Racism persists on campuses, study finds

A "culture of racism" exists on Ontario campuses, according to a report released Monday by the Canadian Federation of Students.

The report, commissioned by the CFS Task Force on Campus Racism lists more than 50 recommendations in over 15 categories for schools to counter racism in daily campus life—from the classroom to campus media.

The group conducted seventeen hearings at fourteen campuses where they spoke with “racialised” students about their experiences with racism on campus.

Cases are sourced in the report from these hearings, including incidents of Blackface, when White people paint their faces black for entertainment or performance purposes.

The report also highlighted, that “multicultural” events often designed to celebrate diversity, sometimes hinder it, by promoting token stereotypes and not representing true “culture.”

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In their conclusion, the task force recommends that schools adopt their recommendations into individual policies. Theses recommendations, the report says, are all in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code.

But the code, the report says, “puts the onus on institutions and organisations to implement a human rights framework.”