupt someone who is speaking;
no one may use a "put down" or "slur"; yelling is off limits; people may speak for themselves ("I
think...") but may not generalize for others ("everyone agrees that...").
You'll also want to agree on strategies for how people will take turns or indicate that they want to
speak, and how you will prevent one or two people from dominating the discussion.
Make a distinction between "comfort" and "safety." It is nearly impossible for anyone to be
truly challenged or engage in deep reflection without feeling at least some discomfort. On the
other hand, honest conversation isn't possible if people feel threatened. Let students know that
it's OK for them to feel uncomfortable and make sure they feel safe. Acknowledge that talking
honestly about racism, prejudice, and discrimination is hard and applaud their willingness to
grapple with issues most people choose to avoid.
Be clear about the purpose of the discussion or activity. There are many reasons that
discussions veer off course, including a desire to shift to more comfortable topics. To keep the
group on track, make sure that everyone in the room understands the goal(s).
Talk about the difference between "dialogue" and "debate." In a debate, participants try to
convince others that they are right. In a dialogue, participants try to understand one another and
expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and actively listening to each speaker. When dealing
with sensitive issues like prejudice and discrimination, dialogue will be more productive than
debate.
Take care of yourself and group members. Discussing things like racism can open up deep
wounds. When the intensity level rises, pause to let everyone take a deep breath.
41
If your class includes students from diverse backgrounds, you might consider providing safe
space to "vent" by creating opportunities for students to do activities in segregated groups before
engaging in interracial dialogue. If you choose this strategy, be sure to provide options for people
who are bi- or multi-racial or who are not black or white.
Extend the dialogue beyond anger and guilt. It is natural for students who have been the targets
of discrimination to feel angry when the issue is raised, but if that's all they feel, their anger will
block them from engaging in productive work on the subject. Others who have experienced bias
may feel that they don't need to study the issues because they have lived them. For these two
groups of students, just talking about the consequences of racism or prejudice is probably not
enough. Challenge them to think about how they might change the status quo. Note that it is not
the exclusive responsibility of minority groups to combat prejudice -- but as part of the
community, they are inevitably part of the process. Ask them to consider the question: "What
does that next step look like to you?"
Students who have benefited from racism or discrimination, even indirectly, may react
defensively. Guilt can prevent people from acting, so it is important to state that the purpose of
addressing the issues raised in A Class Divided is not to make people feel bad. At the same time,
racism and discrimination have real consequences and it is important not to dismiss them. Help
students separate their individual behavior, for which they are totally responsible, and
institutional practice from which they may benefit but which they did not create. Encourage them
to brainstorm ways that they might use the privilege they have to combat prejudice and
discrimination.
Value people's good intentions. Sometimes people are hesitant to engage in dialogue about
racism or other kinds of prejudice because they are afraid they will unintentionally say
something that will offend. You can help students get past this fear by starting with the
assumption that it is likely that we will sometimes make mistakes. Let them know that the
mistake is not nearly as important as what they do about it when it happens. Things said in error
or ignorance are different than things said to intentionally offend, but they can still be hurtful, so
it is important to be aware of the impact of our words, to apologize when appropriate, and most
importantly, to learn from our mistakes so we don't repeat them. Engaging in some of the
activities in this guide might be a good step in that educational process.
Anti-bias work is always an ongoing process for people of all races, ethnicities, and cultural
backgrounds. No one passes a test one day and is summarily declared free from prejudice.
Remind students of how they have changed over time. Aren't there things they understand more
deeply now than they did when they were in elementary school? Encourage students to continue
to give one another the space to change. Help them rehearse how to respond to bias-related
incidents with calm and respectful challenge rather than by rushing to assigning constrictive,
negative labels like "racist."
Help students find a way to take action. Taking action is one of the best ways to combat
frustration and cynicism. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized
and optimistic, even when the discussion has been difficult. Remind students of the small
42
everyday things they can do such as not making assumptions about individuals, challenging
discriminatory comments or actions, and learning more about different religions and cultures.
Lesson Objective:
Students will be afforded the opportunity to reflect on the issues raised in the film.
Time Needed:
Flexible, but at least one full class period is recommended.
Procedure:
In a journal free-write or discussion immediately following viewing, ask students to consider any
or all of the following:
General Reactions
•
•
•
What did you learn?
What scene or scenes do you think you'll still remember a month from now and why
those scenes?
Did any part of the film surprise you? Do you think someone of a different race,
ethnicity, or religion would also find it surprising?
Following Up on the Pre-Viewing Questions
•
•
How was the exercise that Elliott designed a response to the children's question, "Why
would anyone want to murder Martin Luther King?" Did the film provide an answer to
the question? Can you answer the question?
Census categories have changed over time to reflect the complexities of American
demographics and identities. Consider how some of the following groups experience
racism differently:
o People who are bi- or multi-racial.
o People who have black skin, but are from very different places (e.g., a 13th
generation descendant of African slaves, a recent immigrant from Jamaica, a third
generation Cuban, a political refugee from Somalia, etc.).
o People "of color" who are not black (e.g., Asians, Pacific Islanders, Latino/as,
etc.)
Impact of Discrimination
•
•
What did the children's body language indicate about the impact of discrimination?
How did the negative and positive labels placed on a group become self-fulfilling
prophecies?
43
•
•
In the prison seminar, one of the white women asserts that all people face some kind of
discrimination. Another woman challenges her, claiming that whites can't really know
what it's like to face discrimination every minute of every day. What do you think?
Both Elliott and her former students talk about whether or not this exercise should be
done with all children. What do you think? If the exercise could be harmful to children,
as Elliott suggests, what do you think actual discrimination might do?
Looking at the Structures that Nurture Bias
•
•
•
What features did Elliott ascribe to the superior and inferior groups and how did those
characteristics reflect stereotypes about blacks and whites?
How did Elliott's discrimination create no-win situations for those placed in the inferior
group? How did she selectively interpret behavior to confirm the stereotypes she had
assigned?
It's easy to understand why third-graders might not refuse to obey their teacher, but when
the exercise is done with the prison guards, why don't any of the adults object?
Looking for Answers
•
•
At recess, two of the boys from different groups get in a fight. Elliott asks the one who
was teased if responding with violence made him feel better or made the teasing stop.
What does the answer suggest about the use of violence as a political strategy? At the
time, who was using violence for political purposes and why?
How is the blue eyes/brown eyes exercise related to the Sioux prayer, "Help me not judge
a person until I have walked in his shoes"?
