Week 8 - Race, Ethnicity, Immigration

What is an example of people calling for racial justice in Canada?

In June 2021, protests erupted in Canada in response to the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential school sites.

As a result, the Ryerson statue was defamed.

Define ethnicity.

It refers to the cultural characteristics of someone. For example, language, religion, food, cultural traditions, shared descent, shared geographic locations etc.

What are the sub-groups of ethnicity?

1. Ethnic Origin (objective ethnicity)

2. Ethnic Identity (subjective ethnicity)

Define ethnic origin (objective ethnicity).

It refers to one’s ancestral background.

Define ethnic identity (subjective ethnicity).

It refers to how someone personally identifies themself.

Define race.

A socially constructed phenomenon that refers to the arbitrarily biological broad categories that people are divided into due to sharing physical characteristics.

Define racialisation.

It refers to the process where groups are designated as a ‘race’ and subjected to unequal treatment.

Define visible minority.

They are people who have been designated as non-indigenous, non-caucasian in race or non-white in colour.

Why do some people use the term racialised group rather than visible minority?

Because the UN has pointed out that the term ‘visible minority’ might reinforce racism.

What is BIPOC?

Black, Indigenous and People of Colour.

It is an umbrella term that names differently racialised groups.

Explain scientific racism.

The belief that people are genetically different ‘races’ and that the inheritance of certain genes leads to significant differences in mental capacities.

Who developed a scientific categorisation of 4 races?

Carl Linnaeus.

What do DNA tests show?

They show ancestry, not race or ethnicity.

What is an example of a test using DNA to show your ancestry?

GAT (Genetic Ancestry Test).

How does GAT work?

• It provides people with information about their alleles which can create variations in one’s phenotype (physical appearance)

• Groups of alleles are called haplotypes, which tend to be inherited together

• Haplotypes are put into haplogroups which are associated with geographical origins

What are the limitations of GAT?

There are a lot of different alleles found in many different regions. Hence, there is no distinct unifying trait in which we can assign race or ethnicity.

How were non-white immigrants prevented from entering Canada back then?

Legislative measures:

1. Continuous Journey Stipulation

2. Chinese Head Tax

Who coined the term genocide?

Raphael Lemkin.

Define genocide.

The physical and/or cultural destruction of human groups.

What are the 2 phases of genocide?

1. Destruction of the oppressed groups national pattern

2. Imposition of a new national pattern on the oppressed group

Define dominant groups.

People that have greater power and privilege.

Define minority groups.

Definable groups that are socially disadvantaged and experience unequal treatment.

What can interactions between minority groups and dominant groups lead to?

Good

1. Pluralism

Bad

1. Assimilation

2. Segregation

3. Population Transfer

Define assimilation.

When a minority group is absorbed into the culture of a dominant group.

Can assimilation ever be voluntary?

Yes, immigration is voluntary.

*But it can be coercive, like colonisation.

What did forced assimilation through residential schools lead to?

Ethnocide.

The children in residential schools did not get a meaningful education. Instead, they were abused, malnourished and riddled with disease.

Also, the children were taught very gendered roles instead of a proper education. For example, the girls were taught housekeeping skills and how to cook.

This had generational effects on indigenous communities and left many ill-equipped to live.

Define pluralism.

When ethnic diversity is valued in society.

What does segregation do?

It separates minority groups from the dominant group.

What occurs as a result of population transfer?

It forcibly removes members of minority groups from a country or limits them to a location.

Define prejudice.

An attitude that is not based on anything true and is generalised to members of a certain group. It is based on 3 modes of thinking:

1. Cognitive - what we think

2. Affective - how we feel

3. Behavioural - how we act

Define racism.

A specific form of prejudice that is based on aspects of physical appearance.

Define institutional or systemic racism.

When racial discrimination is embedded in policies and practices within organisations.

ie. hiring people through a discriminatory lens (when Canadian companies require Canadian experience, it can be an example of systemic racism. This is because the company is explicitly excluding immigrants from the same work opportunities as non-immigrants).

What is critical race theory (CRT)?

It is a theory about prejudice and racialisation (it takes economic, cultural, political and psychological influences into account).

The theory stresses that racism is common and is not just one person’s ‘mistake,’ but instead a notion woven into the fabric of society and its institutions. Thus, white privilege being a real thing and also being woven in institutions.

Overall, it is a theory that highlights the institutionalised privileges that white people have acquired over time.

Why is CRT banned?

In 2020, Trump issued an executive order to stop people from teaching ‘diversive concepts,’ saying that the US is racist and sexist.

Now in 2025, he is banning CRT from being taught in schools.

What is an example of white privilege and institutionalised racism?

Herb Kalisman and Eugene Burnett both served in WWII and once they returned the US they both wanted to buy a house to raise their families in.

Kalisman (the white guy) was able to buy a house in Levittown with help from the Federal Housing Administration, which ensured low costs and long-term mortgages.

However, Burnett (the black guy) was not allowed to buy a house in Levittown because the same Federal Housing Administration said that black families could undermine real estate values.

What is an example of systemic racism through redlining?

From the 1930s the Federal Housing Administration ranked neighbourhoods from most to least risky.

Black neighbourhoods were deemed too risky to have federal housing loan programs, leading to sharp inequalities in their home ownership.

Define redlining.

To refuse (a loan or insurance) to someone because they live in an area deemed to be a poor financial risk.

How has the gap in home ownership changed since the 1960s?

It has not changed.

What is an example of anti-black racism in Canada?

Slavery existed in Canada until it was abolished in 1834. Then, black people who fought for the British in the American war were promised freedom in Canada.

BUT, when they arrived they were pushed to the margins, like Africville.

What is another example of racism?

Dead of Surrender

Millions of acres of land was granted to the Hudson’s Bay Company. They were also free to leverage those financial and land assets to make more money.

In doing so however, there was nothing much for the First Nations people to invest in. Therefore, the land transfer made railroad companies and Hudson’s Bay Company make A LOT of money, while the First Nations people received much less.

The loss of land from the First Nations people has created lasting consequences, even to this day.