Short films cast light on ugly truth
One disturbing theme arose during the premiere of Work for All, a collection of six Canadian short films about racism in the workplace at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in Toronto last month. Discrimination based on race is alive and thriving in companies across Canada.
Each of the six films put the spotlight on systemic racism in action, with first-hand accounts of how it impacts visible minorities looking for work or on the job — in subtle and not so subtle ways.
The event was hosted by NFB’s CitizenShift, a website dedicated to social change, in partnership with Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC).
Raising awareness about racism in the workplace is more than half the battle, said Paul de Silva, Toronto-based diversity consultant, executive director of the International Council for Diversity in Film and Television and moderator of the panel discussion that followed the screening.
He quit his job as a human rights investigator years ago to raise more awareness about racism through media.
“There’s an assumption in Canada that because we’ve said racism is bad that it has gone away and, unfortunately, it hasn’t. It’s a reality that’s embedded in the system in ways we can’t see or don’t know about,” said de Silva. “And if we don’t deal with it directly, there will be a price to pay in terms of both the economy and social dysfunction.”
It is critical for business to address this issue because Statistics Canada predicts, by 2011, all of the growth in the labour market will come from newcomers to Canada.
The federal government, for example, is rife with racism, said Ayman Al-Yassini, executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Federation in Toronto. Less than two months ago, Nova Scotia senator Donald Oliver and the Public Service Alliance of Canada publicly charged racism was blocking visible minorities from being properly represented in the federal public service
“Hiring, retention and promotion of members of racial communities have not been approached vigorously by Canadian companies or the government,” said Al-Yassini.
A senate committee hearing was told earlier this year by Mark Persaud, a former lawyer with Justice Canada, the department is a “very poisonous, toxic department” that drives away visible minorities, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
It’s important not to take a finger-pointing approach to the issue, said Al-Yassini.
“What we need to do is create awareness and sensitize individuals, including HR professionals, about the issues and make sure workplace equity and anti-racism training become integrated at institutions.”
Raising company conscience
Eliminating racism is the most challenging facet of a company-wide diversity program, said Cam Stewart, president of Kanata Intercultural Consulting in Calgary. But simply raising the organizational conscience can make a huge difference.
“Put a diversity lens on and you just see things differently,” said Stewart, who played a major consulting role in getting the federal government’s new Racism-Free Workplace Strategy off the ground in the West.
Free advice and consulting from nine “racism prevention officers” across Canada is now available to all federally regulated companies looking to address diversity issues, including race relations, in the workplace. The program was initiated in 2005 after the labour program at HRSDC noted incidents of racism were on the rise.
An inclusive workplace culture starts with conducting an examination of the workforce, as well as the workplace, said Stewart.
Organizations shouldn’t let numbers fool them — just because an organization has a high level of employees who are visible minorities doesn’t mean it’s free from racism, said Stewart.
“We think we’re doing well, because we have blinders on. You need to dig deep and see who is vulnerable in your companies,” he said.
“In many workplaces, all the visible minorities are working mostly on the front lines. And in my analysis, most organizations have a high churn factor because of the way they are doing business. But if they really ask questions, like why are people leaving or who is being promoted, they can see the organizational culture is to blame. And that’s the crux. Today this is so important because we can’t afford to lose people.”
Diversity should be part of DNA
Some organizations only institute anti-racism and diversity training as part of the appeasement stage because they are forced to, often by a human rights tribunal ruling, said Hamlin Grange, president of DiversiPro, a Toronto-based consultancy, and member of the panel at the Work for All screening.
“They are not progressing to the next level, which is where I believe they need to go — to see diversity and inclusion as part of a core value, so that it becomes the very DNA of an organization,” said Grange.
The six short films can be viewed online at http://citizen.nfb.ca/work-all-stop-racism-workplace.
Lesley Young is a Newmarket, Ont.-based freelance writer.
Each of the six films put the spotlight on systemic racism in action, with first-hand accounts of how it impacts visible minorities looking for work or on the job — in subtle and not so subtle ways.
The event was hosted by NFB’s CitizenShift, a website dedicated to social change, in partnership with Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC).
Raising awareness about racism in the workplace is more than half the battle, said Paul de Silva, Toronto-based diversity consultant, executive director of the International Council for Diversity in Film and Television and moderator of the panel discussion that followed the screening.
He quit his job as a human rights investigator years ago to raise more awareness about racism through media.
“There’s an assumption in Canada that because we’ve said racism is bad that it has gone away and, unfortunately, it hasn’t. It’s a reality that’s embedded in the system in ways we can’t see or don’t know about,” said de Silva. “And if we don’t deal with it directly, there will be a price to pay in terms of both the economy and social dysfunction.”
It is critical for business to address this issue because Statistics Canada predicts, by 2011, all of the growth in the labour market will come from newcomers to Canada.
The federal government, for example, is rife with racism, said Ayman Al-Yassini, executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Federation in Toronto. Less than two months ago, Nova Scotia senator Donald Oliver and the Public Service Alliance of Canada publicly charged racism was blocking visible minorities from being properly represented in the federal public service
“Hiring, retention and promotion of members of racial communities have not been approached vigorously by Canadian companies or the government,” said Al-Yassini.
A senate committee hearing was told earlier this year by Mark Persaud, a former lawyer with Justice Canada, the department is a “very poisonous, toxic department” that drives away visible minorities, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
It’s important not to take a finger-pointing approach to the issue, said Al-Yassini.
“What we need to do is create awareness and sensitize individuals, including HR professionals, about the issues and make sure workplace equity and anti-racism training become integrated at institutions.”
Raising company conscience
Eliminating racism is the most challenging facet of a company-wide diversity program, said Cam Stewart, president of Kanata Intercultural Consulting in Calgary. But simply raising the organizational conscience can make a huge difference.
“Put a diversity lens on and you just see things differently,” said Stewart, who played a major consulting role in getting the federal government’s new Racism-Free Workplace Strategy off the ground in the West.
Free advice and consulting from nine “racism prevention officers” across Canada is now available to all federally regulated companies looking to address diversity issues, including race relations, in the workplace. The program was initiated in 2005 after the labour program at HRSDC noted incidents of racism were on the rise.
An inclusive workplace culture starts with conducting an examination of the workforce, as well as the workplace, said Stewart.
Organizations shouldn’t let numbers fool them — just because an organization has a high level of employees who are visible minorities doesn’t mean it’s free from racism, said Stewart.
“We think we’re doing well, because we have blinders on. You need to dig deep and see who is vulnerable in your companies,” he said.
“In many workplaces, all the visible minorities are working mostly on the front lines. And in my analysis, most organizations have a high churn factor because of the way they are doing business. But if they really ask questions, like why are people leaving or who is being promoted, they can see the organizational culture is to blame. And that’s the crux. Today this is so important because we can’t afford to lose people.”
Diversity should be part of DNA
Some organizations only institute anti-racism and diversity training as part of the appeasement stage because they are forced to, often by a human rights tribunal ruling, said Hamlin Grange, president of DiversiPro, a Toronto-based consultancy, and member of the panel at the Work for All screening.
“They are not progressing to the next level, which is where I believe they need to go — to see diversity and inclusion as part of a core value, so that it becomes the very DNA of an organization,” said Grange.
The six short films can be viewed online at http://citizen.nfb.ca/work-all-stop-racism-workplace.
Lesley Young is a Newmarket, Ont.-based freelance writer.
