What Is Cultural Racism

Cultural racism is a process that people of a certain race are identified with certain groups, religion, norms, their group habits, their behaviours, way of dressing and style and customs are treated in a discriminatory and a prejudicial way because of this characteristic (Goldberg, 1993, p.70). Also, Cultural racism has to with the domination and he sense of racial-ethnic superiority of one social group over other groups, and this is justified by the socially and culturally constructed markers, some of which include religious practice, language use, immigrant status, profiling of criminal and terrorist behavior, and social welfare dependency.

It has to do with different forms of racial exclusion and inequalities.

The topic is important because it shows how the society has constructed gender, and this comprises of values and qualities that are commonly related to both the female and male Muslim. It contributes in examining how the construct, define and maintain their masculine identities. Gender and law has to do with difference between men and women based on socially, culturally, construction and how the law has formulated the social construction, and this relates to the topic.

The first idea I would like to explore on this paper is Unveiling the politics of Liberation in Multi/ Intercluralism, in the article No Woman Left Uncovered by Tanisha Ramachandran, it is discussed that ‘Hijab’ is perceived as a threat to the community and this is seen by the two instances mentioned, the first being that of 5 Muslim girls who were forced to withdraw from a Taekwondo tournament in Quebec on Sunday, 15 February, 2007, as the officials considered their Hijabs which is also known as head scarves, and were worn under their helmets were named as a safety risk.

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And the second instance was that of Asmahanc(Azzy) Mansour, who was an 11 year old girl, she was also prohibited from playing and indoor soccer game after refusing to take off her hijab and once again, ‘safety’ was given as the reason for the ban. The author argued that these incidents only showed her that Hijab is perceived as a threat to the entire ‘Canadian Nation’. The second idea I would like to explore is the politics of language and race, the third idea is that of cultural racism and threatening Modernity through head coverings and also how Moral panic comes in place and affecting the view of the people and influencing decisions and ignorance .

Drawing my ideas together form the readings and articles and reviewing them, the ban on girls wearing their hijab during sporting events is more specifically concerned with the protection of white Canadian and Quebec culture from contamination by the ‘other’. Cultural racism is the discrimination and isolation of a certain people due to their difference of heritage. The Government has doing nothing to help in the cultural racism and discrimination of Muslim men and women, with the law they have enforced they have even made it harder to be a Muslim in certain provinces within Canada. Muslims main struggle today is the radical or extremist ideology that they are put under by the people who are in the society.

The first reading I would be using is the article by Zunera Ishaq ‘Why I intend to wear a Niqab at my citizenship ceremony’. The Niqab is seen as a symbol of ‘oppression’. The author of the artcle decided to challenge the government’s decision of her not being able to get citizenship because she is wearing a Niqab at her oath ceremony. Zunera Ishaq who has been a permanent resident since 2008, put her citizenship ceremony on hold of a year so as to ask the Federal Court to judge the legality of th 2012 conservative policy which requires her to remove her Niqab for the purpose. The federal Court found that the purpose was illegal and it was struck down.

The second reading I would be using is the article; Niqabs ‘Rooted in a culture that is anti-women’ Harper says by AdrianWyld(Canadian Press). The article focuses on the speech by Stephen Harper who was the prime minister at the time, he was responding to the Liberal leader Jusin Trudeau, who had criticized the Tories for seeking to ban the covering of Women’s faces when they were swearing a citizenship oath and he accused Mr Harper of ‘Islamophobia’ Mr stephen says that the practice of covering one’s face with a Niqba is ‘rooted in a culture’ that is anti-women, that was his reason as to why the conservative government is fighting the use of these veils during the Canadian citizenship ceremonies. Then the Liberal leader ( Justin Trudeau) declared that the government is doubling down on the politics of fear. Mr Trudeau championed religious freedom as protected by the Charter of rights. Steve Harper defends himself by saying’ Trudeau I just using this as a way to debate over reasonable accommodation in Canada is playing out again, this time over the Nigab’ Stephen claims they can’t embrace a practice at that time that is not transparent, that is not open and a culture that is rooted in Anti-women, he claims it is unacceptable to Canadians and Canadian women. However, Alia Hogben who is an executive director of the Canadian council of Muslim women was against his claim and says’ Mr Harper should do a bit more thinking about it’ she believes it is not in the State’s place to tell a woman what to wear and what not to wear.

