Tackling racism: Recent social movement is a good first step

While the world’s focus has been on the protests in the US related to the killing of George Floyd, Canadians have also been taking to the streets in droves demanding that justice be served in relation to police brutality. On May 27, Torontonians were once again traumatised and left without answers.

Toronto police responded to a call at the home of Claudette Beals-Clayton. Moments later, after having a brief interaction with Beals-Clayton’s daughter, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, an indigenous/black Canadian woman who was allegedly in crisis, somehow fell to her death from the 24th floor of her apartment building. With police officers present but no family member as witness, questions remain to be answered as to how she ended up dead.

Police officers in attendance claimed that Korchinski-Paquet fell off the balcony on her own; however, family members and friends have a different account. They noted that she would never have taken her own life. The death has resulted in a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigation.

For many black Ontario residents, there is lack of trust in the SIU when it comes to conducting fair, unbiased investigations in which blacks are killed or injured at the hands of the police. Since the creation of the SIU, there have hardly been any findings of wrongdoing by police who use lethal force against blacks.

PROTESTS EMERGED

The investigation is still ongoing, but in the weeks since Korchinski-Paquet’s death, protests have broken out throughout Canada, bringing attention to both her death and the recent deaths of other black Canadians at the hands of police, as well as the issue of anti-black racism in general.

Although the protests in the US and Canada have been motivated by different deaths, the issues, at their core, are the same. Both countries suffer from a deep-seated systemic racism that colours all aspects of public and private life, from education and business to voting and policing.

The fact that pervasive, anti-black racism still exists, let alone thrives, in developed countries such as Canada and the US is one of the most pressing issues facing society today and is representative of a broken system that has not yet evolved to value all lives equally.

This systemic racism has been built into our society for a variety of reasons, most of which relate to the consolidation of power and wealth, and is powered by the systematic dehumanisation of those who are different. As long as these broken values are allowed to influence our culture and be instilled in new generations, we will continue to see deaths such as those of Floyd and Korchinski-Paquet. Until the voices of the protesters and, more important, the voices of those who are oppressed are heard and acknowledged, we cannot begin to heal as a community and progress toward equality for all.

While it is tempting to be disheartened at the realisation that the same despicable racism exists here in Canada that exists in the US, the widespread response by hundreds of thousands of protesters standing in solidarity with the black community is actually cause for hope. While we still have a long way to go before equality, security, and the ability to live without fear become universal rights, the recent social movement is a good first step in the right direction. The important thing now is to make sure our society continues to take the rest of the necessary steps until the transformation is complete.

Nadine Spencer is chief executive officer (CEO), BrandEQ Agency, and CEO and president, Black Business and Professional Association.