Stereotypes Breed Prejudice
Key themes: self-awareness; stereotypes
Age group: 12 years and up
Group size: variable – the size with which the facilitator feels comfortable
MATERIALS NEEDED
_ flip charts, white board, or chalk board
_ markers or chalk
_ paper & pens/pencils for participants
BACKGROUND
“The starting point is keen awareness of our own cultural roots, biases, beliefs, and worldviews,
and our tendencies to project these views on others. When we know who we are, then we can see
others more clearly as human beings like ourselves and can appreciate the differences.”
Quote taken from The Helping Relationship, by Lawrence M. Brammer and Ginger Macdonald
44
ACTIVITY BREAKDOWN
1. The facilitator begins by asking the participants to write down 5 things they think about
themselves and 5 things they think others, or society, might think about them. The participants
should be assured that what they write down is for their eyes only. The facilitator should also
make a list, bearing in mind that theirs will be shared with the group later.
2. Once participants are finished writing their lists, ask them to put the lists aside for later.
3. The facilitator should now explain the importance of self-awareness in relation to racism. One
way to do this is to use the quote from above, particularly the second sentence. Be sure to ask if
the participants understand or have any questions pertaining to what you have just said. It might
also be beneficial to discuss whether they agree with it or not. A lot of this activity depends on
the participation of the group, so encourage them to speak freely with concerns or questions.
4. The next part of the activity involves speaking about stereotypes. Make sure all understand the
term so everyone is on the same page. To encourage discussion, the facilitator could ask
participants what they understand by the term “stereotypes.” In any case, the facilitator should be
ready to provide a definition for the group ensuring that all understand what they will be talking
about later in the workshop.
6. The facilitator then asks the participants to identify some possible stereotypes and list them on
the board. Any type of stereotype can be used. If you think the participants will be a little
hesitant to come forth with suggestions, the facilitator can start things off, preferably with
stereotypes about themselves. This will come back into use later in the activity.
7. Once a few have been listed, discuss with the group possible reasons for those stereotypes. An
example of a stereotype to use is “Aboriginal people are lazy and do not want to work.” In
reality, yes there is quite a high unemployment rate on reserves, but there are also few jobs
available. Try to open up new perspectives for participants by giving possible explanations, and
using their suggestions and ideas as well. Participants may be able to provide a wealth of insight
on certain topics, which will benefit everyone.
8. In moving onto the final part, we are changing from stereotypes to the idea of individuality.
The facilitator could ask the participants if they feel that stereotypes are representative of
individuals. Do they make sense? Would they like to have people look at them in that way or see
them for who they are? As the facilitator, it is important to mention that we should look inside
ourselves to know who we are.
9. To close the activity, the facilitator will take some time to show the group the list s/he made at
the beginning of the activity, drawing particular attention to differences between her/his list and
the stereotypes that were listed on the board earlier. The points can be expanded upon and
personalized so that the idea of individuality is emphasized to participants. In an alternative
ending, the facilitator may want to read the group a personal statement — kind of like a
monologue — that is written prior to the meeting. If the facilitator is reading her/his real selfperceptions in this way, it may be very effective in allowing others to relate. Ideally, this activity
will end in a group discussion. Depending on the group dynamics, the facilitator may choose to
45
encourage participants to share their views of their own self-perception, having gone through the
activity. (Note: If the group dynamics do not lead to comfortable discussion, the facilitator may
want to end the activity after reading her/his list or personal statement, and asking the group to
reflect on how their perspectives of themselves have been changed after engaging in the
activity.)
Institutional Racism
Purpose:
The purpose is to show how racism works through individuals, ideas and institutions and as such
we gain the understanding that we must challenge racism everywhere we encounter it.
Task:
The teacher can approach this workshop from two different paths, the first is that the teacher can
show the students the film The Little Black School House and then proceed to ask the discussion
questions. Or if viewing the film is not an option for various reasons , then proceeding to the
discussion questions works too.
Group Size:
This type of workshop works well when it involves a collection of participants or the whole
class, because the input of many people is required to formulate an understanding of how those
ideas reinforce one another.
This activity helps people to think about the connections between institutional racism, individual
acts of racism and racist ideas.
-Hand out the “when I see/hear/feel” sheet and ask people to individually fill it out their personal
experiences/ideas.
-while people are writing, draw a triangle on a flip chart or blackboard. Label the three points
“ideas”, “institutional acts” “and individual acts”
-when they’re finished writing, ask them to report back to the larger group. Arrange responses on
the flipchart/blackboard according to whether ideas, institutional acts or individual acts are being
described. Have the members of the group decide where each response belongs. The triangle
may look something like this:
Individual Acts
Racist jokes
Following someone around in a store
46
Racism not addressed
Anti-Racism Focus
(Ideas- stereotypes)
Institutional acts
Racism not addressed in the organization
Once all the responses have been arranged on the triangle, take one example and follow it
through.
*All three of these components are interrelated and serve to reinforce and support each other. All
three are necessary in order to achieve any kind of proactive and effective organizational change.
(Shaheen N Ali, Implementing the Anti-Racism Framework, 1996)
*You can see how ideas, individual acts and institutional acts of racism reinforce each other. We
have to critically examine all three, in-order to affectively challenge racism.
Class Examples
-For example, take the idea of police harassment and ask the group what idea is behind the
harassment (e.g., people of colour are all criminals).
-Ask how this idea might affect individual behaviour (e.g., people of colour are watched more
closely).
-Ask how this might affect institutional acts (e.g., people of colour end up in prison more than
others, etc).
Examples of Government Policies
Indian Act:
In 1876, the first draft of the Indian Act was passed into law. This act gave the federal
government the right to administer every aspect of the lives of Aboriginals. For example,
permission from an Indian agent was required if Native people wanted to sell crops they had
grown and harvested, or wear traditional dress off reserve. The Indian Act was also used to deny
Status Indians the vote until 1960, and their right to sit on juries.
Anti-Racism Workshop
47
Key themes: recognizing racism and discrimination; proactive anti-racism
Time: 60-90 minutes
Age group: 10 years and up
Group size: up to 20 participants
Materials Needed:
_ Flip chart paper & markers
Background:
The goal of this workshop is to get participants talking and thinking about racism and to
recognize that racism still exists in our communities — and even, sometimes, in ourselves. If we
talk about it and think about it, then we can’t ignore it and we will start to change ourselves…
and hopefully, in turn, the world. In this workshop, participants are presented with scenarios and
are asked to think of ways they should respond if ever in this situation. These scenarios allow the
group to problem-solve collectively and to prepare themselves for similar situations.
