Racism and Discrimination
“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”
– Maya Angelou
Discrimination is when someone treats you unfairly because of your age, sexuality, marital status, being pregnant or having a child, having a disability, ethnicity or race, religion or gender. It can include bullying, but it’s also discrimination when someone doesn’t let you join in an activity because of your race or religion. Discrimination can take many forms and happen in a range of environments including school, work and within communities.
Discrimination is against the law and can include:
- being excluded from a sports team
- being bullied by being ignored
- not getting a job or being asked to change part of your religious beliefs for work
- buildings that don’t allow you access because of a disability
- not being allowed into shops or restaurants.
Racism is when someone’s treated differently or unfairly just because of their race or culture. People can also experience prejudice, when a decision is made or opinion formed without knowledge, thought or reason, because of their religion or nationality.
Racism and racist bullying can include:
- being called racist names or being sent insulting messages or threats
- having your belongings damaged or having to see racist graffiti
- personal attacks, including violence or assault
- being left out, treated differently or excluded
- people making assumptions about you because of your colour, race or culture
- being made to feel like you have to change how you look
- racist jokes, including jokes about your colour, nationality race or culture.
A hate crime or incident is any behaviour that someone thinks was caused by hatred of:
- Race
- Sexual Orientation or gender identity
- Gender identity
- Disability
- Religion or faith
- Hate crime can be name calling, violence, graffiti, or damage to property.
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
– James Baldwin
76
76 countries criminalise sexual acts between adults of the same sex
10
In 10 countries, the maximum sentence for sexual acts between same sex adults is the death penalty
4
In Canada, Indigenous women are 4x more likely to murdered than other women
1 million +
Over one million people worldwide campaigned successfully for the release of Meriam Yehya Ibrahim in 2014. A Sudanese Christian who was sentenced by hanging for abandoning her religion