Recent acts of racial violence have sparked global outrage and many conversations about systemic racism in our countries. Systemic racism means that resources, power and opportunity are systemically distributed to people who are white at the exclusion of people of colour. Racial disparities therefore occur in employment, housing, education, healthcare, government and incarceration.
As a result, racialized individuals and Indigenous communities in Canada experience poverty at disproportionately high rates. This phenomenon is referred to as the ‘racialization of poverty’. What does this look like? 1 in 5 racialized families live in poverty, compared to 1 in 20 non-racialized families (Canada Without Poverty, 2020). Why is there this disparity, and what are the implications?
Toronto has the highest rates of income inequalities between individuals of different races in the country (United Way, 2019). Interestingly, these results do not change depending on where these racialized individuals were born and when they arrived in Canada. This fact reveals that racism is embedded in our employment systems, as people who were born here should have had the same resources, education, and language fluency as other Canadians, and this disparity should not be seen, in theory. Racialized women earn 32% less at work than other women (Canada Without Poverty, 2020). This means that for every dollar that a non-racialized woman makes, a racialized woman will only make 68 cents. Now imagine the impact that makes over many hours, days and years.
The average income of racialized people living in Toronto has remained relatively the same since 1980, even though the average income has nearly doubled for those who are non-racialized (Toronto Star, 2019).
Myth: The pay disparities are due to a language barrier.
We’ve established that racialized people make significantly less than their non-racialized counterparts. There are many misconceptions surrounding why these income disparities occur. Some may believe that language barriers cause these pay disparities, and that recent immigrants are not making an effort to learn English. There are, in fact, barriers making it difficult to learn English, even when the desire is there. It has been shown that a contributing factor to why it may be difficult to learn the new language is because immigrants tend to find themselves surrounded by those of the same ethnic background when arriving in Canada (United Way, 2019). This gives them the opportunity to continue speaking their native languages. Despite these barriers, studies have shown that this is not the primary contributor to the pay disparity (United Way, 2019). In addition, Canadian-born, English-speaking racialized individuals also experience unequal pay.
Myth: The pay disparities are due to a lack of education.
Others may believe that racialized people lack education, and this is therefore reflected in their lack of employment and/or lower annual income. Interestingly, it has been found that people of colour are more likely to have a university degree than non-racialized people, the former being 42% and the latter only 28.5% (Statistics Canada, 2019). So if education is not the problem, then what is?
Furthermore, there is clear evidence of racial discrimination in hiring practices in Toronto. Attempts have been made to address these discriminatory hiring practices by not including images of applicants on resumes. While it was believed that discrimination would no longer occur once applicant pictures were removed, new studies have shown that job applicants are instead discriminated against because of non-eurocentric names (Colour of Poverty, 2020). Racialized people are therefore over-represented in part-time and precarious employment with lower wages, lack of benefits and job insecurity (Colour of Poverty, 2020). This means that racialized communities are struggling to obtain fair employment because of these oppressive practices.
Racialized people experience greater rates of housing insecurity and homelessness than the rest of the population.
Why is this the case? Discriminatory practices and prohibitive demands from landlords often make it difficult to secure housing (Colour of Poverty, 2020). Evictions are also disproportionately experienced by racialized people (Vital Signs, 2020). So not only do racialized individuals struggle to keep up with rent because of pay disparities, but they also face barriers when it comes to finding somewhere to live and maintaining housing.
Additionally, racialized people are less likely to be able to provide healthy food for themselves, which leads to negative health outcomes (Colour of Poverty, 2020). Again, some people may make the false assumption that this is due to a lack of education, but here are the statistics: black communities are 3.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity compared to white Canadians, even after adjusting for factors like immigration status, education level, and home ownership (Roberts, 2020). These statistics therefore indicate that systemic poverty is causing disproportionately high rates of food insecurity in communities of colour.
Racialized people are more likely to be low income, and therefore experience more health problems due to stress, unsafe working conditions, polluted neighbourhoods and inadequate access to healthy food (Colour of Poverty, 2020). It is also often more difficult to access culturally appropriate healthcare and social services, which is essential, especially when people are being discriminated against in these settings.
