Impacts of Racism Essay Example

Racism is the belief that one race is superior over other races which result in prejudice, discrimination, antagonism, and marginalization of other races that are deemed inferior. Racism encompasses harassment and hatred of an individual due to his or her skin color or place of origin. Despite the United Nation convection harshly terming racism as socially dangerous and morally condemnable, and scientifically outlawed, the practice has continuously been promoted in many countries across the globe (Patterson, 82). History have also portrayed the adverse effects or racism and how it resulted in degradation of human dignity, for instance, the institutional racism such as the slavery in the United States, Holocaust and the Apartheid in South Africa, and the Slavery institutions in Latin America, which involved harsh discrimination and immoral mistreatment of one race deemed as inferior (Cecco, np). Nevertheless, Canada has also experienced numerous effects or race from hate crime, marginalization, to harassment which often go unnoticed. Therefore, the focus of the investigation is to expose and evaluate the multidimensional effects of racism among Canadians and the rest of the world.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Racism has resulted in numerous race violence and hatred in Canada as many individuals have repeatedly attacked other individuals from different races. Despite the United Nation portraying Canada as the most inclusive nation with more racially tolerant attitude in 2013, many scholars have harshly criticized the notion stating that racial discrimination in Canada is too rampant. For instance, on 17th July 2018, two brothers, 19-year-old Janis Corhamzic and 27-year-old Adem Corhamzic severely beat a Muslim man near death that he fractured his skull and was rushed to Saint Michael's Hospital in Toronto (Kong, np). Two days before that an aboriginal Canadian man was allegedly assaulted on what local leaders and the police termed as the race-based violence. Irrespective of the UN grading system that Canada portrays a tolerant attitude towards race and promote inclusivity, many individuals have continued to face harassments and criminalized violence. The aftermath of racism in Canada has become too critical for leaders to ignore. For instance, in 2016, Canada recorded a 16% increase in race-related violence according to the Statistic Canada report. Irrespective of the legal institutions established to eradicate the demise.

Further, the police reported race-based crimes have steadily increased as it indicates that racism contributes to massive socio-economic crimes such as robbery and murder (Patterson, 280). For instance, the Statistics Canada Report indicated that only from 2013 to 2016, the race-related crime rose from 1167 to 1409 and the count continued to rise. Racial discrimination in Canada has resulted in numerous insecurity issues and criminal harassments (Bailey,1271). Moreover, in 2017, many lethal attacks in Canada believed to be race-related occurred such as the attack on Barb Kentner in January 2017, which the local police termed as the horrific act of racism. Therefore, the impact of racism in Canadian society has resulted in the spread of instability and fear among many individuals mainly because no justice is ever accorded to the victims. Like many African American plights in the United States of America face social injustice and violence, Canada also portrays white supremacy attitude towards people of color. In Canada, many individuals are openly being targeted and harassed in public. For instance, in a viral video that shocked the world on 17th July 2018 depicted a white man preventing a person of color from leaving the London, Ont. grocery store that he even called the police and threatened to make citizen arrest if the man could not produce his Canadian citizen documentation. Therefore, racism has contributed to multidimensional mistreatments, resentments, and harassments of the Canadian citizens.

Moreover, according to the America Psychological Association, racism can result in psychological and physiological instability among young adults and children (American Psychological Association, np). Establishing policies that degrade and prevents another individual from attaining the socially equitable opportunity to the national and public resources often contributes to stressors, which may lead to physiological reactivity (American Psychological Association, np). Despite the United Nation claiming that the Canadian clause of "visible minority" used to refer to people of color has no effect on people, Canadian psychologists disagree as they ascertain that it degrades the human valued and dignity which can result in stressors. Racism has contributed to mental health problem among many individuals as it serves to structure the distribution of opportunity and risks. For instance, vicarious racism experience results in poor mental health development characterized by low self-esteem and isolation from social interaction. The adverse effects of discrimination, marginalization, and prejudice of individuals based on color or place of origin can also result in suicide (Karen, np). People of color in Canada just like the USA have been isolated and prevented from attaining equal opportunities in job markets, schools, profession, and access to numerous social amenities. Such discrimination has contributed to massive psychological impairment and physiological reactivity.

