Racism Survey 2022
SEA TO SKY REGION
2022 Racism, Bias, and Discrimination Survey
The Whistler Multicultural Society has partnered with Resilience B.C. Anti-Racism Network with the aim of identifying and challenging racism. Continuing the work in the Sea to Sky Corridor, the Whistler Multicultural Society conducted a study on Racism, Bias, and Discrimination during the first months of 2022. Here are the detailed results of that survey.
At the end of the survey, participants were asked if they were interested in joining a small group to discuss the results in more depth and we hope to run these small group discussions in early 2023. If you'd like to participate in a dialogue on how to develop a protocol outlining best practices for local service providers to respond to incidents of racism and discrimination, please contact us at info@wmsociety.ca
Download details of survey questions and summary of responses here.
Analysis and Key Findings
Racial Identity and Experience of Racism Locally
Cross-tabulating Questions 1 and Question 5:
All participants who identified as “Black or African Descent” answered “Yes” to whether they experienced racism or not.
94% of the participants who identified as indigenous answered “Yes” to whether they have experienced racism or not.
59% of those identifying as people of colour, and 64% of mixed race, reported experiencing racism locally - and 24% and 7% respectively were unsure.
18% of participants who identified as “White” answered “Yes”.
(For this survey, racism was proposed as unfair or harmful assumptions, beliefs, actions, behaviours, policies and/or practices that target and/or disadvantage you based on your race, ethnicity, or status as a person of colour).
How feeling safe in the local community and experience of racism locally are linked
Here we match responses to the question 'On a scale of 1 to 7, how safe do you feel in this location, based on your racial identity?(7 Very Safe)(1 Very Unsafe)' and 'Have you experienced racism in the time you've lived here? (see the proposed definition of racism).
23.19% of respondents who reported experiencing racism in their time living locally also report feeling unsafe (4.35% very unsafe). 13.34% of those who are unsure of experiences of racism report feeling unsafe.
88% of participants who had not experienced racism in the time they lived here reported that they feel very safe, although 3.19% do not.
How experiences are impacted by racial identity
We asked participants this question:
“Have you experienced racism in the time you've lived here? (Racism can be defined as unfair or harmful assumptions, beliefs, actions, behaviours, policies and/or practices that target and/or disadvantage you based on your race, ethnicity, or status as a person of colour)”
Overall, 39% of respondents reported experiencing racism in the time they've lived in the sea to Sky Corridor.
When we excluded participants who identified as white from the responses, the percentage of people who report experiencing racism spiked.
72% of those who identified as racialized report experiencing incidents of racism, bias and discrimination.
What forms of racism are experienced locally?
Of those individuals reporting experience of racism locally, more than 50% report experiencing multiple forms in most social and civic environments;
83% report experiencing verbal racism (i.e. racist comments, questions, microaggressions)
55% report experiencing institutional racism (i.e. race-based discrimination in a school, workplace, by a service provider, etc.)
52% report experiencing non-verbal racism (i.e. racist gestures, ignoring, facial expressions, avoidance, etc.)
43% report experiencing virtual racism (i.e. racist social media posts, racist online bullying, racist slurs, etc.)
15% report experiencing physical racism (i.e. racist assault, pushing, shoving, spitting, etc.)
Correlating experience of racism and willingness to report incidents
While 78% of those who have not reported experiencing racism would be willing to report an incident, only 43% of those who have are willing to do so.
