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Visible Minorities

Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2011, Native Indians, Visible Minorities, Charter Groups

Visible Minorities are nonwhites in Canada make up a racial formation. In the nineteenth century, Canada used Asian workers in the development of western Canada, but it did not consider them worthy citizens. More than ten thousand Chinese workers were brought to Canada to work on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1881 and 1882.

Later, Chinese were barred from entering Canada, and those already in the country were denied many political, economic, and mobility rights that other Canadians took for granted.

Japanese Canadians represent another racial formation that Canada treated harshly in the past, especially during World War II when they were removed from their homes, confined in camps, and had their properties confiscated because they were branded as enemy aliens.

Canada adopted a multiculturalism policy in 1971 and passed the Multiculturalism Act in 1988. In 1986 the Employment Equity Act addressed the employment conditions of disadvantaged groups; it included nonwhites—referred to officially as “visible minorities”—among the four target groups. However, the notion of collective rights for the visible minority remains vague in the statutes of Canada.

Since the 1970s, the single most important factor contributing to the growth of the visible minority in Canada has been immigration. Census data indicate that most visible-minority members are first-generation immigrants born outside of Canada, in contrast to most European Canadians, who, because of a historical immigration policy favoring their admission, tend to be Canada-born.

Studies of racial inequality suggest that race remains an enduring feature in Canadian society, and that the life chances of visible minorities are often affected by superficial physical features and perceived cultural idiosyncrasies. The laws in Canada do not permit blatant racial discrimination, nor do they condone racism.

However, Frances Henry and colleagues (2006) have shown that racism in Canada is articulated in a subtle and benign fashion in arts, the media, and social institutions in a mode they call “democratic racism.”

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