Key concepts

The subconscious and conscious beliefs, biases, and feelings a person has that affects how they interact with and perceive others. Racism can range from biases and microaggressions to slurs, physical violence, and attacks. 

Racism can come in many forms but often stems from myths, false stereotypes, and a lack of education. 

All forms of racism involve assigning or taking away privilege, access, or value based on someone’s race or ethnicity. Racism is often used to categorize or separate people into groups, which can result in exclusion, physical and emotional harm, or dehumanization, and has been a tool to influence public and foreign policy and specific agendas. 

Racism is more than a harmful act. It can impact people’s health, safety, ability to work, play, live, and even exist in society. It can also be subtle and, at times, inadvertent. Recognizing racism can be difficult, but it’s important to approach it with an open mind, acknowledging your biases, prejudices, and mistakes, and commit to educating yourself and asking questions.

You can find a detailed overview of racism on the Canadian Human Rights Commission website. You can also view the video below created by RISE for more information related to racism, including interpersonal racism and systemic racism.

The implicit or explicit rules, regulations, policies, practices, procedures, or laws that limit certain groups’ equal access to services opportunities, or spaces because of their race. The words systemic and structural are often used interchangeably and mean the same thing. 

Systemic racism is about the systems in Canada that allow people of European origin to maintain power by excluding other racial groups. These systems include things like healthcare, education, employment, child welfare, our judicial system, and much more. 

Even though the impacts of systemic racism are clear, it can be difficult to see systemic racism because it's so interwoven in our culture. The Honourable Murray Sinclair, lawyer and former member of the Canadian Senate, explains the term by stating "systemic racism is the racism that's left over after you get rid of the racists." An article written by Takwa Souissi for the Canadian Encyclopedia provides valuable insights into understanding systemic racism in Canada. 

The following image of an iceberg illustrates some of the less visible aspects of systemic racism below the water's surface.

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Discrimination has been defined as the differential treatment of people based on race, religion, caste, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and socioeconomic status with the intention of inflicting harm. The harm might be violent or physical, but it can also involve restricting access to resources, jobs, and a fair quality of life. A detailed explanation of discrimination and the varied forms it takes can be found on the Canadian Human Rights Commission website.

This image depicts the "pyramid of hate," illustrating the various levels of actions and behaviors stemming from prejudice and bias. It clearly shows how hate can escalate into violence and highlights that seemingly "harmless" jokes, words, or attitudes can grow into more harmful behaviors. It is important to recognize how individuals can contribute to these behaviours, which can evolve into structural and institutional issues. 

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Graphic sourced from the Anti-Defemation League. 

According to the Ontario Human Rights commission, Ableism refers to attitudes in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities. Ableism refers to the prejudices, beliefs, and harmful attitudes or behaviours directed toward people with disabilities, often based on the belief that enabled individuals are superior. 

This type of hate manifests in two ways. On an individual level, hate and intolerance lead to harassment, harmful language, slurs, and violence. On a systemic level, Ableism creates cultural and social barriers, resulting in unequal access to employment, public and private spaces, and barriers to inclusion and meaningful participation in society. 

Ableism stems from a lack of education, stereotypes, and implicit biases about individuals with different physical, mental, or intellectual disabilities. This definition includes not only those with physical or mental impairments but also those with severe or chronic illnesses, cognitive challenges, and sensory or emotional challenges. 

You can find a foundational explanation of Ableism on the  Ontario Human Rights Commission’s website. 

Anti-Asian racism became more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic, but racism against East-Asian communities has long persisted on a historical, cultural, and systemic level. 

Historically, discriminatory practices such as the Chinese Head Tax and the Japanese Canadian detentions have contributed to systemic exclusion. Examples include mocking Asian language and food, appropriating cultural clothing and traditions, and generalizing, such as assuming all Asians are Chinese. 

East Asians represent many countries, communities, and peoples, each with their own cultural customs, clothing, language, and unique heritage. East-Asian communities have seldom been included in anti-racism discourse, despite experiencing higher-than-ever levels of hate-incidents and harassment.  

For more on xenophobia and anti-Asian racism in Canada, explore this article by Shibao Guo and Yan Guo. 

Anti-Black racism describes the attitudes, actions, stereotyping, and discrimination targeted at people of African, Black, or Caribbean descent. These individual beliefs and biases have also become embedded in decades of systemic racism. This continues to be upheld by institutions and public and private spaces through racist and exclusionary policies and practices. 

