Ch. 14

1. Ch. 14 Race & Ethnicity in Canada

2. What is ‘Race’? A socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important • Scientists invented the concept of “race” in the nineteenth century and identified 3 racial types: • Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid

3. Racial composition in Canada • The three “racial” categories differ in only 6% of their genes, less than the genetic variation within each category • The Canadian census asks people to identify themselves as Aboriginal, Black, and Visible Minority • 44.1% of Canadians multiracial ancestry

4. Canada’s Demographic Composition • 2011 Census: Caucasian or white 76.1% Visible minority 19.1% Aboriginal 4.9% • The largest visible minority populations are in B.C (27.3%) and ON (25.92%)

5. Ethnicity A shared cultural heritage • Objective criteria: ancestry, dress, religion, language • Subjective criteria: the internalization of a distinctive social identity • Important: ethnic distinctiveness should not be viewed as racial

6. Minorities Any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates • Distinctive identity and experience subordination • Though not always less than 50%

7. Multiculturalism • Canada recognizes two types of multiculturalism • Traditional multiculturalism focuses on individual rights • Modern multiculturalism is concerned with the survival of cultural groups • Federal policy on multiculturalism has been criticized for emphasizing group differences and for its perceived special treatment of minority groups • Aboriginal fight for autonomy is yet another complication of Canadian multiculturalism. • We pride ourselves on being a multicultural society, yet….

8. The Problem of Nationalism • Nationalism is produced by an 'us' and 'them' orientation. • Tends to be destructive to multiculturalism. • Two types of nationalism: • A community of citizens who express loyalty and patriotic attachment to a shared set of values, constitutes civic nationalism. • Ethnic nationalism involves a tracing of roots, and a search for identity, and political recognition.

9. Race and Ethnicity • Race and ethnicity are not necessarily connected • racial groups are set apart from others because of visible physical differences • ethnic groups differ from others on the basis of national origin or distinctive cultural patterns.

10. Racism and Ethnic Inequality • Ethnic group: a category of people who are distinguished by others or themselves on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics • Race is considered a social construct • some use the term racialized group • a category of people who have been singled out, by others or themselves, as inferior or superior, on the basis of subjectively selected physical characteristics like skin colour or eye shape

11. Roots of “Race” Classification schemes since 1700s • Traits somewhat arbitrary: Why skin colour and not eye colour? • Eg. Jane Elliot’s experiment in “Eye of the Storm” (1970) and A Class Divided (PBS 1985) • Watch the video at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html Politics of “race”: • people perceive others to be different, and • use perceptions to justify differential treatment

12. Majority and Minority Groups Majority (or dominant) group is one that is advantaged and has superior resources and rights in society Minority (or subordinate group) is one that is disadvantaged, subjected to discrimination, and regards itself as an object of discrimination, e.g., people of colour, disabled, and gays,lesbians, and trans people

13. Types of Majority-Minority Interaction Patterns • Pluralism: a state in which racial and ethnic minorities are distinct but have social parity • Multiculturalism in Canada: policy 1971 and Act in 1988 • Assimilation: minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture becoming similar to the dominant group • Miscegenation: biological reproduction by partners of different racial categories • Segregation: physical and social separation of categories of people • Genocide (“ethnic cleansing”): systematic killing of one category of people by another

14. Canada’s foreign-born population

15. Minority Groups in Canada • The “Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada” (The Daily, Statistics Canada, 2005) indicates that on the whole, new immigrants are happy with choice to come to Canada, but face many difficulties: • 46% said finding an adequate job • 26% said learning English or French

16. Social Exclusion of Minorities • Social exclusion of minorities is due to selective ethnic and racial inclusion by the majority group • Exclusion occurs because one group wants to defend its social status or resources against another • Minority groups are seen as 'others', and barriers are built against them when they are perceived as competition. • Historically immigrants were shunned, and tolerated only because Canada needed their labour.

17. Socio-economic stratification in Canada • Based on race and ethnicity • English, Japanese, and French Canadians have the highest incomes • Recent immigrants and visible minorities are at the bottom of the scale • Aboriginal employment lags behind although some gains very recently

18. The Vertical Mosaic in Canada • Late sociologist John Porter (1965) called Canadian society a vertical mosaic • In Porter’s analysis, English, followed by French Canadians exist at the top of the economic hierarchy • ethnic minorities are situated at or near the bottom • The vertical mosaic persists because of several factors such as exclusionary practices by the majority, and migration and self-organizing practices • He also claimed persistent minority ethnic attachments were the main obstacle to immigrant and minority economic advancement • Believed ideal of multiculturalism was a problem • Vertical mosaic is a system of racial stratification: • System of inequality in which race is the major criterion for rank and rewards

19. Income Stratification for 2nd Generation Canadians

20. White Privilege and Internalized Dominance White privilege: privilege that accrues to people who have “white” skin, trace their ancestry to Europe, and think of themselves as European Canadians or WASPs Internalized dominance: all the ways that White people learn they are normal, feel included, and do not think of themselves as “other” or “different”

21. Hate groups in Canada • Neo Nazis • Christian Identity Movement • Holocaust Denial group (Ernst Zundel was one of Canada’s most prolific Holocaust deniers) • Racist Skinhead groups (Individuals from groups such as the Northern Hammerskins, the Final Solution Skins, the Aryan Resistance Movement (ARM) have been responsible for assaults, gay-bashing and murder in Canada)