Activity Breakdown:
1. Participants, including the facilitator, should be seated in a circle so that everyone can see each
other.
2. The facilitator should introduce her/himself and explain briefly the purpose of the workshop.
3. It is important to establish the concept of “safe space” at the beginning of the workshop, for
example: “This is to be a safe space. Racism is a sensitive topic and so respecting what other
people have to say, as well as being careful with the words you choose, are important parts of
maintaining a safe space. We are not judging people, but discussing ideas — we are here to
learn.”
4. Initiate a general discussion on racism with the whole group using the following questions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is racism and who is affected by it?
Where does it come from?
What forms does it take? How does it feel? (if not already addressed above)
Do adults, or society in general, think you can make a difference right now?
What do you think?
What can we do about racism?
5. Divide participants into smaller groups of 3-4. Provide each group with flip chart paper and a
marker. Visit each group and tell them one of the following scenarios (or make up your own).
Ask each group to discuss what they should do if they were faced with this situation. Ask them
to record their solutions on the flip chart paper.
a) A new student arrives at your school in clothing that is traditional to her/his heritage or
country. People start teasing, making mean comments, and excluding the new student. How does
this make you as a bystander feel? What do you do?
b) Your class has a supply teacher. This teacher has an accent, and people start snickering and
making rude comments. How does this make you feel? What do you do?
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c) You are picking up a chocolate bar at the corner-shop and you hear a negative (derogatory)
comment about a particular group of people (for example, a religious group, an ethnic group,
etc). How does this make you feel? What do you do?
d) Your friends use language that perpetuates racism and discrimination — for example; they
keep talking about stereotypical images, even when referring to themselves (“I’m having such a
‘blond’ day today”). How does this make you feel? What do you do?
6. Bring everyone back to the original circle. Ask each small group to present their solutions to
the larger group.
Debrief and Wrap-Up:
Before wrapping up the workshop, ask participants if there are any other scenarios that they
would like to address — maybe something that they have faced, or a friend of theirs has faced, in
the past. Ask the group for possible solutions. Finish the activity by asking the group, in
discussion format, what they thought about the solutions and if they would be comfortable using
them. It is important to end by emphasizing action, reminding each participant to strive to be
agents of a racism-free future!
Diversity/Multiculturalism
Key Themes: multiculturalism; identity
Time: 45-60 minutes
Age Group: 15 years and up
Materials Needed:
_ Flipchart & markers
_ Paper & writing utensils for each participant
_ List of personal action steps to combat racism (taken from the side margins of the KIT)
prepared on flipchart or overhead (don’t forget the projector) or provide a copy for each
participant
Background:
In this activity, participants will have a debate over whether the society we live in is racist,
despite Canada’s promotion of “multiculturalism” and “multicultural values.” Much of our
behaviour is based on how we identify others and how we are identified by others. The fact that
ethnicity, religion, and culture often determine the way people are treated challenges the notion
of true multiculturalism and acceptance. The purpose of this activity is to examine these concepts
and see how they relate to the reality.
Activity Breakdown:
Part 1:
1a. Start with the participants sitting in a circle.
1b. Give them 5 minutes to put down on paper their answers to the following questions:
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•
•
•
How do you see yourself in the world?
How do you think other people see you?
What categories identify you?
1c. the facilitator should provide a definition(s) of racism (see Key Concepts) — have it written
on a flipchart or blackboard so it is visible throughout the workshop.
1d. briefly discuss with the group the concept of “race” (see Key Concepts) as a category by
which people are identified.
Part 2:
2a. Divide the group in half for a debate that will answer the question, “Do we live in a racist
society?”
2b. Provide the half that will be answering NO with some information on the multicultural and
diverse nature of Canadian society.
2c. Provide the half that will be answering YES with some information about the racism that
exists in Canada.
2d. Give the groups some time to develop their opening statements and arguments. Let each side
know that they can use the information provided as well as their own knowledge and experiences
in the debate.
2e. Have each side present their opening arguments one after the other, and then facilitate the
debate and rebuttals, being sure to give equal time to each side.
2f. Once the debate starts to slow or if it gets too heated, bring it to a close by having each side
present a concluding argument.
Debriefing and Wrap-Up:
1. Ask the group how many of them, having had the debate and listened to the issues, think we
live in a racist society. How many do not think so?
2. What are their reasons?
3. Did anyone change their minds from the opinion they had before? Why?
4. Was there anything said during the debate that really had an impact on anyone? What was it?
5. What do the participants think that a person from the future would say about racism in Canada
today?
6. What can be done to bring an end to racism?
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7. A good way to close the workshop would be to put up or handout a list of personal action
steps to combat racism at this point and let the participants read it over while music plays in the
background.
*Adapted from The Kit
Residential Schools Workshop
Type of Project:
Assignment for students in 11 and 12
Purpose:
Students will research the history of residential schools, in particular the experiences of the
children and will act out or present their experiences in a manner that promotes healing and
reconciliation.
Key Terms:
Healing: To restore to health or soundness; cure, to set right; repair: healed the rift between us, to
restore (a person) to spiritual wholeness.
Reconciliation: Reconciling of people: the ending of conflict or renewing of a friendly
relationship between disputing people or groups
Outline:
Video archives from the CBC on the Church-run, government-funded residential schools for
native children who were supposed to prepare them for life in white society. Students will
browse the topic to prepare a scenario for healing and reconciliation for the residential school
survivors. These might include role-plays, speeches, interviews, healing ceremonies, short plays,
and so on. Students should take notes to help with planning and writing their scenarios.
In groups of three or four, students will plan and write a script for a three- to five-minute
presentation of a healing and reconciliation scenario. Students can use the download sheet
Healing and Reconciliation to help shape their work. Have each group submit a draft of its
presentation and then complete any necessary revisions.
Location of Film:
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/education/topics/692/
The following table is an example of a table which the teacher should give to the students inorder for them to assign specific tasks to each group member.
Name of Group Member
Specific Duties/Due Dates
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Reflection Model:
Students of this workshop should find the following model helpful in reflecting upon the plays
put on by the groups.
Description
What happened?
Action plan
If it arose again what
would you do?
Feelings
What were you
thinking and feeling?
Conclusion
What else could you
have done?
Evaluation
What was good and
bad about the
experience?
Analysis
What sense can
you make of the
situation?
