Naming Our Reality: Exploring Racism in Employment

Abstract

The existence of racism in Canada is well documented (Johnson and Enomoto 2007; Henry and Tator 2006; Lopes and Thomas 2006), yet little is known about the employment experiences of those marginalized by race. In a study looking at African Canadians’ experiences of racism related stress, James, Este, Bernard, Benjamin, Lloyd and Turner (2010), found that racism in the employment sector was one of the most significant areas of stress faced by the study participants. Given these findings, this qualitative study sought to further explore the everyday employment experience of adults in Nova Scotia, who are marginalized by race. In addition, it sought to foster deeper understandings of the influence of employment equity policy on organizational change.