Racism in North America

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This article describes the state of race relations and racism in North America. Racism of various forms is found in every country on Earth, ^[1] although it is widely condemned throughout the world, with 170 states signatories of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by August 8, 2006.^[2] In different countries, the forms that racism takes may be different for historic, cultural, religious, economic or demographic reasons.

Contents 1 Canada 2 Dominican Republic 3 Haiti 4 Trinidad 5 United States of America 6 References 7 See also

[edit] Canada

Canadian society is generally progressive, tolerant, diverse, and multicultural. Accusing a person of racism in Canada is usually considered a serious slur.^[3] The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms legally assures equal treatments, rights and freedoms without discrimination based on race (among other criteria). Nevertheless, racism is still present in Canada, and continues to affect the lives of all people who live in Canada.^[4]

Canadians freely use the term "visible minority" to refer to all people of colour. This poorly defined, legally recognized, term is entrenched in Canada's Employment Equity Act of 1995.^[5] The UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination informed Canada that the use of the term “Visible Minority” is itself offensive and racist.^[6] The Employment Equity Act is increasingly seen by many Canadians as an anachronism from the late 20th century^[7] which helps entrench race-based quotas.

Canada's treatment of Aboriginals is governed by the Indian Act, which provides special treatment for Indians, Inuit and Metis. In 1999, the Canadian government created an autonomous territory, Nunavut for the Inuit living in the Arctic and Northernmost parts of the country. Inuit composed 85% of the population of Nunavut, which represents a new level of self-determination for the indigenous people of Canada.^[8]

There are notable records of slavery in Canada in the 1600s. More than half of all Canadian slaves were aboriginal, and the United Empire Loyalists brought their slaves with them after leaving what became the United States. In 1793, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, passed a bill called the Act Against Slavery making it illegal to bring a person into the colony for the purposes of enslavement, and mandating the gradual emancipation of all slaves^[9] in Upper Canada. Slavery was fully outlawed across all of Canada in 1834. Most of the emancipated slaves of African descent were then sent to settle Freetown in Sierra Leone and those that remained primarily ended up in segregated communities such as Africville outside Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Starting in 1858, Chinese "coolies" were brought to Canada to work in the mines and on the Canadian Pacific Railway. However, they were denied by law the rights of citizenship, including the right to vote, and in the 1880s, "head taxes" were implemented to curtail immigration from China. In 1907, a riot in Vancouver targeted Chinese and Japanese-owned businesses. In 1923, the federal government passed the Chinese Immigration Act, commonly known as the Exclusion Act, prohibiting further Chinese immigration except under "special circumstances". Japanese Canadians were also subject to anti-Asian racism, particularly during World War II when many Canadians of Japanese heritage — even those who were born in Canada — were forcibly moved to internment camps. The government of Canada officially apologised and made restitution for the treatment of Japanese Canadians in 1988.^[10] The Exclusion Act was repealed in 1947, the same year in which Chinese Canadians were given the right to vote. Restrictions would continue to exist on immigration from Asia until 1967, when all racial restrictions on immigration to Canada were repealed, and Canada adopted the current points based immigration system.

In the Northwest Territories, Aboriginals are given preference for jobs and education and are considered to have P1 status. Non-aboriginal people who were born in the NWT or have resided half of their life there are considered a P2, as well as women and disabled peoples. White males receive the lowest priority, P3.^[11]

[edit] Dominican Republic

Formed in 1844 out of a racial and lingustic separation movement;^{[12] [13]} The Dominican Republic employs a latent system of de-facto apartheid, denying birth certificates, identity cards, housing, access to health care and education to blacks. According to an Amnesty Inernational report, Blacks are lynched, beaten, burned alive and randomly rounded up by Dominican Nationalists at the encouragement of governmental and political forces. A recent U.N. envoy in October of 2007 found racism against blacks to be rampant in every segment of Dominican society, including the family. ^[14][15]

