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Racism in Toronto – It’s Not Just Black and White Anymore
Post date: March 20
March 21, 2010 marks 50 years since the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa – a tragedy that led to the establishment of the annual International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination[1].
Toronto in 2010 looks and feels much different from Toronto in 1960. People from diverse ethno-cultural groups live, work and play in the same neighbourhoods. Torontonians and visitors alike can sip Chinese tea on Spadina Avenue, browse the Indian-style bazaar on Gerrard Street, eat Eritrean food on East Danforth and take a leisurely stroll through nearby Greektown. Many Canadians were just as excited, if not more so, when Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president of the United States. We in Canada are proud, and rightfully so, of our commitment to “multiculturalism”.
At the same time that many of us hold this romantic image of Toronto in our heads, the reality of Toronto’s multiculturalism is starkly different. In their 2008 report “The Review of the Roots of Youth Violence”, former Ontario MPP Alvin Curling and former Ontario Attorney General Roy McMurtry “were taken aback by the extent to which racism is alive and well and wreaking its deeply harmful effects on Ontarians and on the very fabric of this province.”
Around the same time, Toronto Public Health reported that 76% of Toronto children in low-income households belonged to a racialized group[2]. At FST we know that children live in poverty because their parents live in poverty, or have very low incomes. Ryerson University Professor Grace-Edward Galabuzi has studied these inequities and published a book on the resulting “economic apartheid” that increasingly puts people of colour at a disadvantage in relation to those of white, Anglo-Saxon heritage. This troubling inequity obligates us to make improvements to the social fabric and institutions of Toronto.
According to new data projections from Statistics Canada, 55% of Toronto’s population will belong to a racialized group by 2031. Racism, like 21st century Toronto itself, is not just black and white – our city is truly a mosaic of individuals and families from multiple distinct and blended ethno-racial groups. In the spirit of this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Family Service Toronto looks toward a future Toronto, one in which all individuals and families may participate equitably in all neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools and community groups.
On March 21, 2010 Family Service Toronto is launching an e-Action campaign to raise awareness of the fact that racism persists in our city. We call upon everyone to recognize the challenges of living, working and playing in a city as diverse as Toronto.
When you receive an e-postcard, you can participate by forwarding it on to your family, friends and coworkers.
For more information, please check the following websites:
Family Service Toronto - http://www.familyservicetoronto.org
Colour of Poverty - http://colourofpoverty.ca
No One Is Illegal - http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org
Urban Alliance on Race Relations - http://www.urbanalliance.ca
Canadian Race Relations Foundation - http://www.crr.ca
Family Service Toronto is one of Toronto’s oldest non-profit social service organizations, touching the lives of more than 63,000 individuals and families in need each year and advocating for people who are marginalized. Our solution-focused services help to strengthen families and individuals and build healthier communities for everyone. Family Service Toronto is a proud United Way member agency.
