Challenges and Initiatives: Addressing Systemic Racism in Canadian Sports - Free Paper Example

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) endorsed acquiring and tutoring sports for indigenous athletes five years ago. "We have to stop seeing sport as a recreational pastime," (Gardam 2017). A group of experts and athletes say that little has been implemented to achieve that goal. TRC’s calls for action on indigenous sports stand on these: issuing education on indigenous athletes’ history, advancing strategies for being knowledgeable on culture and training on anti-racism, and providing financial support for community-based and advanced sports initiatives. These calls to action depend on the government, and national, and international sports leaders to work with indigenous people.

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The relationship between systemic racism and sports has been a prevalent issue; precisely, African-American discrimination has lacked over the historical course. The international leaders in the sport say that Canadian sport should be rooted in values of fairness, respect, safety, and inclusion. As a result, all forms of racism are opposed to categorically.

The impact of system racism on indigenous athletes in Canadian sport includes: compromising the future of the indigenous athletes- how young people have to deal with racism and institutions such as the criminal justice system in the future will be significantly affected by the encounters and experiences they have today. Mistrust of institutions- for the majority of the public institutions to be able to carry out their services and mandate they require and depend on trust and the goodwill of the community. As a result of the bad treatment and systemic racism, indigenous athletes can hardly effectively use the services provided by various institutions. (Gardam 2017) Others include the change in their behavior, which will cost the social status of the community social level and loss of self-esteem.

The presence of racism in Canadian sports reveals the following about dominant mythologies in the Canadian state and the legacy of colonialism: Canada's nature since the 1760s, and how English-French interactions have impacted the Canadian experience. Canada's expertise in withstanding revolution and liberalism compared to The United States, which is historical, has led to minimal individualism. (Gardam 2017) The social formation of the majority of the ethnic groups led them to be protective of their identities and later led to the production of the cultural mosaic. The conservativeness of the Canadians associated with the French Canadians in the 1960s has given Canada an obsession with peace and order.

Some measures that are being taken to address racism in sports include: the start of campaigns to raise awareness, the execution of programs on diverse management, the institutionalization of constructive tracking systems, the evaluation of legal directorial limits to fair participation in sports, and buoying up athletes to take public posture against systemic racism. For example, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada called on all governments to take measures that guarantee a prolonged period of indigenous athlete growth and evolution and constant support for indigenous games.

Work Cited

Gardam, K., Giles, A., Hayhurst, M.C. Sport for development for Aboriginal youth in Canada: A scoping review. Journal of Sport for Development. 2017; 5(8): 30-40