Essay on Racial Discrimination in Canada

Canada tends to portray itself as an all-inclusive, multicultural, non-discriminatory country, though this is not always the case. (Mullings et al. 21). Canada in-fact has a dark history of discrimination and marginalization of visible minority groups, mainly the black community and the Indigenous communities of Canada. The Indigenous people and the black community have historically faced discrimination, stigmatization and marginalization in Canada, they face countless challenges such as un-equal access to employment, unequal access to adequate legal representation, high rates of incarceration and historically lower socioeconomic status. These groups also tend to be negatively associated with drugs and alcohol due to racialized stereotypes about their communities, such as the drunken Indian stereotype that will be explored further in the paper, and the stereotypes associating Black men with criminal behavior and aggression.  

This paper will explore how stereotypes associated with drugs and alcohol consumption among visible minorities are perpetuated by the history of colonialism in Canada, anti-black racism and the presence of intergenerational trauma within these communities.  

The First Nations people have had a dark history with Canada, and they face many negative stereotypes with respect to drugs and alcohol. The negative stereotypes faced by the First Nations people are directly rooted in colonialism. The colonization of the Indigenous people involved the use of residential schools to assimilate and eradicate the Indigenous people and their culture. Throughout this era of colonization and assimilation the Indigenous community faced many traumatic events within the residential schools and in society in general. They faced constant racism and discrimination, they were separated from their their families, banned from speaking their language and practicing their culture and repeatedly abused. Racism towards First Nations peoples is rampant in Canada to this day and aggravates their deep-rooted trauma often leading to substance abuse, mental illness and suicide, as can be seen in the fifth estates: by the river's edge. This documentary exemplifies the tragic results of the trauma and hardship faced by the First Nations community. The documentary shows how the trauma and hardships plaguing all First Nations communities has led to substance abuse within their younger generations and later has been seen to lead to death or suicide (CBC). The First Nations community has a dark reputation when it comes to substances and mental health, they are commonly seen as "pathologically drunk, criminals and suicidal (Erickson 599). Due to the negative reputation of alcohol and drugs within their community, suicide is almost always blamed on the individual's alcohol consumption, rather than their mental health as a result of colonialism and overall discrimination (as it is within the CBC documentary). There is another common-negative- stereotype referring to First Nations individuals as “Drunken Indians”, this stereotype first came to be during colonialism, when the Canadian government banned the sale of alcohol to Indigenous people (Smythe p.5). This ban occurred due to the First Nations community being portrayed as helpless with little to no self-control, and therefore have no other choice but to consume alcohol, in general they were labeled as alcoholics. Overall, it can be said that Colonialism played a part in perpetuating racialized stereotypes relating to substance abuse in First Nations communities across Canada. 

Anti-Black racism refers to prejudice stereotyping and discrimination aimed at people of African descent. Historically racism aimed at People of color has been a problem in our society, though Canada tends to see itself as a multicultural country, even though that is not the case. In Canada anti back racism is not overt but rather deeply ingrained in Canadian institutions and policies (Mullings et al. 23). Due to this entrenched racism, African Canadians have historically and continuously faced many challenges such as, a lack of equal opportunity, lower socioeconomic status, higher rates of unemployment, and higher rates of incarceration (Mullings et al. 23). In turn these circumstances have be seen to lead to substance abuse as a coping mechanism and the sale of drugs as a form of livelihood. A local example of a challenge faced by those of African descent is the demolition of Africville.  Africville was a small African Canadian community in Halifax Nova Scotia from around the 1800s till 1960s, this small community was demolished in the name of urban renewal and integration” (National Film Board of Canada). According to Gabor Maté displacement is a major environmental risk for addiction, therefore those living in Africville at the time of the demolition would have been at higher-than average- risk for developing an addiction to substances (Smythe p.5). As stated previously, there are unusually high rates of incarceration for Black individuals, The increasing rate of Black Canadians in federal prisons (especially those there on drug charges), is blatant evidence of overt discrimination toward African Canadians by anti-black authority figures (Mullings et al. 25). Due to their history of oppression and continuous issues with the police force, the black community faces heavy stereotyping. According to Mullings et al,  a stereotypical black male is highly predisposed to criminal behavior and violence, while a stereotypical black female is irrationally angry and involved in sex work and welfare fraud (Mullings et al. 24).  Overall, the presence of anti-black racism in Canada perpetuates racialized stereotypes relating to substance abuse within black communities in Canada. 

Intergenerational trauma refers to trauma that gets passed down generationally from parent to child and so on, due to past and ongoing racism and discrimination in our society. Intergenerational trauma has been seen to effect substance. 

abuse and mental health in subsequent generations. Intergenerational trauma is present in all First Nations and Black communities in Canada due to the history of colonialism and anti-black racism. In terms of the First Nations community their traumatic history of abuse suffered in the residential school system has led to a presence of intergenerational trauma in all first nations communities in Canada which in turn effects substance use, mental health and overall moral within first nations families (Smythe lesson 6). The CBC documentary “The fifth estate: Stories from the river's edge” is a great example of the results of intergenerational trauma and its correlation to substance abuse. The documentary discusses the tragedies of the many young First Nations suicides in Thunder Bay Ontario. In the documentary they describe how intergenerational trauma has led young indigenous children to become dependent on drugs and alcohol, often leading to tragic mysterious deaths in the river. In terms of Black communities in Canada, the overt racism that exists in the police force, criminal justice system and overall, in society has left a presence of fear and in turn intergenerational trauma within most African Canadian families. 

Canada typically portrays itself as a multicultural, non-discriminatory country, but in-fact has a dark history of discrimination and marginalization of visible minority groups. Two largely discriminated groups in Canada are The Indigenous communities and the black communities. These groups have faced years of oppression, discrimination, stigmatization and in the case of the Indigenous, Assimilation. Racism towards these groups can be seen in countless areas of life, such as in the police force, the education system, the judiciary system, work community and more. They face countless challenges every day and due to aspects of colonization, anti-black racism and Intergenerational trauma, there is a presence of racialized stereotypes concerning drugs and alcohol in these communities.  There is also heavy stereotyping surrounding mental health and suicide in these communities as it is almost always linked to substance abuse whether or not that is the case.