Why Racism and Health??

To understand how racism impacts our health, we must look both at the access barriers racism systemically creates and sustains, and also the impact on our mental health and well-being of dealing and facing racism throughout our lives.

Experiences and studies have shown that racism and discrimination have negative affects on our health mentally, physically and spiritually. Racism as a form of social exclusion can impede access to health care services and health resources.

• Obstacles can include institutionalized racism, whereby language barriers, lack of respect and sensitivity for cultural differences, and policies that ignore the reality of communities of colour, impacts the quality of health of racialized groups.
• Other barriers include the everyday racism related to other inter-linked social determinants of health, such as; income inequality, poor housing, inadequate employment, malnutrition, violence, etc. Racial discrimination may limit a person’s basic rights to good employment, safe housing, and education.
• Racism is stressful and compounds the feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness associated with other poor socio-economic conditions that consistently and disproportionately affect our communities of colour in Canada.

Many studies, both in Canada and internationally, have documented the disproportionate health burdens that racialized communities experience due to systemic barriers:

• In a study of African Canadian Women and HIV/AIDS done by Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, Toronto, respondents said that racist experiences with the health-care system was one of the reasons African Canadian women reported a reluctance to access health services like HIV/AIDS treatment, education, and care. (Tharoa and Massaquoi, 2001)

• Though there are many low-income White people, the significance of income as a determinant of health puts racialised groups in a particularly vulnerable position as the growing gap between the rich and poor is increasingly being defined along ethno-racial lines (Galabuzi, 2001).

• Michael Ornstein (2000) also documents very high levels of poverty among several ethno-racial groups from Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. He notes that ethno-racial inequalities found in the analysis do not derive from “essential” differences among cultures, but reflect particular historical processes including the period in which non-Aboriginal groups came to Canada and the circumstances of their migration.

• "The relationship between income, racism and health is certainly an area that requires research as no studies have actually been conducted in Canada looking at the interaction between these three variables. Of particular need is community-based research (CBR), through which racialised people, who have been socially excluded, can be recognized as knowledge producers and contribute to building richer understandings of health inequalities and to finding solutions to address poverty and improve health...To ensure the quality of the research, participation by racialised groups is required in all steps of any of these research ideas." (Access Alliance Multicultural Health Centre, 2005)

• The Colour of Poverty Campaign provides a series of Fact Sheets on various determinants of health, such as poverty, education, health, justice, etc., and aims "to promote an understanding of how poverty arises within or impacts upon racialized groups and to suggest ways, tools & strategies for people to work toward equity & inclusion in Ontario.