The Black Experience The Difference Between Racism in the US and Racism in Canada

1. The Black Experience: The Difference Between Racism in the US and Racism in Canada If you’ve ever wondered about the differences between racism in the US and in Canada, you’ll want to read this post. While racism has not reached the volatile level here in the north that it has in America, the potential is there. And meanwhile, Canadian racism is exacting a heavy tariff on Black people and others of colour, as well as on Canadian society overall. How is racism in the US demonstrated? Racism has been present in the United States since the nation’s earliest settlers. Indigenous people were displaced and killed to pave the way for white founders, not just in the original colonies in the 17th century but as the country grew and moved west. Expansion towards the Pacific coast was considered part of America’s “Manifest Destiny,” a policy of claiming and settling new territories as “divine right,” which continued for generations. www.toughconvos.com

2. The US was also founded on chattel slavery, with many of its founders owning slaves taken from their homes in Africa, including early presidents and framers of the Constitution. In fact, European settlements in parts of the US, such as St. Augustine, Florida, used slaves as early as 1565. American Indians were also enslaved by some of the first settlers, prior to the nation achieving sovereign status. Slavery was legal in the United States until 1865, when it was abolished by the 13th Amendment. However, the racism that allowed for Black human beings to be owned, sold, and abused by whites has persisted to the present day. Fast forward 100 years from President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation that declared all slaves free during the American Civil War. In some ways, the Black experience in America retained many remnants of slave days. Because Reconstruction was handled so poorly after the Civil War, leaving states to develop and enforce their own policies about race, regardless of constitutional amendments to the contrary, Jim Crow laws existed that perpetuated second-class citizen status for Black people and reinforced racial segregation. Black citizens of the United States were still fighting for integration and suffrage as late as the 1960s. Although some progress was eventually made, and Black people were given the right to vote as well as to share schools and public transportation equally with whites, anti-Black racism is still a prominent societal problem, particularly since there has been an open turn towards hard right politics. Examples of modern-day racism and its consequences include: Voter suppression through gerrymandering, removal of polling places in minority areas, and harsh voting ID laws Banning the teaching of critical race theory (CRT), which includes mention of white supremacy and contemporary anti-Black racism An uptick in racial profiling and often unpunished open police brutality, including during the supposedly protected practice of public peaceful protest Disproportionate resources for schools, healthcare, and emergency economic aid, made especially obvious during the recent pandemic High rates of African American maternal and infant mortality Disparity between Black and white incarcerated individuals, particularly among young Black males Underrepresentation of Black people in management and other high-paying jobs, as well as in all levels of government Lower per capita income among Black households and greater wealth disparity with whites www.toughconvos.com

3. Is racism in Canada different than in the US? Economic discrimination isn’t just limited to the United States. It runs rampant in its neighbour to the north as well. Although residents of Canada do not experience some of the more egregious aspects of anti-Black racism that Americans do, racism is definitely present nationwide. When looking at lists of the least racist countries in the world, Canada often comes out near the top, along with New Zealand, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Nordic nations like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. However, when it comes to eliminating less overt forms of racism, Canada still has a long way to go. Given its history of chattel slavery and genocide of Indigenous People that mirrors the USA, why then is Canada not as openly or violently racist as the US? Canadian laws against discrimination and hate speech are more stringent. Abuse of police power is not as easily tolerated as it is to the south. Crime in general is more under control, and public spaces are safer. www.toughconvos.com