Black Torontonians 'significantly' more likely to face discrimination on regular basis, study finds

Black people in Toronto are "significantly" more likely to face discrimination on a regular basis than white residents, according to a recent in-depth report on Torontonians' day-to-day experience with microaggression and discrimination. 

A research brief entitled Everyday Racism: Experiences of Discrimination in Toronto released Tuesday highlighted findings on discrimination pulled from the Toronto Social Capital Study published in November.

The first-of-its-kind report, led by the non-profit Toronto Foundation and Environics Institute for Survey Research, found that roughly 76 per cent of Black Torontonians experience racial discrimination at least a few times a month.

"I was not surprised," said Kwame McKenzie, a psychiatry professor and CEO of the Wellesley Institute.

"The type of discrimination that they're trying to measure are microaggressions, everyday events of racism that are perceived by the population … this is the common everyday experience of Black people in Canada."

The data is based on results from a survey of 4,163 people aged 18 and older in Toronto, conducted both online and by telephone last summer.

Participants who reported experiencing any form of discrimination were asked what they perceive as the main reason. 

Roughly 41 per cent of people said it was because of their ethnicity or race, followed by physical appearance at 34 per cent, age at 32 per cent and gender at 30 per cent. 

"But in the case of racialized Torontonians, 61 per cent of those who experience discrimination, say the reason they are discriminated against is because of their ethnicity or race," the report reads.

As part of the survey, participants were asked about their experience with 10 types of discrimination, using the Everyday Discrimination scale developed by Harvard University professor David R. Williams. 

Survey respondents answered questions about discrimination in their day-to-day life such as if they experience being called names or being insulted, if they are threatened or harassed and if they're followed around in stores.

They were also asked how often they are treated with less courtesy or respect than other people are, if they receive poorer service than others at restaurants or stores, if others act like they think they are not smart or others are afraid of them, if people act as if they think they are dishonest, if people act as if they are better than them.

The number of Black Torontonians who reported feeling treated as not smart is higher than any of the other large racial identity groups, with 25 per cent saying they experience this regularly while 17 per cent of white people do.

Roughly 46 per cent of Black people reported never experiencing people acting afraid of them because of their race whereas 65 per cent of white residents said they have not experienced this.