In addition, racial discrimination, prejudice, and marginalization in Canadian Cities like Toronto have made such cities police targets as the communities are heavily policed in the name of crime preventions. Many people of color have increasingly been targeted by the police. According to Toronto Life Magazine, the city has become a self-perpetuating cycle of police harassment, imprisonment, and criminalization. Despite people of color only occupying 2.9% of the populace, they contribute to more than 9.3% of the Canadian prisoners (Cole, np). Just like in the United States of America, racial discrimination has resulted in police harassment of the African American communities who are targeted, humiliated wrongly imprisoned and receives harsh sentences. For instance, the Toronto Life Magazine affirms that the people of color in Canada are frequently arrested and receive harsh and adverse punishments in the correctional facilities. Not only does racial discrimination plays a major role in such harsh punishment, but it also prevents the local and national leaders from eradicating the demise (Currie, 620). Hence it keeps resulting in inappropriate disproportionate scrutiny within the diverse neighborhood. The First Nations Regional Longitude Health Survey ascertained that racism is an acute experience felt by many aboriginal people in Canada. In its 2005 survey report, it established that more than 38% have experienced racism and labeled different due to their unique social characteristics (Loppie, 2). The distinction of the community has created social hierarchies that define the foundation of discrimination, marginalization, and oppression.

Conclusion

Conclusively, racism is a social injustice based on misled and false reconstruction that one race is superior to others and must have dominance. Despite manifesting itself in multiple ways, it only results in a negative outcome that causes degradation of the socio-economic and political spheres. For instance, it leads to an endless cycle of criminalization, police mistreatments and imprisonment, unemployment of discriminated individuals, mental health problems, and race-based violence (Sheppard, 57). Such adverse effects of racism prevent nations like Canada from progressing and attaining socio-cultural, economic and political maturity. Hence, racial injustice must be eradicated not only in Canada but in other nations by advocating for human freedom, human rights and equal opportunity irrespective of skin color, origin, gender or sexual orientation.

Works Cited

American Psychological Association. Physiological & Psychological Impact of Racism and Discrimination for African-Americans. American Psychological Association. 2019. Available at < https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/racism-stress.aspx> accessed on 20th January 2019.

Bailey, Kerry A. "Racism within the Canadian university: Indigenous students' experiences." Ethnic and Racial Studies39.7 (2016): 1261-1279.

Cecco Layland. Not just in the US': amateur historian highlights Canada's forgotten racism, the Guardian. 2018. Available at < https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/20/canada-racism-past-civil-rights-charles-daniels-bashir-mohamed> accessed on 20th January 2019

Cole Desmond. The Skin I'm In: I've been interrogated by police more than 50 times-all because I'm black. Toronto Life. Available at < https://torontolife.com/city/life/skin-im-ive-interrogated-police-50-times-im-black/> accessed on 20th January 2019

Currie, C.L, Wild, T.C, Schophlocher, D.P. Racial discrimination experienced by the aboriginal university students in Canada. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2012. 57(10). 617-625

Karen G. Martinez Jessica Graham-LoPresti. The effects of racism on mental health: how to cope. Anxiety and depression association of America. 2018. Available at < https://adaa.org/webinar/consumer/effects-racism-mental-health-how-cope> accessed on 20th January 2019.

Kong Lee. If it feels like racism in Canada is getting worse, that's because it is. Flare. 2018. Available at < https://www.flare.com/news/racism-in-canada/> accessed on 20th January 2019.

Loppie Samantha, Charlotte Reading & Leeuw Sarah. Aboriginal experience with racism and its impacts. Social determinants of health. National Collaborating Center for Aboriginal Health. 2014. Available at < https://www.ccnsa-nccah.ca/docs/determinants/FS-AboriginalExperiencesRacismImpacts-Loppie-Reading-deLeeuw-EN.pdf> accessed on 20th January 2019.

Patterson, Andrew C., and Gerry Veenstra. "Black-White health inequalities in Canada at the intersection of gender and immigration." Can J Public Health 107.3 (2016): 278-284.

Sheppard, Colleen. "Challenging systemic racism in Canada." Race and Inequality. Routledge, 2017. 57-76.