A recent article highlighted the finding that black babies are three times more likely to die when cared for by white doctors than by black doctors in the United States (CNN, 2020). In 2017, it was also found that health workers did not treat Indigenous peoples appropriately, often assuming that they were intoxicated (Colour of Poverty, 2020). This shows us that racism not only affects employment and housing opportunities, but can also be deadly in cases where racialized people are not receiving proper healthcare.
Lastly, the current COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on health disparities between racialized and non-racialized people. 21% of COVID-19 cases in Toronto affected Black individuals, despite the fact that only 9% of the population identifies as Black (Toronto Public Health, 2020). This phenomenon is consistent with other racialized groups as well, with 17% of COVID-19 cases belonging to Southeast Asian individuals, even though they make up 7% of the total population.
The cycles of racialized poverty will not go away as long as systems are working against people of colour.
Racism therefore is a driving force in why racialized people disproportionately experience precarious employment, insecure housing, food insecurity and poor health outcomes.
So, what actions can we all take to challenge inequitable systems in Canada?
It might be hard to read these statistics, but it is important to note that there is hope for change in the future. Here are some actions that Horizons for Youth recommends to challenge systemic racism:
1. Have conversations about racism with your friends, family members and co-workers. Many people might be ignorant to the ways in which poverty is racialized in our community. By educating others, more people will understand the disparities in our systems and will hopefully want to take action just like you. In addition, be sure to undertake thorough research before making claims. This article also pointed out some assumptions that people may have, and will help you debunk them.
2. If you’re an employer, ensure that your hiring practices are based on an anti-racist, anti-oppressive approach. Stay up to date with how to improve these practices. If you want to challenge your employer, encourage them to check out Ontario’s strategy at https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-anti-black-racism-strategy or to create an Anti-Racism Anti-Oppression committee like Horizons for Youth recently did!
3. Vote for representatives who will address systemic injustices. Racial equity and racial justice efforts need to be funded. These efforts can work to ensure that people of all ethnicities have equitable access to support systems, institutions and opportunities (Canadian Council for Refugees, 2016).
4. Provide housing for Horizons for Youth’s clients. As mentioned, obtaining housing as a racialized person can be difficult. Obtaining housing as a racialized person experiencing homelessness is even more difficult. With your help, Horizons for Youth can achieve our goal of helping our youth leave the streets behind: https://horizonsforyouth.org/rentals
5. Donate! The majority of Horizons for Youth’s clients are racialized. Whether it is food, clothing or monetary donations, Horizons for Youth appreciates each and every donation, and you will be helping at-risk and homeless youth! https://horizonsforyouth.org/donate
Written by Samantha Tome
References:
Canada Without Poverty. (2020). Just the Facts. https://cwp-csp.ca/poverty/just-the-facts/
Canadian Council for Refugees. (2016). Racialization of poverty. https://ccrweb.ca/en/res/racialization-poverty
Colour of Poverty. (2020). Fact Sheets (EN). Colour of Poverty - Colour of Change. https://colourofpoverty.ca/fact-sheets/
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2018). Key Health Inequalities in Canada. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/documents/services/publications/science-research/key-health-inequalities-canada-national-portrait-executive-summary/hir-full-report-eng.pdf
Roberts, M. (2020). Black Food Insecurity in Canada. Broadbent Institute. https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/black_food_insecurity_in_canada
Statistics Canada. (2019). Data tables, 2016 census. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?TABID=2&Lang=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=1325190&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=111844&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=123&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=&D1=0&D2=0&D3=0&D4=0&D5=0&D6=0
Toronto Foundation. (2019). 2019 Toronto’s Vital Signs. https://torontofoundation.ca/vitalsigns-issue-2/
Toronto Public Health. (2020). COVID19: Status of Cases in Toronto - May 20 to July 16 2020. https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-latest-city-of-toronto-news/covid-19-status-of-cases-in-toronto/
United Way of Greater Toronto. (2019). Rebalancing the Opportunity Equation. https://www.unitedwaygt.org/file/2019_OE_fullreport_FINAL.pdf