“Under the white gaze, Blackness is allowed to be only one thing, a singular essentialized identity, which eschews nuances in multiplicity that “Black Canadas” insists on carving for itself.”

Ibrahim et al., 2022

This unit begins by debunking the myth of biological ‘races’–tracing the social construction of ‘race’ to European colonialism and the expansion of the enslavement of people from Africa. Specifically, how the pseudo-scientific category of ‘race’ and the consequent racial hierarchy was created to assert the superiority of the ‘white’ race to all others. In so doing, the unit underscores racialization as a social process and advances an understanding of white supremacy as “a political-economic social order based on historical and current accumulation of structural power that privileges White people as a group” (Sensoy &  DiAngelo, 2017, p. 165). Next we introduce Dr. Akua Benjamin’s conception of anti-Black racism in Canada, highlighting how the unique history, as well as experiences of slavery and colonization shapes the process of racialization and the material consequences of ‘race’ for Black people in Canada. Next, we explore the racialization of ‘whiteness’ within white supremacy, explore the concept of  ‘white fragility’, and the importance of decentering whiteness to anti-racism education. Foregrounding the systemic nature of anti-Black racism within Canada, the unit focuses on educational institutions — highlighting how white privilege and systemic anti-Black racism marginalizes, silences, and harms Black students.

Understanding Anti-Black Racism 

“Anti-Black racism is prejudice, attitudes, beliefs, stereotyping and discrimination that is directed at people of African descent and is rooted in their unique history and experience of enslavement and its legacy. Anti-Black racism is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions, policies and practices, to the extent that anti-Black racism is either functionally normalized or rendered invisible to the larger white society. Anti-Black racism is manifested in the current social, economic, and political marginalization of African and [Black] Canadians, which includes unequal opportunities, lower socio-economic status, higher unemployment, significant poverty rates, and over representation in the criminal justice system.” (Anti-Racism Directorate, 2021)

To meaningfully capture the ubiquity and depth of anti-Blackness in Canada, we need to appreciate how the notion of biological ‘race’ has been used to denigrate, subjugate and oppress Black people. Such that, “[t]he construction of the African as a subhuman and bestial life form justified the commodification of Black life and labour that would enrich the nations of Europe for centuries to come (Wynter, 2003 as cited in Maynard, 2017). By categorizing humans by “race”, white supremacy (the notion that the “white race” is superior to all others and thus “naturally” dominant and privileged) was affirmed. The consequent hierarchy of “races” designed by “race scientists” sought to demonstrate that “race” was a valid, scientific concept, and that included among inheritable racial differences intelligence, aptitudes, and social behaviours such as the propensity to violence (Anderson, 2012, p. 420). The pseudo science of “race” was used to rationalize European dominance and justify the expansion of the enslavement of Africans. Whereby ‘white’ people were presented as superior, while Black people were deemed “dumb, animal labour, the benighted recipient of the benefits of slavery” (Robinson, 1983, p. 4 as cited in Maynard, 2017). The lingering currency of these ideas manifests in overt anti-Black racism and in bias, stereotypes, and prejudices towards Black people, for example, viewing them as violent, unintelligent, and lazy.

Unfortunately, these ideas manifest in many ways such that “[n]orms, values and beliefs born out of anti-Black racism are operationalized at the institutional level” (James, 2019). Anti-Black racism is used to other Black people and sustain their exclusion in many domains of life in Canada. For example, “in the Education system, these anti-Black racism sociocultural norms, values, and beliefs are inscribed within policies, practices, and procedures, as well as embedded in school cultures to further marginalize, and impede success for Black students, especially Black males.” (James, 2019).

Canada’s Black Population: Diversity Beyond ‘Visible Minority’ Status 

Black people in Canada have diverse backgrounds and experiences – while some can trace their roots in Canada for many generations, others have immigrated in recent decades. They have contributed in many ways to the growth, diversity, and development of the country (Stats Canada, 2019).

More information about Canada’s Black population can be found here. (the use of this infographic is subject to Statistics Canada Open License Agreement)

“Black communities in Canada have doubled in size over the past 25 years to more than 1.2 million people – 3.5% of the national population. Even though more than one out of every 30 Canadians is Black – a number that jumps to one in 11 people in Toronto – the experiences and diversity of Black communities in Canada are often aggregated into the category of “visible minority” and overlooked”(Das Gupta et al., 2020)

It is important to remember that Black Canada is NOT a monolith and that there is no single narrative of Black existence; not one single story of Black Canada (Johnson and Aladejebi, 2022; Carl E. James, 2022).

That said, whether they’re recent immigrants or descendants of people who were enslaved, Black Canadians live a shared present-day experience of systemic anti-Black racism (Government of Ontario, 2021).

References

Anti-Racism Directorate. (2021). Glossary. Data Standards for the Identification and Monitoring of Systemic Racism. Queens’s Printer for Ontario. Retrieved from: https://www.ontario.ca/document/data-standards-identification-and-monitoring-systemic-racism/glossary

Das Gupta, N., Shandal, V. Shadd, D., and A. Segal, and in conjunction with CivicAction (December 14 2020). The Pervasive Reality of Anti-Black Racism in Canada: The current state, and what to do about it. Retrieved from: https://www.bcg.com/en-ca/publications/2020/reality-of-anti-black-racism-in-canada

Government of Ontario. November 18, 2021. Ontario’s Anti-Black Racism Strategy

James, C.E. (2019). We rise together. A report to the Peer District School Board. York University. Retrieved from: https://www.yorku.ca/edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2020/08/We-Rise-Together-report-March-18-002.pdf 

James, C. E. (April 1st, 2022). Distinguished Speaker Series #3 in Looking Beyond Taskforce Reports, Unconscious Bias Training, and Targeted Hirings Featuring Dr. Carl James .Office of the Vice-President, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, University of Windsor.

Sensoy, Ö and DiAngelo R. (2017). Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education (2nd Ed.), Teachers College Press.

Statistics Canada. (2019). Diversity of the Black population in Canada: An overview. Retrieved from: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-657-x/89-657-x2019002-eng.htm