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Racism means attitudes, practices and other factors that disadvantage people because of their race, color or ethnicity. Racism can be directed against any race, color or ethnicity. Some examples of racism are obvious, such as graffiti, intimidation or physical violence. Racial and ethnic slurs and "jokes" are other examples. Unfortunately, they are often ignored because people do not know how to deal with them. Other forms of racism are not obvious, such as discrimination in hiring and apartment rentals, or policies that disadvantage members of certain races, whether intentionally or not. Racism exists at three main levels: individual, institutional and cultural. Individual racism takes the form of individual attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviours. Racial prejudice, bigotry, belittling and jealousy are examples of racist attitudes. Examples of racist beliefs are racial stereotypes, the belief that some races are better than others and even the belief that people can be classified according to race in the first place. Violence, name-calling and discrimination in hiring are examples of racist behaviour. Institutional or systemic racism takes the form of the practices, customs, rules and standards of organizations, including governments, that unnecessarily disadvantage people because of their race, color or ethnicity. They do not always involve differences in treatment. Educational requirements that are not related to actual job duties are an example. Cultural racism are the cultural values and standards that disadvantage people because of their race, color or ethnicity. Examples are cultural expectations as to the race of a company president and the cultural standard for what a beautiful, trustworthy or competent person looks like. |
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Prejudice literally means "prejudgement." A prejudice is a preconceived negative opinion or attitude about a group of people. Stereotype means "set image". The word comes from the process of making metal plates for printing. When applied to people, stereotyping refers to forming an instant or fixed picture of a group of people, usually based on false or incomplete information. Stereotypes ignore the fact that no two human beings are identical. Stereotypes are often negative. Discrimination is anything that has the effect, intentional or not, of limiting the opportunities of certain individuals or groups because of personal characteristics such as race or colour. Unlike prejudice, discrimination is an effect or result, not an attitude. Discrimination sometimes results from prejudice or stereotypes. However, it also comes from the failure, intentional or not, to avoid practices that disadvantage certain groups more than others, when the disadvantage could be eliminated without causing undue hardship. |
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While the Human Rights Act of New Brunswick (Canada) does not prohibit racial prejudices and stereotypes, it prohibits racial discrimination. Discrimination based on race, colour, religion, national origin, place of origin, ancestry, as well as several other grounds, is prohibited in the following activities (assuming the employer, service provider, association or owner falls under provincial jurisdiction):
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First of all, speak out against racism. Otherwise, your silence may be interpreted as tacit approval of discrimination. You have the right, as well as the responsibility, to speak out. If you are a victim of discrimination in New Brunswick, Canada, you can file a complaint with the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission. If another person files a complaint, you can support him or her by cooperating with the investigating officer. In addition, you can stop racism in the following ways: In the community:
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Here is a small sample of the websites on stopping racism. Most are Canadian:
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