Racist behaviour in Toronto simply coming into sharper focus, experts say
A recent rash of widely-reported racist and xenophobic incidents in Toronto — posters urging white people to join the “alt-right,” video of racially-charged language being used during a dispute on the TTC — are just ugly attitudes that have long existed in society bubbling to the top, say experts and community members.
Last week’s election of Donald Trump may have played a role in helping them flare up, or simply have brought attention to them, again.
“We are not surprised by these reports,” said Nigel Barriffe, president of Toronto non-profit Urban Alliance on Race Relations. Founded in 1975, the alliance works with community leaders and institutions to address racism in society.
He was referring to two events that provoked shock and outrage from some on Monday, as signs targeting white people “sick of being blamed for all the world’s problems” were discovered in East York in the morning, and, later the same day, video emerged of a man using racially-charged language during a heated exchange on a TTC street car.
The Urban Alliance on Race Relations is typically contacted five or six times a week by people seeking advice and support on how to deal with racist incidents, Barriffe said. About half the reports relate to the workplace, while the rest involve things such as racist graffiti or people having slurs yelled at them from moving cars.
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