22. Hate in London, ON(Middlesex County Map)

23. Islamophobia • Irrational fear, dislike or prejudice against Islam or Muslims • Is becoming a serious problem in Canada • Ontario legislature passed anti-Islamophobia legislation Feb. 23, 2017 • Federal government considering similar policy • Nathalie Derosier, who introduced motion said: • “You don’t want discrimination to become internalized, for people to stop seeing themselves as full citizens, as having the ability to contribute fully in a society, and that’s the reason you need to denounce hatred and discrimination”

24. Prejudice and Stereotypes • Prejudice is an irrational, negative attitude about people based on such characteristics as racialization, gender, age, religion or sexual orientation (a pre-judgement) • Prejudices are rooted in stereotypes • Stereotypes are overgeneralizations about the appearance, behaviour, or other characteristics of all members of a group • Causes “stereotype threat” where the stereotype becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

25. Prejudice leads to Racism and Discrimination Racism: a set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices used to justify the superior treatment of one racialized group and the inferior treatment of another racialized group Discrimination: unequal treatment based on racism and prejudice Ethnocentrism: the assumption that one’s own group and way of life are superior to all others (positive and negative forms)

26. Prejudice > Racism > Discrimination Two main categories of discrimination: Individual discrimination consists of one-on-one acts by members of the dominant group that harm members of the subordinate group or their property Institutional discrimination consists of the day-to-day practices of organizations and institutions that have a harmful impact on members of subordinate groups

27. Racism in Canada • Racial attitudes in Canada have become more tolerant in recent decades (Canadian Race Relations Foundation) • In 2005-2007 surveys showed • 47% of Canadians admitting to being at least slightly racist • 92% have witnessed racist behavior • 17% experienced racism (Canadian Race Relations Foundation) • 2009 York University study indicated that while people may not be overtly racist, they are indifferent to overt racism of others (bystander effect?) • Those with the greatest difficulty in accepting other races believe race is a biological fact as opposed to a socially constructed idea.

28. Are Canadians becoming more or less racist? • Former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh in a 2018 discussion on racism believes we a becoming less racist. He claimed we are not becoming a more racist nation like the U.S., as recent events in the U.S. seem to indicate. Instead, he says “racism has become presidential in the U.S., but not prime ministerial in Canada.”   • However in a 2018 speech during Black History Month, Prime Minister Trudeau saysaid, “it's time Canadians acknowledge that racism and unconscious bias against black people exist in this country” (CBC News, Feb. 13, 2018)

29. However, a 2017 Pulse Report from the CRRF shows Canada is improving….

30. Theories of Racism: Scapegoat Theory • Prejudice springs from frustration among people who are themselves disadvantaged • Prejudice is a way to express anger • Produces feelings of superiority • Scapegoat: a person or category of people, typically with little power, whom people unfairly blame for their own troubles • Can become overt discrimination and racism • Does this explain Islamophobia?

31. Adorno’s Authoritarian Personality Theory • A personality trait of certain individuals who show Intolerance towards all minorities • They are rigid moralists with little education who see things as clear-cut matters of right and wrong • They view society as naturally competitive and hierarchical

32. Robert Merton’s Typology of Prejudice and Discrimination • The relationship between prejudice and discrimination is complex • Four patterns: • 1. Unprejudiced nondiscriminatory = integration • 2. Unprejudiced and discriminatory = institutional discrimination • 3. Prejudiced and nondiscriminatory = latent bigotry • 4. Prejudiced and discriminatory = outright bigotry

33. Forms of Racism in Canadian Society Interpersonal racism: red-necked (explicit), e.g., Heritage Front and polite (implicit) racism (Pattern #4, according to Merton) Institutional(intentional)racism: e.g., employment restrictions to groups, and systemic(unintentional)racism, e.g., height and weight restrictions(Pattern #2, according to Merton)

34. Forms of Racism in Canadian Society (cont.) Societal racism: unconscious patterns that perpetuate a racialized order, e.g., colour symbolism (Pattern #2, according to Merton) Everyday racism: seemingly benign ideas about the relative superiority or inferiority of certain groups (Pattern #3, according to Merton)

35. Forms of Racism in Canadian Society (cont.) Active racism: an act intending to exclude or make a person feel inferior because of his/her minority group status Passive racism: an act of being complicit in another’s racism Cultural racism: values that reinforce the interests of the dominant group and undermine the interests of the subordinate group, e.g., hostility to employment equity

36. Sociological Perspectives Functionalist Perspective • believe thatinequality benefits society by allowing for the discussion of a wider range of opinions, perspectives, and values • also maintain that inequality produces social conflict that intensifies people's sense of identity and belonging, as well as gives groups more cohesion along with a better sense of purpose

37. Perspectives (cont.) Conflict perspective: Prejudice is a product of social conflict • focus is on how one group more than another benefits from differentiation, exclusion, and institutional racism. Symbolic Interactionist Perspective • Looks at the social construction of ethnic differences and the subordination of minority groups, through racial labels

38. Perspectives (cont.) Feminist and Anti-Racist Perspectives: • Gendered racism: interactive effect of racism and sexism in exploiting Indigenous and visible minority women • Intersectional theorizing: a move toward an understanding of the myriad ways in which oppressions are linked,e.g., wages of women of colour vs. White women

39. Social Consequences of Racism • Racism is exacerbated by gender for women of minority groups. • Watch: The Colour of Beauty(NFB, 2010) • Minority groups are disproportionately poor and, when employed, face discrimination in the workplace. • Minorities are also over-represented in the criminal justice system as both perpetrators and victims. • In Canada, the social problems resulting from exclusion, discrimination, and prejudice are most evident among Aboriginal peoples