Nearly half of the participants in a recent online racism survey believe Red Deer is more racist than other places — even though the vast majority of respondents were white.
Understanding Racism in Red Deer: A Community Report was compiled by the Red Deer Local Immigration Partnership from survey results received between February and March 2021.
Underlying reasons for launching the survey are explained in the report: “Growing populations of visible minorities have changed the face of Red Deer … result(ing) in tensions between old and new understandings of the city’s identity. Under these circumstances, the RDLIP conducted this survey to attempt to assess perceptions of racism in this area.”
The survey’s results offer a sobering perspective of how some people feel they are treated in our community.
A full 49.8 per cent of the 665 respondents said racism was is worse in Red Deer than other places.
Indigenous people reported they were 3.6 times more likely than white people to experience racist treatment by the local police in the last 5 years, while visible minorities reported they were 2.6 times more likely than Whites to experience racism from law authorities.
According to surveyed respondents, racism was mostly experienced online and in public places such as streets, parks, and bus stops, as well as at schools and workplaces.
Racism was reported to be least apparent in private business, private homes, restaurants and religious places.
The Top 3 types of racism experienced most frequently are: stereotyping, inappropriate jokes, and racial slurs or comments.
Racially, 70.8 per cent of surveyed respondents identified as White; five per cent as Indigenous; three per cent as Black; three per cent as bi-racial; three per cent as Southeast Asian; and 2.3 per cent as Latino.
The majority (82.3 per cent) of respondents said that their primary language is English and just over that number said that they were born in Canada.
The Red Deer Local Immigration Partnership undertook the two-week survey after Red Deer received national media attention for several racial conflict or incidents in recent years.
The report noted that yellow vest protesters regularly hoisted anti-immigrant signs near Red Deer City Hall. Also, a 2020 anti-racism rally was met by a counter-protest and some altercations, and a 2017 fight between Syrian students and Canadian students at a local high school was followed by racist online comments.
The partnership launched the survey — which was available online and was also disseminated by the RDLIP’s community partners — “to further understand the extent to which racism exists in the city.” The 665 respondents were asked about their perceptions and experience of racism.
Of the survey participants, 60 per cent were female and 36 per cent were male. The largest demographic (85 per cent) were between the ages of 19 and 60.
The Top 3 types of racism that respondents felt had the most negative impact are unfair grading in school, inaccurate treatment in a health facility or clinic, and missed housing opportunities.
The Top 3 ways they felt could help to reduce racism in Red Deer was having more people intervening in racist situations, better cultural training and protocols for police, and more supportive practices and policies.
The information derived from this survey was used to inform the Proud To Be Your Neighbour Campaign, an anti-racism campaign that highlights stories of good neighbourly relationships between individuals from different backgrounds.
To read or download the full report, visit the RDLIP website at: https://rdlip.ca/racism-research/
The RDLIP is a community-based partnership of about 22 agencies and groups, including Red Deer Polytechnic, Catholic Social Services, the public library and an array of settlement agencies and groups. It welcomes immigrants and refugees, embraces cultural diversity, and strives to help newcomers access services so they can participate in society.
The partnership also strives to build bridges to strengthen understanding between newcomers and the broader community.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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