Summary:
Encourage the students write down their reactions to the projects of the other groups, whether it
was a speech, presentation or a play.
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Slavery Workshop
Purpose
This workshop will introduce students to the topic of slavery and segregation in Canada and our
societies tendency to hide Canada’s racist actions.
Group Size:
This workshop can be designed as individual work or as a class assignment, for students in grade
9 and 10.
Task:
Students will be given a handout depicting the historical nature of slavery in Canada and in
conjunction with the films The Little Black School House and Speakers for the Dead. The
students will be asked to reflect on the two films and the handout by answering the following
questions in paragraph format and handing it in to be marked.
Questions:
Using the handout and the films The Little Black School House and Speakers for the Dead,
explain the historical discrimination from “blatant racism” to institutional racism of Black
persons in Canada?
In The Little Black School House, what psychological effects did segregation have on the
children?
In The Little Black School House, why do former students and educators have mixed feeling?
In The Little Black School House, what were some of the resourceful ways that the African
Canadians got around segregation?
In The Little Black School House, what are some of concerns expressed about current schools in
Canada?
How do those concerns relate to the film Speakers for the Dead?
Exlore and provide examples of institutional racism and racial prejudice in the two films?
Handout:
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1628: Slave Boy, First Black Resident of New France
The first named enslaved African to reside in Canada was a six-year old boy, the property of Sir
David Kirke.
1 May 1689: Louis XIV Gives Slavery Limited Approval in New France
King Louis XIV of France gave limited permission for the colonists of New France to keep
Black and Pawnee Indians slaves.
1709: Louis XIV Formally Authorizes Slavery in New France
King Louis XIV formally authorized slavery in 1709, when he permitted his Canadian subjects
to own slaves, "in full proprietorship." There were fewer slave-owners in New France than in the
neighbouring English colonies, and few French colonists openly questioned the long-standing
practice.
Spring 1734: Angélique Tortured and Hanged
Marie-Joseph Angélique allegedly set fire to her master's house and destroyed nearly 50 homes.
She was tortured and hanged as an object lesson for all Blacks.
1760: Provisions for Preserving Slave Ownership in Articles of Capitulation
When the British conquered New France in 1760, the Articles of Capitulation stated that Blacks
and Pawnee Indians would remain slaves.
1776 : "Free Negroes" Reach Nova Scotia
Canada developed a reputation as a safe haven for Blacks during the American Revolution,
1775-1783. The British promised land, freedom and rights to slaves and free Blacks in exchange
for services rendered. Some of the Black Loyalists to reach Nova Scotia belonged to the
"Company of Negroes," who left Boston with British troops.
26-27 July 1784: Canada's First Race-Riot Rocks Birchtown
After the Revolutionary War, the "Black Pioneers" were among the first settlers in Shelburne,
Nova Scotia. They helped build the new settlement. On its fringes they established their own
community, "Birchtown." When hundreds of White, disbanded soldiers were forced to accept
work at rates competitive with their Black neighbours the ensuing hostility caused a riot.
*Adapted form Black History Canada
Unresolved Land Claims Workshop
Purpose:
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The purpose of this workshop is to help the participants understand the spiritual connection
between aboriginal culture and the land. In addition to look how the current inequalities facing
them such as high unemployment rates and sub-standard living conditions necessitate the need to
hastily resolve Aboriginal land claims.
Task:
Students will view the film Kanehsatake 270 Years of Resistance in class, if the participant feels
it’s too long, I’ve provided a few clips from the CBC archive that can be shown in class. Once
the students have viewed the film or the videos, the students are then given the research
questions as a homework assignment, in which they will provide a paragraph long answer to
each question.
Group Task:
This workshop will work well as an individual project for students in grade 11 or 12, due to the
amount of research required for the students to form a position on Aboriginal rights with regards
to land claims.
Research Questions:
1. What Aboriginal traditions exist concerning the use of and interaction with the land?
2. In what ways are Aboriginal peoples trying to recover their traditional connections with
the land?
3. What impediments exist concerning Aboriginal efforts to reclaim their traditional
connections with the land? Which impediments come from within Aboriginal culture?
Which come from outside it?
4. What impact has industry had on the land claimed by the Aboriginal peoples?
5. Why do Aboriginal land claims tend to be disputed over?
Racialization of Poverty
Purpose:
This workshop is designed for high school students in grade 11 or 12. The purpose of this
workshop will be to get the participants to fully understand the mechanisms at work in the
racialization of poverty (institutional racism) , meaning the disproportionate experiences of
poverty among racialized persons compared with non-racialized or white persons.
Task:
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The class will view the Stolen From Africville film in class to highlight the lack of accountability
on the part of the government which is a key contributing factor to institutional racism. After
watching the film, ask the students what contributed to the establishment and eventual
destruction of Africville. The students should be able to list
Group Size:
Can be assigned as a homework project for individuals or the article can be handed out to
students who then will work through the questionnaires on their own or in groups over the
course of one class or as a homework assignment.
Darker the skin, less you fit http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/634117
Crunching thousands of numbers from 41,666 people interviewed in nine languages, the justpublished study found skin colour – not religion, not income – was the biggest barrier to
immigrants feeling they belonged here. And the darker the skin, the greater the alienation.
"We were surprised that religion didn't have more effect," said lead author Jeffrey Reitz. "It came
down to race, with Asian people reporting some and with young black males the most
stigmatized. The data is consistent with that.
"We tend to believe racism is a minor problem in Canada, of little consequence. Someone looked
at them funny. Or that many immigrants are doing well, so it must be their fault if they aren't.
There is a reluctance to investigate the issue."
The University of Toronto professor of ethnic, immigration and pluralism studies added that a
lack of trust was also higher among the successful, Canadian-born, Canadian-educated children
of visible minority immigrants.
The study found:
The more discrimination someone faced, the more they were likely to identify with their ethnic
group, rather than as Canadian.
Visible minorities identified themselves much more strongly by their ethnic origin through the
second, third and fourth generations.
While 65 per cent of recent black immigrants, 70 per cent of South Asians and 52 per cent of
Chinese felt they belonged in Canada, those numbers dropped to 37 per cent, 50 per cent and 44
per cent in the second generation.
A third of Chinese, South Asians, Filipino and Southeast Asians reported discrimination; half of
blacks did and 40 per cent of Koreans and Japanese did. In fact, a schoolyard fight in Keswick
that made national news involved a Korean boy retaliating for a racial slur.
