The Perpetuation of Racism in Canada by the Mainstream News Media

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The Perpetuation of Racism in Canada by the Mainstream News Media

Canada is internationally renowned for its commitment to multiculturalism. In fact, Canada was the first nation to officially adopt a multicultural policy. However, while the Canadian government has developed a broad-based multicultural mandate that includes a national human rights code and increased penalties for hate-motivated crimes, and most Canadians oppose overt forms of discrimination and hate, racism continues to exist in Canadian society, albeit in a subtle fashion.

Many theorists lay blame for the perpetuation of racism in Canadian society on the mainstream news media, arguing that racist preconceptions are reflected and reinforced through the use of racialised discourse in news-casting. For example, Augie Fleras and Jean Elliott, in their analysis of multiculturalism in Canada, note that the treatment of people of color, aboriginals, immigrants, and refugees in Canada ranges from mixed to deplorable, arguing that the news media frames non-whites as criminals and social nuisances.1 Similarly, Mikal Muharrar, in his analysis of racial profiling, notes that news media categorises non-whites as criminals through the use of subtle stereotypes and profiling techniques, and that this negatively impacts on how society perceives people of colour. 2 Moreover, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, in a government brief, identifies the mainstream media as playing a fundamental role in the perpetuation of racism due to its inability "to prevent racist misconceptions … in defiance of existing human rights legislation." 3

This article will examine the perpetuation of racism in Canada by the mainstream news media by examining three elements: (1) the impact the news media has on mainstream society (i.e. how it shapes thoughts and behaviours), (2) modern manifestations of racism, in particular subtle forms of racism, and (3) the use and impact of racial discourse (such as racial stereotypes and the framing of criminal and deviant behaviour as a racial problem) on society. This article argues that the news media not only reflects and reinforces racism in society through racialised discourse, but also creates and perpetuates subtle notions of bias and exclusion.

The Impact of the Mainstream Media

In order to identify how the mainstream media perpetuates racism, we must first understand its...

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33 "Growers are Most Often People of Vietnamese Descent." The Record 13 April 2002: H2.

34 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Risk and Protective Factors for Adolescent Drug Use: Finding From the 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Accessed: http://www.samhsa.gov. 3 May 2002.

35 Fleras, Augie, and Jean Leonard Elliott. Engaging Diversity: Multiculturalism in Canada. Toronto: Nelson, 2002: 164.

36 Fleras, Augie, and Jean Leonard Elliott. Engaging Diversity: Multiculturalism in Canada. Toronto: Nelson, 2002: 171.

37 Wilson, Clint and Felix Gutierrez. Race, Multiculturalism, and the Media: From Mass to Class Communication. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1995: 44.

38 Wilson, Clint and Felix Gutierrez. Race, Multiculturalism, and the Media: From Mass to Class Communication. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1995: 44.

39 Wilson, Clint and Felix Gutierrez. Race, Multiculturalism, and the Media: From Mass to Class Communication. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1995: 45.

40 Fleras, Augie and John Lock Kunz. Media and Minorities: Representing Diversity in a Multicultural Canada. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, 2001: 30.

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