[edit] Haiti

Expulsion and massacres of the St. Domingue’s 40,000 white French settlers during the Haitian Revolution from 1791 to 1804. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, first ruler of an independent Haiti, declared Haiti an all black nation, slaughtered all the remaining whites on the island and forbade Caucasians from ever again owning property or land there.^[16][17]

[edit] Trinidad

Trinidad is a melting pot of cultures and has also been a place of great ethnic tensions between the politically and economically empowered African-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean people. Trinidad and Tobago is home to 1.3 million people, whereas 95% live on Trinidad and 5% live on Tobago. Around 39% of Trinidadians are of African descent and 43% is of Indian decent. Racism exists on every level of society although both ethnic groups mix fairly well in everyday life. Africans usually live in the urban areas, notably the East West corridor while Indians usually live in rural areas surrounding the sugar cane planations.

Tension existed between the two ethnic groups from the day African slaves achieved emancipation and Indians from India came to work on the farms. Africans accused the Indians from stealing their jobs because Indians worked for cheap wages. Most Africans then migrated to the urban areas, notably Port of Spain and to other villages around the industrial areas. Indians usually remained in the areas surrounding the sugar cane plantations to continue agriculture. There has been long calls of discrimination between the two ethnic groups, and also with religion. Whites and Christians were usually accepted into high school while if you were from an Indian family, Hindu or Muslim your chances were slim. Racism exists in Trinidad for many reasons. The biggest issue is politics. The two major political parties are marginalized between race. Politically, the Africans are in power. Afro-Trinidadians are accused of discriminating against East Indians in the government sector such as jobs, housing, health and scholarships. Housing and media licensing is a huge issue where as Africans are preferred receiving these privileges. Indians continuously protest against crime which usually target those of Indian decent. Rural Indians are long neglected where their constituencies are usually flooded out and underdeveloped. Whereas the agriculture sector is domininatly Indian, their have been complaints about the blatant neglect of this sector by the government. Indians usually accuse the government for trying to "Africanize" the country. Although Africans hold the government and the economy (which is huge from today's high oil prices), Indian-Trinidadians are predominant in the professional field such as businessmen, doctors, teachers, lawyers..etc. Thus, the majority of the middle class are Indians. Africans usually accuse Indians of having a better life and thus justified in having preference in the government. Although 18% of the country is mixed, intermarriage between Africans and Indians remain a controversial issue especially with Indians. Indians accuse Africans for discriminating during boom years, crime, nepotism. Indians are usually discriminated because of their names.
Indians usually think of Africans as violent, uneducated, ugly, inconsiderate, involved in gangs and lives in ghettos. Africans usually think of Indians as cliquish, conceited, unsociable and intolerant. In modern times, tension is getting worse. There have been discrimination on the religious area. Christians usually are classified superior to non Cristian religions. Hindus and Muslims have long complained about discrimination; such an issue is the issuing a radio license to a prominent Hindu group and the persecution of a well known Muslim activist when he protested against crime under anti-terrorism laws.

[edit] United States of America

Main article: Racism in the United States

[edit] References

[edit] See also

Racism by country

v • d • e Racism History of racism Apartheid • The Holocaust • Racism in the United States • Anti-racism • Civil rights movement Racist ideologies White supremacy • Black supremacy • Social Darwinism • Nazism • Aryanism Acts of racism Institutional racism • State racism • Racial profiling • Racism by country • Hate speech • Racial segregation • Stereotype • Scientific racism • Slavery • Crime of apartheid Racial violence Ethnic cleansing • Hate crime • Race war • Genocide • Lynching Racism against groups Native Americans • Arabs • Armenians • Blacks • Chinese • Iranians • Irish • Italians • Japanese • Jews • Mexicans • Poles • Roma people • South Asians • East Asians • Whites Racist groups Ku Klux Klan • Neo-Nazis • Grey Wolves • South African National Party • Nation of Islam Anti-racist groups and movements NAACP • Anti-Defamation League • Anti-Fascist Action • Civil Rights Movement • Southern Poverty Law Center • Searchlight