Discrimination was most common in applying for jobs and at work; a store, bank or restaurant
were the next most frequent.
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Discussion Questions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Who settled in Africville, and why did they do so?
How were the residents treated by the municipality of Nova Scotia?
What were the reasons for the eviction of the residents?
How do former residents of Africville characterize their former community?
What are some of the barriers that racialized people face in finding employment?
Using Africville as an example how do systemic racism (institutional) and prejudice
within society continue and often exasperate the economic inequalities facing
racialized groups?
Tips/Wrap-Up:
The above stated discussion questions are meant as a guide to facilitate a discussion around the
topic institutional racism and the different components of it. The facilitator should encourage the
participants to identify practices or policies which they recognize to be institutional racism.
Arab Canadian
Purpose:
The purpose of this workshop is to help the students understand how stereotypes and government
policies stemming from fear lead to discrimination. Although this workshop can be edited to fit
various grades, as it is right now, it is designed for students in grade 8 and 9.
Task:
Students will be asked to form a single line in the classroom. They are asked to get their coats
and bags together and split to the four corners of the room. The other students sit back on their
chairs and observe the lesson. The teacher plays the role of the interrogator and asks questions;
What’s you name? Spell it.
Where were you born?
Where do you live?
What are your parents’ names?
How many siblings do you have?
Empty the contents of your bag and pockets?
Empty the contents of your bag. Each item from the bag is quizzed i.e. where did you buy this
drink, crisp packet, pencil case etc. (the pupils get frustrated with their answers and start
stumbling. You pick up on their fears. They are then asked to leave the room. The remaining
students are told why they were chosen e.g. because they have blonde hair, and you discuss
stereotypes. You ask the class what does a Muslim look like and what are their stereotypes.
Should we judge people by the way they look or by their personalities? The four are let back into
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the class; three are discharged whilst one is asked to go outside. When he/she arrives, more
questions are asked. Finally we stop the exercise and ask the pupil how he/she feels and the
remaining three on how they feel. They share their thoughts and ideas. The four are then asked to
read and article on the computer and discuss their empathy towards the article. The whole class
discusses their perception of stereotype and how they stereotype Muslims and others or if they
have been victims of such discrimination.
Source: University of Edinborough, School of Education
Japanese Internment Camps Workshop
Purpose:
The purpose of this workshop is to highlight how often fear translates into hate and how these
two concepts manifest themselves in the institutionalization of racist policies. Following the
events of December 7th, 1947 at Pearl Harbor, people of Japanese origin were sent to internment
camps or deported, all the while being subjected to violence. Following the events of September
11th, 2001Arab Canadians, Muslims in general and South Asians, who were thought to be
Muslims by virtue of wearing a turban, were among the secondary victims of the attacks on
September 11th. Hate crimes, discrimination, and public hostility were commonplace in the
following weeks. Overall
Group Size:
This assignment is best suited for grade 9 through 12 students. This can be done individually or
as a group assignment.
Task:
The students will watch the following video clips from the CBC
archives:http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/second_world_war/topics/568-2927/ , Also the
students will watch the DVD “Sedition”.
-The Long Journey Home – 00:09: 15
-Joy Kogawa’s Internment Experience- 00:07:45
-Redress Opposition – 00:01:55
Discussion Questions on the Japanese internment camps:
•
•
What was the catalyst of the internment of Japanese Canadians?
How were Japanese Canadians viewed by the public?
58
•
•
How were the hostility and fear towards Japanese persons instrumental in the creation of
the internment camps?
How many Japanese persons were affected by the government’s actions?
Discussion Questions on the film Sedition:
•
In Sedition, Rafeet Ziadah explains the difficulties of living in a Canada without
documents. Using her live as an example how have the lives of Arabs been further
complicated by the events of September the 11th, 2001?
•
Why was Boona Mohammed denied the opportunity to address the United Nations? What
factors do you think contributed to the refusal?
Wrap-up:
The facilitator should always direct the discussions on how public opinion, out of fear and
ignorance contribute to the institutionalizing policies that are directed at a specific groups people.
Chinese Head Tax and Redress Workshop
Key Terms:
Head Tax: Mean to discourage Chinese persons from entering Canada after the completion of
Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment will be to identify and reflect upon blatant institutional racism,
discrimination and exploitation of Chinese persons through Canada’s immigration policies and
social prejudices.
For this workshop students are only required to watch the first two clips, but should watch the
other two if time permits or as a homework assignment, at which point they can access the clips
online.
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/immigration/topics/1433/
1. “Not Welcome Anymore” -5Minutes and 48 seconds
2. “How Prevalent is prejudice”- 3 Minutes
3. “Demanding Justice” – 2 Minutes and 20 seconds
4. “The Personal Impact of Racism”- 1 Minutes and 53 seconds
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Task:
The students will have to find examples of racism, discrimination and discrimination against
Chinese persons in the late 1800’s and mid 1900’s. Throughout watching the clips, have the
students write down examples of racism and discrimination towards Chinese immigrants to
Canada. Provide the students with a handout of a paper which they can fill in their answers.
Example of Handout:
Examples of Discrimination
Examples of Exploitation
Examples of Racism
Before the students begin their research or view the video clips, the facilitator should brainstorm
with the students on racism, discrimination and exploitation within Canadian policies such as
Immigration laws and regulations. To facilitate this discussion write down the following
definitions of refer of racism, discrimination and exploitation on the blackboard or a chart.
Racism: Refers to a set of beliefs that asserts the superiority of one racial group over another (at
the individual as well as institutional level), and through which individuals or groups of people
exercise power that abuses or disadvantages others on the basis of skin colour and racial or
ethnic heritage.
Discrimination: Unfavorable treatment (and/or denial of equal treatment) — whether intentional
or not — of individuals or groups because of their race, gender, religion, ethnicity, disability,
class, ancestry, place of origin, colour, citizenship, sexual orientation, age, or marital status.
Exploitation: Utilization of another person or group for selfish purposes
Gather to create a class chart of students’ findings. Invite students to share their opinions about
the level of fairness or unfairness demonstrated by the Canadian government during this period.
Ask students to name the main factors that perpetuated the practices of treating Chinese
immigrants unfairly, and to consider what might happen in today’s Canadian society if a group
of people was treated similarly.
•
•
Also, the class should discuss ways in which the Chinese- Canadian might want to now
deal with this past injustice.
After charting or identifying several possible ways, inform the class of the redress
campaign. There is a handout which describes the redress campaign by the ChineseCanadian community.