The third article from the class reading is that of: Hearing Two spirits by Courtney Dakin, in this article, the Two spirits heritage was explored and it is seen that the Two spirit voices are integral in growing community resistance and also decolonization. The Two spirit consists of both the masculine and feminine nature, they are a distinct gender that have responsibilities and roles that stand out to their dual nature. There was lot of respect for the Two spirited people before colonialism, but this changed after the European colonization, they were systematically alienated from the way they identify themselves. The federal government banned all Aboriginal culture ceremonies in 1925, and the Racist and Sexist Indian Act was passed I 1876. The legislation was used as a colonial tool to prevent the indigenous people from practising traditional healing and spirituality. The colonizers used gender identity to determine policy, and also refused to acknowledge chiefs who were women or Two spirits. The colonial system continues to try to silence Indigenous women and those who do not conform to the gender binary. The Two spirits experience Racial discrimination, Transphobia, and Homophobia, and this has led the people to decide to do something to stop the Racial discrimination, as they believe that the Two spirits that live on Reserve should not feel forced to either give up their identity to fit in the community. They then decide to embark on Decolonization, which involved reframing concepts about indigenous governance and also work towards building a strong indigenous nation that will honour self-determination, gender variance and the contributions of indigenous women. This article shows how gender, colonialism and Canadian law are related, in the sense that the Two spirits is a gender and Colonialism was the factor which affected the gender variance and Canadian law shows how the law implemented also has a way in influencing the society both positively or negatively.

The fourth article is a scholar article which is: Canadian Ethnic Studies in the changing context of immigration: Looking back, Looking forward. This article focuses on ethnicity, immigration, and inters group relations in Canada. The article focused on how before confederation in 1867, there was free entry for immigrants and this continued until the late 1890s, and there was the introduction of the Immigration Act of 1896. All this changed after World War 1, when the Canadian government passed legislation under the Immigration Act to list the people they would want in their country, in this time period, there was no immigration from any non-white countries and this included Asia, Africa and South America. It was until after the World War 1 that the immigration policy tilted to the non-racist side and this was seen in the language. There were two factors which made this slow change happen, and one of them is Industrialization, there was a large amount of industrialization via the immigration policy, and this economic increase was a factor in bringing an end to the over 150 years of racist and ethnocentric immigration policy. The second factor was Pressure from other international countries, as racism could not be applied openly and it was no longer something they could be public about. In 1967, the Canadian government established a non-racist immigration policy through regulations that made three basic classes of immigrants. The three classes are the Family class, the Independent class, and the Refugee class, these three classes still exist till today, though there are some changes to their terminology.

The fifth article is on the Canadian Dilemma: is there a path from systemic Racism toward employment equity for the Indigenous people in the Canadian forces. This article sheds light on the discrimination indigenous people in the Canadian forces face either through Government legislation, policies or practices. There have been systemic racism at the CAF organization, and this has been going on through decision making, policies and also behaviours. In 2002, there was the introduction of the federal Employment Act, this Act requires employers to prevent systemic barriers and to ensure equality for indigenous people, women and also minorities and to maintain a workforce anf reflect diversity. Systemic racism is believed to be socially constructed and it affects employment because of the underrepresentation of Indigenous people in the CAF. There are two likely barriers to entry and equal participation for indigenous in the CAF. One likely barrier is that for a person to be eligible to have a career in CAF, the individual must have a 10th grade certificate, this can be considered as a reasonable condition but when the residents of remote areas are considered, then that becomes a problem because the residents of remote areas don’t have educational opportunities beyond Grade Eight. The second likely barrier is that of the requirement to serve for a minimum of three years wherever they are posted. The CAF has been considered part of the oppressive relationship with the Indigenous people, the role of CAF in OKA can also serve as deterrents for some. The article sheds light and shows evidence of how underrepresented indigenous people are and also some of the barriers to their full participation and access to Employment in the CAF.

