TORONTO -- In the wake of another week of racial reckoning around the world, two Black Canadian students are opening up about the realities they’ve faced and what needs to happen when the protests end.
High school student Shelby Jean-Pierre found out early in her life that the colour of her skin mattered. Her parents, like many others she says, had to have a talk with her.
“It was always like, when you get to school, if a white student gives 100 per cent, you have to give 200 per cent. It they give 200 per cent, you have to give 400 per cent. And even then, when I give 200 per cent and they give 100 per cent, my 200 per cent will only give me half of what they have,” she tells CTV News.
She says being told this when she was young forced her to grow up early.
“It makes you question yourself. Did I commit a crime by being born Black? Why am I judged by the colour of my skin? Why does the colour of my skin change whether I will get a job or not? Whether I’ll be accepted in certain places or not? It’s not fair.”
Jean-Pierre says she remembers a time she asked her school for a tutor list and was told to Google one, while her white classmates received a list.
“The racism in Canada, personally, I believe is very subtle. It is swept under the carpet very, very often, and you don't know that the racism is going on unless you're the victim,” she says.
Fritz Okrah has also experienced this. The Carleton University student says a security guard, who didn’t believe he was a student, racially profiled him.
He presented the guard with his ID badge, which had his picture, name and his student number.
“I even presented a second set with my driver’s licence, with my name and picture and everything. I was accused of essential identity theft because he didn’t want to take it, he didn't buy it.”
In a statement to CTV News, Carleton University said the complaint, which happened more than a year ago, was “resolved through a confidential alternative dispute resolution process to the satisfaction of both parties.”
“Since then, Campus Safety Services worked with our Equity and Inclusive Community Department to design a full action plan, in the spirit of continuous improvement, to ensure safe and inclusive practices on campus,” it states.
However, Okrah says the university never admitted he was stopped for the colour of his skin.
“The cost of education here in Canada and in many parts of the world, it's not just money for Black people, we also pay with our dignity, and that's not right,” he says.
Okrah has a complaint in front of Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal.
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE
Protests have been taking place across the world since the death of George Floyd, the Black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest.
These protests have included people of all races, genders and ages. It has also sparked movements online, with many people speaking out against racial injustice.
But Jean-Pierre says “if you’re going to post about it now, make sure you’re going to act upon what you’re saying.”
“When you walk outside of your house, if you see something going on that is racist, you need to use your privilege to step in. You can’t just say it online and then when you’re face to face with the situation in person it’s completely different.”
“When all of this is over, we're still going to be Black. The colour of our skin isn't going to change because the protest are over,” she says.
Okrah says Black people need to see they have support around them, adding that people shouldn’t be using the current conversation for social media popularity.
“We all need to realize that first of all were all people. I’m growing, we’re all growing as humans and we all have things to learn, and if we let our egos get in the way of that we’re not going to be able to learn, understand and help each other.”