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Wrap-Up:
If the facilitator wishes to assign this workshop as an individual homework assignment or group
project it will work well because the video clips are online on the CBC archives page. If its not
possible to show those clips in class or in a computer lab, the facilitator can show the following
film in class and have the participants answer the following discussion questions either on paper
or answer as a class on the blackboard.
Purpose:
This film entitled The Shadow of Gold Mountain deals with the exclusionary treatment of
Chinese Canadians at the hands of the Canadian government as well as society at large. This
workshop that is based primarily on the discussion questions is designed so as to raise awareness
about the hardships that encountered Chinese Canadians, but also does a good job bringing to the
forefront some of the obstacles that often new immigrants face, including racism, stereotyping,
prejudice and systemic discrimination.
Group Size:
This workshop can be used to educate students in high school, grade 9 though grade 12. It can be
done either individually or as a group project, 2 or 3 students per group.
Task:
Students will answer a series of questions prior to the screening of the film, and following the
screening.
Before Screening the Video
1. Have you ever experienced a situation where someone is excluded from a group because he or
she is different? How did you react?
2. Why has gold been considered so valuable for such a long time?
3. Telephones, airplanes and the Internet allow people to stay in touch with each other even if
they’re thousands of kilometers away. Imagine what it would be like to leave your family for
many years and only be able to contact them by writing a letter. For many Chinese immigrants
who were illiterate, it was not even that simple. They had to dictate their messages to a scribe.
4. Did you immigrate to Canada? Talk about your experiences with the class. If you were born
here, do you have a parent or grandparent who immigrated to this country? Talk to him or her
and find out what it was like to move here.
5. There were very few Chinese Canadian university graduates before the 1950s. What could
have been possible reasons for that?
61
6. Think of the last movie or TV show you saw that portrayed Chinese people. What types of
jobs did they do? Did you find the portrayal realistic or more stereotypical?
7.What do you think are some of the reasons there are more immigrants from a wider range of
countries coming to Canada now than, say, 100 years ago?
After Screening the Video
1. Why did the owners of the Canadian Pacific Railway hire so many Chinese men to help build
the railway?
2. What do you think it was like for Chinese women who could not join their husbands in
Canada when the Chinese Immigration Act was passed in 1923?
4. How did the Chinese Immigration Act affect young Chinese Canadian men, particularly
during the 1920s and 1930s?
4. What would you have done if you were told that you couldn’t enter university, use a public
pool or join certain clubs because of your background?
5. Why did Chinese Canadians tend to live near each other in different cities in Canada—areas
known as Chinatown?
6. The film includes negative comments from several politicians in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries about Chinese workers. Would you expect politicians today to make comments like
this?
7. Do you think it was a good idea for some Chinese Canadians to volunteer to fight for their
country in the Second World War, even though many were sons of men who had paid a head tax
to enter Canada?
8. One of the techniques that the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) has used to gain
momentum for people seeking redress for the head tax is rallies at Parliament Hill in Ottawa
where people gather with placards to protest. Can you think of other ideas that would draw the
attention of Canadians to their campaign?
9. Can you think of other groups of Canadian immigrants who suffer as a result of stereotyping
today? What lessons can we learn from the treatment Chinese immigrants received?
*Adapted from the National Film Board Educational Resource website
Wrap-up/Tips:
The students will be more inclined to answer the questions as honest as possible if they think
they will be handing it in, however the teacher does not have to collect the questions afterwards
due to the personal nature of the questions and wide variety of answer that can be provided.
62
Instead taking the questions up together as a class, where the teacher provides his or her own
experiences in relation to some of the answers given would be a good method.
Recommended Online Workshops
1.Students work individually or in groups to map out routes that slaves who would have escaped
in the U.S follow to get to safe houses and eventually into Canada. Very engaging and
suspenseful, dangerous of running away, students are asked if they really want to escape and are
tested every step of the way, to fully appreciate the dangerous risk that the slaves were willing to
take.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j8.html
2.Math class activity, bring in a map of the underground railroad-with the locations of dangerous
obstacles plotted and have the students sketch out a safe route into a safe house in Canada (gr7/8
activity.) Provide the teacher with a list of prevalent stereotypes that are attributed Aboriginals,
Blacks, Asians and Middle Eastern people.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
RESOURCES
*** It may be good to examples/resources for students who would like to start
some activism within their own schools. Here’s one resources
http://www.youthactionnetwork.org/yan-e-resources/
Key Words
subordination, hierarchy, ideology
Anti-Oppression:
Strategies, theories and actions that challenge socially and historically built inequalities and
injustices that is ingrained in our systems and institutions by policies and practices that allow
certain groups to dominate over other groups.
Anti-Racism:
63
An active and consistent process of change to eliminate individual, institutional and systemic
racism as well as the oppression and injustice racism causes.
Colonialism:
A political-economic phenomenon whereby various European nations explored, conquered,
settled, and exploited large areas of the world. Also refers to a specific era of European
expansion into overseas territories between the 16th and 21st centuries during which European
states established settlements in distant territories and achieved economic, military, political, and
cultural hegemony in much of Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Culture:
The aspects of individual and group identities that can include: language; race; religion;
ethnicity; experience of migration/immigration; social class structure; social norms; behavioural
patterns; political affiliations; family influences; attitudes to different age groups; attitudes
toward sexual orientation.
Discrimination:
Unfavorable treatment (and/or denial of equal treatment) — whether intentional or not — of
individuals or groups because of their race, gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, class, ancestry,
place of origin, colour, citizenship, sexual orientation, age, or marital status. Discrimination may
arise as a result of direct differential treatment or it may result from the unequal effect of treating
individuals and groups in the same way. Either way, if the effect of the behaviour on the
individual is to withhold or limit full, equal, and meaningful access to goods, services, facilities,
employment, housing, etc, available to other members of society, it is discrimination.
Employment Equity:
A policy that promotes the achievement of equal employment opportunities in the workplace for
all Canadians. Employment equity means employment practices must support the full
participation of groups which have historically been excluded or underrepresented, such as
Aboriginal persons, women, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities, so that the
workforce is representative of the population. Many of the historical injustices have a “hangover” effect. For example, if a certain racial minority has never been allowed in management
positions, what good is it to simply “open the doors” to them when management experience is
required to be hired? A more pro-active approach is required.
