Friday Facts: Anti-Black Racism

Posted on Friday, February 15th, 2019

Did you know that all racism is not experienced equally? Many different racialized groups face challenges related to specific biases, stereotypes and barriers based on their unique history and societal context.

What is Anti-Black Racism (ABR)?

Anti-Black racism is prejudice, attitudes, beliefs, stereotyping or discrimination that is directed at people of African descent and is rooted in their unique history and experience of enslavement and colonization. Anti-Black racism is deeply embedded in Canadian institutions, policies and practices, to the point that it becomes a part of our systems. Anti-Black racism is micro (as seen in day-to-day interactions) and it is structural (as seen in laws and policies that govern this country). (Toronto For All, Confronting Anti-Back Racism Initiative)

What impact does ABR have at work and in our communities?

Anti-Black racism is embedded in institutions, socializing Canadians of all racial backgrounds (including other racialized non-Black people) to be inherently anti-Black. This makes it more difficult for Black Canadians to name their specific experiences of Anti-Black Racism. Often doing so, comes with severe consequences such as: loss of employment, targeting, isolation, violence, and emotional and spiritual injuries. (Toronto For All, Confronting Anti-Back Racism Initiative)

Here are the facts demonstrating the impact of ABR in our communities:

  • In 2011, Black high school students had lower graduation rates (64.5%) compared to the overall student population (78.6%); 22.8% dropped out compared to 14.1%. (TDSB Black Students Report) This means there is a barrier for getting black students into our classrooms, and a barrier for us to increase the talent pool of black talent.
  • Racialized Ontarians also have higher unemployment rates: 10.5 percent as compared to 7.5 percent for the rest of Ontarians. (Wellesley Institute, Colour Coded Labour Market) This means there is an untapped talent pool available to us as an employer that we should be equipped to connect with.
  • Only 7% of employed African-Canadians held management positions, compared with 10% of the overall labour force (Statistics Canada, 2001). This demonstrates that we aren’t accessing all of the diverse perspectives required for creative solutions.
  • Visible minority women earn 84.4% of what visible minority men earn, based on median annual income for full-time workers. Visible minority women earn 70.1% of what all men earn. (Statistics Canada 2017)

What can I do about ABR? (Centennial College)

  1. Acknowledge How Racism has Shaped You: Racism is like an invisible gas that we all breathe. Whether we benefit from it or internalize messages that harm us, racism shapes our thinking and actions, often unconsciously, even if we don’t want it to. Once we acknowledge that, we can begin to explore how we contribute to the problem and what we might do to stop it.
  2. Educate Yourself: Become aware of the holes in your knowledge. Once you are aware of the holes, it is your responsibility to begin filling them in.
  3. Speak Up and Do Your Part: Too often, the job of speaking out against racism is left to people of colour. This is unfair. To be effective, all people must be willing to do a good part of the heavy lifting.

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