PPA professor Lorne Foster has for years been collecting data about systemic racism and its effect on Black Canadians.

Foster argues that Canada often struggles with a potentially misleading perception of itself as non-racist.

“The dominant cultural narrative defines Canada as a non-racist or post-racial society,” he says. “Yet disparities continue to exist unabated in education, child services, criminal justice and the workplace.”

To further his point, Foster launched the Blackness in Canada project. The intention is to uncover what it means to be Black in Canada. His research methods include traditional survey techniques and social media tools like wiki surveys.

Foster says collecting data will draw attention to the root causes of racism. Although change comes slowly, he hopes that this will be the first step toward a strategy and plan for moving forward.

The full story can be found in the Fall 2020 edition of the York University Magazine.