Ethnocentrism:
The tendency to judge all other cultures by the norms and standards of one’s own culture. It can
be the feeling that your own cultural traditions and values are somehow better than others; and,
assuming that what is true of your culture is also true of others. Eurocentrism refers to a complex
system of beliefs that upholds the supremacy of Europe’s cultural values, ideas, and peoples.
Ethnocide is the act or attempt to systematically destroy another people’s ethnicity or culture.
The legalized “kidnapping” of Aboriginal children so that they could be educated as
“Europeanized” Canadians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries is an example of
ethnocide.
Exploitation:
Utilization of another person or group for selfish purposes
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First Nations:
The term First Nations came into common usage in the 1970s to replace band or Indian, which
some people found offensive (see Indian). Despite its widespread use, there is no legal definition
for this term in Canada. First Nations People - Many people prefer to be called First Nations or
First Nations People instead of Indians. The term is not a synonym for Aboriginal Peoples
because it doesn't include Inuit or Métis. The term First Nations People generally applies to both
Status and Non-Status Indians.
Ideology:
A set of doctrines or beliefs that form the basis of a political, economic, or other system.
Immigration:
The movement of people into another nation with the intention of residing there permanently.
Immigration is a worldwide phenomenon. From the 17th century to the 19th century, millions of
Europeans migrated to North and South America, eastern and southern Africa, Australia, and
Asia. Many of these immigrants resettled in colonies established by their home countries (see
Colonialism). Most modern immigrants are motivated to relocate far from their original homes
by the desire to improve their economic situation. Such people, known as economic immigrants,
resettle in other countries in search of jobs, farmland, or business opportunities. (See also
Refugees)
Inuit:
Inuit are the Aboriginal People of Arctic Canada. Inuit live primarily in the Northwest
Territories, Nunavut and northern parts of Quebec and throughout most of Labrador.
They have traditionally lived north of the tree line in the area bordered by the Mackenzie
Delta in the west, the Labrador coast in the east, the southern point of Hudson Bay in the south,
and the High Arctic islands in the north. The word Inuit means "the people" in
Inuktitut and is the term by which Inuit refer to themselves.
Indigenous:
Can be used to describe particular ethnic groups originating and remaining in a particular region.
The United Nations uses the idea of “indigenous groups” to obtain rights for Aboriginal
Canadians and other groups whose situation has suffered from invading colonists.
Internalized Oppression:
Members of the oppressed group are emotionally, physically, and spiritually battered to the point
that they actually believe that their oppression is deserved, is their lot in life, is natural and right,
or that it doesn’t even exist. The oppression begins to feel comfortable.
Métis:
The word Métis is French for "mixed blood." The Constitution Act of 1982 recognizes Métis as
one of the three Aboriginal Peoples. Historically, the term Métis applied to the children of
French fur traders and Cree women in the Prairies, of English and Scottish traders and Dene
women in the north, and Inuit and British in Newfoundland and Labrador. Today, the term is
used broadly to describe people with mixed First Nations and European ancestry who identify
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themselves as Métis. Note that Métis organizations in Canada have differing criteria about who
qualifies as a Métis person.
Minority Group/Visible Minority:
A term that describes particular groups who, because they are visually distinctive from the
majority group, have little political power. Sociologically, the concept ‘minority group’ does not
refer to demographic numbers but is used for any group that is disadvantaged, underprivileged,
excluded, discriminated against, or exploited. In this context, a minority as a collective group
occupies a subordinate status in society. Women, Aboriginal persons, people of colour, and
persons with disabilities are considered minority groups. Dominant or majority group refers to
the group of people in a given society that is largest in number or that successfully shapes or
controls other groups through social, economic, cultural, political, or religious power. In Canada
the term has generally referred to White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant males.
Multiculturalism:
An ideology that holds that racial, cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity is an integral,
beneficial, and necessary part of Canadian society and identity. It is an official policy operating
in various social institutions and levels of government, including the federal government.
Prejudice:
A body of unfounded opinions or attitudes relating to an individual or group that represents them
in a specific light. It is an opinion or judgement (usually negative) based on irrelevant
considerations or inadequate knowledge. Prejudice often leads to discrimination.
Race:
All human beings belong to one species: Homo Sapiens. The concept of race stems from the idea
that the human species can be naturally subdivided into biologically distinct groups. Race has
been used to describe people who were classified together on the basis of genetic or physical
similarities — such as skin colour, shape of eyes, hair texture — and were also frequently
thought to share cultural and social traits. In practice, however, scientists have found it
impossible to separate humans into clearly defined races and most scientists today reject the
concept of biological race. Nevertheless, race persists as a powerful social, cultural, and
historical concept used to categorize people based on perceived differences in physical
appearance, and behaviour. Some have felt that it is necessary to put the word into inverted
commas in order to make it clear that these are social distinctions being referred to rather than
biological ones, and to distance themselves from the original meaning of the term. A racialized
minority group can be defined by examining the relationship between that group and the majority
society. If the relationship is one of subordination enforced by the perception of racial difference,
the group is racially subordinated.
Racism:
Refers to a set of beliefs that asserts the superiority of one racial group over another (at the
individual as well as institutional level), and through which individuals or groups of people
exercise power that abuses or disadvantages others on the basis of skin colour and racial or
ethnic heritage. At the same time, discriminatory practices protect and maintain the advantageous
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position of the dominant group(s). The term racism is useful as a shorthand way of categorizing
the systematic mistreatment experienced by people of colour, but should not mislead us into
supposing that human beings belong to biologically different species. Systemic racism is
institutionalized discrimination. For example, hiring and promotion procedures or entrance
requirements may have the effect of excluding various racial groups and supporting members of
the dominant group.
Refugees:
Refers to uprooted, homeless, involuntary migrants who have crossed a frontier and no longer
possesses the protection of his former government. Prior to the 19th century the movement from
one country to another did not require passports and visas; the right to asylum was commonly
recognized and honoured. Although there have been numerous waves of refugees throughout
history, there was no refugee problem until the emergence of fixed and closed state frontiers in
the late 19th century. By the 1920s and ’30s the tradition of political asylum had deteriorated
considerably, partly because of growing insensitivity to human suffering and partly because of
unprecedented numbers of refugees.
Stereotypes:
Generally speaking, stereotyping refers to mental images which organize and simplify the world
into categories on the basis of common properties. When used in reference to race, stereotyping
means forming an instant or fixed understanding of a group of people: for example, ‘Asians are
smart’ or ‘Blacks are good athletes.’ While stereotyping is a basic cognitive strategy used to
reduce the amount of diversity to manageable proportions (and/or to simplify decision-making),
often stereotyping gives rise to discrimination and racist behaviour.