The sixth article is on Reimagining Child welfare systems in Canada (Part 1) by Janet Mosher and Jeffery Hewitt . The article is about how children were removed from their families and the consequences of doing so, this children are taken into Child Welfare systems because their parents are considered not able to take care of them, but considering the fact that the Child care system has its own shortcomings and taking the children into child welfare also denies them of their cultural roots, and the children also tend to experience racism as this is embedded in the system. These children are mostly Indigenous and African Canadian children; it is a way of implementing the colonial project and making the children more westernized than having their cultures. There hasn’t been lot of information on the welfare system, but one main concern was overrepresentation, this was shown through how many Black youths are overrepresented and put in constraining service. Then all this lead to transformation, as people began to see how the welfare system worked and how underfunded it was, they took it up against the government, even though the government denied any discriminatory act, but finally on 1 February, 2018, after many years of battle the government finally announced the increase in funding for the welfare systems.

My argument is that while exploring the actual stereotypes that the Muslim men and Women are put under, the veil is seen as a sign of oppression on Muslim women and the veil being a symbol of oppression and brainwashing of females. The systematic oppression of people are the causes of these racist ideologies that are being criticized for example the issue with Niqabs being worn by Muslim women in Quebec, the government of Quebec issued an unnecessary ban on women wearing the Niqab and said that it was for security purposes, but for the police to be arresting women for practicing their religion is considered out of line and is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Human rights. I would also argue on how Moral panic has affected Cultural Racism, by first looking at what moral panic means, which is defined by Stanley Cohen as a perceived threat; a new issue or an old threat that has been defined threat and has a moral tinge to it, the media frame the discussion, repeat it over and over again, policy makers incorporate the threat into plan and agenda, they either make it real or perceived threat, attitude of laws that are shaped by this caused some form of social change, Moral panic impacts public opinion and this leads to cultural racism which is a form of prejudice based on cultural differences between different ethnic or racial groups. Furthermore, Muslims main struggle in this present time is the radical or the extremist ideology that they are put under by the other people in the community. The cases of Mulsims discrimination are beginning to get extreme, and there is little work done to prevent disasters like this from happening, like the case of the mosque shooting that happened in Montreal, it was seen as a terror act against the Muslims by the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Nevertheless that the crisis was taken seriously, one cannot help but wonder why it is that when the news comes on, there is a news about a Muslim person or a crime that a Muslim person committed. There are numerous stereotypes that the Muslims are put under in the society, some of which centers on the veil, and also abuse on women and children the veil is seen as a sign of oppression and that the female Muslims have been brainwashed. The stereotypes of beating(abuse) on women and children is a socially constructed and media stereotype and this has made the society have a fear for Muslims and the government hides under the “pity” signature. Furthermore, the reading of “ the Bilingual Limits of Canadian Multiculturalism’ by Eve Haque explores the history of RCBB and it examines the emergence of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework. Multiculturalism became a term in Canada I 1971; it was popularized by the Royal commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (RCCB). Royal commissions are the institutions that collate information and investigate public concerns or issues, this gives Canadians a chance to represent themselves. RCBB was established by the federal government , in the 1960s things, many things started to change in the Canadian society, emphasis on immigration policies. In 1962, there were new regulations formulated and the major criteria for admission changed to education, training and skills which were regardless of race. There was also the 1969 white paper, which was a policy paper that made an attempt to destroy legal documents which had to do with Indigenous people in Canada including the Indian Act and treaties. The paper also made Aboriginal people who lived across Canada shocked, and the response the Aboriginal community gave was a RED paper to the federal cabinet and this rejected the White paper. The quiet revolution was a time of rapid change which was experienced in Quebec in the 1960s. The main goal of this revolution was to gain equality for French Canadians. The Bill-63 was issued by the provincial government and this was to guarantee the parents a choice in language schooling.

In conclusion, Multiculturalism has become a term with great elasticity, which has allowed it to be taken up across the political spectrum even at its demise has been heralded time and time again. Multiculturalism has come to indicate a preoccupation with racialized others in the nation. Canadian laws are based on Liberalism assumptions and liberalism is based on “Abstract rights”, abstract rights don’t take into consideration social context, and equality rights are abstract.