Anti-Black racism is rooted in the history of colonialism and slavery, and the belief of “Blackness” as inferior in all aspects. Perpetuated stereotypes, generalizations, fetishizing, and cultural appropriation have all contributed to harmful attitudes and beliefs about Black culture, people, and traditions in media, schools, healthcare, and popculture. It has also manifested through harmful language and rhetoric, hate speech, violence, overrepresentation in incarceration and the justice system, and unequal access to employment, housing, healthcare, and other opportunities. 

Learn more by reviewing the The Pervasive Reality of Anti-Black Racism in Canada.  

Learn more by reviewing the Facts about Anti-Black Hate document developed by WeBridge Community Services. 

Historically, Indigenous peoples have been violently displaced from their lands. As Peoples, they have suffered from systematic indoctrination from colonial white settlers, leading to the erasure of their history, culture, and ways of life. In Canada, the legacy and impact of Residential Schools remain. 

Today, anti-Indigenous racism manifests through stereotyping or characterizing, which is especially apparent in institutions and public spaces. It manifests through the denial of and equal access to healthcare, education, and social inclusion. Indigenous communities continue to suffer from systemic racism through a lack of access and quality of vital services such as clean drinking water, housing, employment, and healthcare.  

Learn more about systemic anti-Indigenous racism in Canada by reviewing this article by Lisa Howell and Nicholas Ng-A-Fook.

Antisemitism is defined as the prejudice, hatred, intolerance, or discrimination against and towards Jewish people as a racial, religious, or ethno-cultural group. 

Historically, hatred against Jewish people was magnified during the Holocaust, which involved the persecution, genocide and overly negative and cynical portrayal of Jewish people. Since then, it has persisted through stereotypes and generalizations, as well as rallying of violence or vilification in media, religious circles, and pop culture. 

Many think tanks, organizations, and groups have created varying definitions of Antisemitism. You can explore some of these definitions by reviewing the T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights's website.

Anti-Palestinian racism refers to the systemic and interpersonal discrimination, prejudice, and violence directed to Palestinians, and those perceived to be Palestinian. 

While the use of the term is new, Palestinian persecution and bias have long been rooted in historical, political, social, and cultural contexts since before the events of the Nakba, which contributes to ongoing tensions and discrimination. Racism in this context manifests in a variety of ways, including persecution, genocide, violence, threats, intimidation, discrimination, social and economic inequality, restricted movement and displacement, and cultural erasure. This type of racism has been highly political in nature, and Palestinians as both a people, and a group, have often been framed with a negative bias, misrepresentation, and conflation with other religious, social, cultural, and economic beliefs. 

Anti-Palestinian racism is highly intersectional with Islamophobia, but it is important to note that Palestinians are a diverse group of people with various religions, languages, and cultures. Explore more about efforts to establish an official definition for the term here.  

Islamophobia, “Anti-Muslim” or anti-Islam sentiment is the fear, hatred, and violent predisposition towards Muslims or those visually perceived to be Muslim, through means of physical attack, hate speech, discrimination, harassment, and threats. It permeates both on an individual and systemic level, and often comes out through biases, ignorance, stereotyping, and perceived beliefs. 

It is a term that came into popular political discourse during the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, though the othering and negative depiction of Islam and Muslims as uncivilized and barbaric was used by Europeans in the Middle Ages to support and incite colonialism. 

Islamophobia has long manifested in various forms, motivated by hostility and attacks from institutional, political, religious, cultural, and social sources. It is often perpetuated in the news, media, pop culture, and think-tanks to further political and strategic agendas, such as increased surveillance or changes in foreign and domestic policy. 

Islamophobia uniquely targets not only Muslims but also those who may be perceived to be Muslim, including women who wear scarves, Sikhs, Arabs, and South Asians who do not practice Islam. 

Source: Georgetown University

Among the various communities, this type of hate stems from an aversion, opposition, hatred, or intolerance of the specific identity. 

Historically, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals have experienced both verbal and physical acts of violence, as well as removal from mass media, and limited from equal participation in society on a legal and structural level, including things like healthcare access, and through exclusionary laws and regulations. This includes discrimination, assault, exclusion, and harassment. 

These communities often face micro-aggressions, slurs, or inappropriate slang and harmful words. There are many misconceptions about these communities, each of which has unique understandings and ways of expressing their identity.