Subordination:
Subject to the authority or control of another.
Volunteer/Involvement Opportunities
Community Race Relation Committee
The aim of the Community and Race Relations Committee of Peterborough (CRRC) is to
promote positive race relations in Peterborough. In addition to enriching our community,
your volunteerism will also make you a CRRC member.
205 Sherbrooke Street, Unit D,
Peterborough, Ontario
K9J 2N2
Email. [email protected]
Tel. 705-742-9658
Fax. 705-743-6219
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New Canadian Centre
Provides new Canadians with settlement services, immigration support and employment
counseling
205 Sherbrooke St
Peterborough Ontario
K9J 2N2
705-743-0882
Ontario Public Interest Research Group
Established in 1976, OPIRG Peterborough is a campus-based, community-oriented, non-profit
organization committed to research, education and action on social justice and environmental
issues. Each year, OPIRG staff and volunteers organize speakers, films, conferences,
publications and campaigns on a wide variety of topics that fit within our mandate. We also offer
skills development workshops and research-for-credit opportunities.
751 George St. North
Peterborough
Ontario
Canada
K9H 7P5
Tel: (705) 741-1208
Fax: (705) 745-3534
Resources
Films/Video Clips and Literature
-BBC two part series on Racism and its impact.
www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/.../racism-history.shtml
-Racism Ruins Lives DVD, available at the CRRC
The DVD comes with an additional resource of outlined key message for debate in the classroom
in order to challenge attitudes in a "safe" environment and discuss potential positive options.
-Stolen Africville
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www.stolenfromafricville.com
-Sedition – Available at CRRC
-Little Black House – Available at CRRC
-Speakers for the Dead – Available at CRRC
-In the Shadow of Gold Mountain
-Two Worlds Colliding
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=51081
CBC Archives Chinese Canadians
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/immigration/topics/1433/
1. “Not Welcome Anymore”
2. “How Prevalent is prejudice”
3. “Demanding Justice”
4. “The Personal Impact of Racism”
CBC Archives Japanese Canadians
http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/second_world_war/topics/568-2927/
-The Long Journey Home – 00:09: 15
-Joy Kogawa’s Internment Experience- 00:07:45
-Redress Opposition – 00:01:55
Land Claims Films
-Kanehsatake, 270 Years of Resistance:
http://www.nfb.ca/film/kanehsatake_270_years_of_resistance/
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-The Eye of The Storm
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=33403
Residential Schools
Stolen Children: CBC Video
http://www.cbclearning.ca/CBCEDS/shopping/product.aspx?CatalogName=CBCEDSBase&Cat
egoryName=native_aboriginal_studies_all_native_aboriginal_studies_titles&Product_ID=Y8Q08-02&Variant_ID=Y8Q-08-02-010101
Literature:
AliBhai, Yasmin & Brown, Colin. Racism. Hove England: Wayland, 1991. (11,12)
This series aims to help teenagers make up their own minds on some of the most controversial
contemporary issues around the world. The arguments on different sides of each issue are
illustrated by means of quotations taken from a variety of different sources - government
statistics, independent experts, public figures and people with personal experience of the subject.
Readers are guided through the arguments by a running narrative that introduces the s and their
sources and endeavors’ to put them into context. Facts and statistics on each subject are featured
in information boxes throughout. Questions at the end of each chapter focus the reader's attention
on the key areas of debate, and the series is intended as useful resource material for current
affairs, history, politics and social studies courses. Focusing on racism, this book explores its
roots, its modern context and its effect on people's lives. The authors use quotes from both
victims and perpetrators of racist attacks.
The Hanging Of Angelique: The Untold Story Of Canadian Slavery And The Burning Of
Old Montreal
By Afua Cooper
Afua Cooper's book represents a major contribution to Canadian history in both the academic
and popular realms. As rigorous scholarly research, Cooper examines trial transcripts, private
letters, and other New World correspondence to produce an academic coup. Her book offers a
new perspective on Canadian slavery, altering the image of ourselves as benign: "Slavery was as
Canadian as it was American or West Indian." As a dramatic re-telling of one slave woman's life
of oppression, The Hanging of Angelique reaffirms and extends the feminist slogan that the
personal is political. For blacks and Aboriginals in the New World, the reverse was no less true
as race and skin colour were used to justify the domination of others - the political was indeed
personal:
Jared Diamond, “Guns, Germs and Steel”
Along with dismantling racism and with it the stereotypes and assumptions that spawned racist
ideologies, also Diamond historicizes European hegemony. Through his multi-disciplinary take
70
on the topic of racism, Diamond asserts that geography was the determinant factor for skin
colour and cultural differences.
Hays, Scott. Racism. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1994.
Whether readers have been the victims of hate crimes, the targets of racial slurs, or the
perpetrators of such crimes, this volume will help them better understand the causes and realities
of racism as it exists in everyday life.
Dei, George. Theory and Practice: Anti-Racism Education. Toronto: Fernwood Books Ltd,
2003.
This book analyses the prevalent methods and theories that have been used in anti-racism
education. Finding that most of the theoretical ways of approaching anti-racism are not working
or lack aspects of contemporary issues, Dei proposes that an anti-racism facilitator include
understand the intersectionality of race, gender and class if we are to address social justice and
have any meaningful affects.
Anne Milan et al. , "Blacks in Canada: A long history ." Statistics Canada 2004 Web.7 Jul 2009.
<http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=11-008-X20030046802=eng>.
This report, traces the history of blacks in Canada, starting in the early 15 century. It also briefly
discusses some of the discriminatory legal measures enacted by Canada on a national and local
scale in-order to subordinate blacks, Aboriginals, and Asians.
Bibliography
• Langone, John. Spreading Poison: A book about racism and Prejudice. Toronto: Little Brown
and Company, 1993.
• Rick Arnold et al. , Educating for Change. Toronto: 1991.
• Bishop, Anne. Beyond Token Change: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression in Institutions.
Toronto: Fernwood Publishing Co., 2005.
• Boal, Auguto. Games for Actors and Non-Actor. 2nd. Routledge, 2002. Digital.
• Curry-stevens, Anne. , An Educators guide to changing the world: Methods, Models and
Materials for Anti-oppression and social justice workshops. Toronto: CSJ, Print.
• Dei, George. Theory and Practice: Anti-Racism Education. Toronto: Fernwood Books Ltd,
2003.
71
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