Valuing Diversity: Midterm Recap

• The document contains a midterm recap on valuing diversity and includes definitions and details on related topics

Definitions

• Human Rights are fundamental rights all people possess simply by being human.
• The Magna Carta (1215) is a document signed by King John of England, which established rights for English citizens and limited the king's power.
• The Royal Proclamation (1763) established the borders of the new Province of Quebec and outlined rules for relations with First Nations people.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was created in 1948 and marks a milestone in human rights history.
• The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was added to the constitution in 1982, which establishes rights and freedoms for Canadians.
• Created in 1962, the Ontario Human Rights Code aims to prevent discrimination and harassment based on 17 grounds, including race, sex, disability, and age.
• Established in 1961, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) operates as an arm's-length agency of government with a province-wide mandate based on 17 prohibited grounds of discrimination.
• A Refugee is someone forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
• Social Justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political, social rights, and opportunities.
• Racial profiling, or ethnic profiling, involves selective enforcement or prosecution based on race or ethnicity.
  • The OHRC defines racial profiling as any action that relies on stereotypes about race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin rather than reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment for reasons of safety, security, or public protection
• Opposition to Racial profiling involves dominant groups in society using law and its enforcement to minimize threats to their interests posed by those they label as dangerous.
• Discrimination is disrespect based solely on primary diversity characteristics.
• Prejudice involves pre-determined negative opinions based on others' characteristics.
• Racism involves pre-disposed disrespect based off race.
• Culture is the collection of shared beliefs, values, and behaviors that define a group of people.
• A Stereotype involves pre-determined opinions based on a certain demographic.
• Ethnicity refers to the social and cultural characteristics, backgrounds, or experiences shared by a group of people.
• A Minority is a group of people who have a different race from the majority of the population and are often treated unequally.

Diversity Wheel Information

• Primary diversity includes characteristics people are born with and cannot change.
• Secondary diversity (deep-level diversity) includes dimensions on the outside ring of the diversity wheel, and are aspects people may or may not have some control over or are not readily visible.

Refugee Requirements (Canada)

• To be considered a refugee, one must demonstrate they cannot return to their home country due to fear of persecution and may be eligible by being a member of a minority group or risk of torture or violence.

Multiculturalism Ideology

• Multiculturalism ideology recognizes and supports people from other countries/cultures in preserving their diversity, as long as practices do not clash with the laws of the nation.
  • Immigrants/refugees are expected to adopt the public values of the receiving nation like political ideals and laws
  • The state is responsible for the protection of the immigrants'/refugees' private values like cultural and religious practices
  • The State is not allowed to interfere with immigrant/refugee private values
  • The state should fund ethno-cultural activities of citizens and immigrants/refugees

Other Ideologies

• Civic Ideology shares the same principles as multiculturalism ideology but does not promote or maintain ethnocultural diversity through state funding. Great Britain is an example.
• Assimilation Ideology expects immigrants/refugees to abandon their cultural/linguistic identity and adopt the culture/language of the host state. The United States is an example.
• Ethnist Ideology expects immigrants/refugees to assimilate, but specifies the groups that it accepts Canada's federal multiculturalism policy was adopted in 1971 by Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government.
• Canadian multiculturalism can be viewed as a sociological fact (presence of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds), ideologically (celebrating diversity), and politically (managing diversity through government policies).

People

• Nellie McClung wanted the chance to vote and mocked parliament for attacking men's rights.
• Manitoba's women were the first to vote and were deemed "not nice" if they wanted to.
• Agnes Macphail was the fist woman to be a Member of Parliament
  • Visited a prison settlement where torture and unreasonable conditions were allotted and would be the first to fight for prison reform.
• Viola Desmond wanted to see a first floor movie as a black woman, got locked up overnight for the movie theatre
  • She appealed her charge, arguing the issue was racism, not lack of payment and was part of Canada's civil rights movement.

Disability

• People with mental disabilities or addiction may face discrimination, social exclusion, and stigma.
• Psychosocial disability involves the social consequences of disability and the way one's life is impacted due to mental illness, as well as barriers that impede a person's participation in all aspects of life and society.

OHRC

• The five social areas protected under the OHRC include accommodation (housing), contracts, employment, goods, services and facilities, and membership in unions, trade, or professional associations.

Other

• Invisible and Episodic disabilities can be identified using context clues.
• Poverty can predict early illness, hospitalizations, earlier death, substance abuse, food insecurity, poor education outcomes, trouble with the law, disaffiliation, and personal vulnerability.
• Poverty negatively affects communities, families, judicial systems, and hospitals.
• The "Cost of Poverty" report, issued eight years ago by the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB), indicates that poverty disproportionately affects Ontarians with disabilities, new immigrants, single parents, and First Nations people.
• A basic income is a payment to eligible families or individuals that ensures a minimum income level regardless of employment status.
  • Studying the basic income will test if it can better support vulnerable workers, improve health and education outcomes for people on low incomes, and help ensure that everyone shares in Ontario's economic growth
  • Selected individuals will receive information in the mail inviting them to apply to the basic income pilot; eligible ones will be randomly selected to either receive the basic income, or be part of a control group not receiving payments; the individuals from the 2 groups will be compared
    • Up to 4,000 participants receiving basic income payments will be included in the pilot at full implementation, which will include housing stability, education and training, employment and labor market participation
      • A third party consortium will evaluate the pilot
• The House of Commons standing committee on the status of women decided to conduct a study because gender based violence ruins lives
  • Victimization of young women and girls can lead to immediate and long-term mental health effects and reduced economic prosperity
    • The 45 recommendations that resulted aim to end violence against Canadian women and girls
      • Recommendation 1: Canada ensures a federal strategy is in place to aid against gender based violence to help women
      • Recommendation 8: All jurisdictions are held responsible for violence against women, sets up anti sexual assault protocols in educational grounds
      • Recommendation 14: Ensures cyber security protocols to include online harassment
• Two Concepts of Ageism: research show that Gen X and Gen Y are ore likely to think about elderly people as sad and old and sick and also, studies show happiness increases with age
• The Ontario Human Rights Code protects people from age discrimination in employment, housing, services, and other social areas: anyone over 18 has the same rights as anyone else, and public servants must meet the requirements of elderly
  • The Ontario Human Rights Code defines "age" as 18 years or older, except in the context of employment where age is defined as 18 years or older and less than 65 years of age
  • It's illegal for employers to force employees to retire per the Ontario Human Rights Code that protects employees from age discrimination including mandatory retirement.
• Employer's responsibilities (Ageism):
  • Employers cannot refuse to hire, train, or promote people because of their age or unfairly target older or younger workers, when it comes to reducing staff or reorganizing.
  • Employers must ensure their workplace is free from discrimination, is inclusive, and supports the needs of all its workers including older employees.
• Landlord or housing provider responsibilities (Ageism):
  • Landlords cannot evict older tenants because they are paying lower rent, or refuse to rent to younger people because they assume they won't be good tenants.
  • Landlords may be responsible for changes to make housing more accessible, such as installing ramps, visual fire alarms, doorbells, different sized door handles or lower counters.