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Looking beyond the law

Photo: Celebrating Emancipation Day at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site in Dresden (Photo: Keith Blackwell Photography)

By

Tamari Kitossa

Black heritage

Published Date: Nov 10, 2011

This International Year goes beyond recognizing the contributions that African-descended people have made toward the economic, cultural and material enrichment of the West. It is also a call for an appraisal of racist actions that continue to impact African-descended peoples.

It is ironic that, at the height of the North Atlantic slave trade, Europeans pontificated on the rights of man while denying their extension to African people. Many people see this as an example of the law being manipulated against the African. Despite strokes of the pen to abolish the more overt expressions of exploitation, the law still needs to be reviewed to prevent similar abuses that could be seen to conceal a historic bias toward the African.

But is there any truth behind this bias? For example, the Ontario Commission on Systemic Racism identifies the war on drugs as the chief reason for the explosion of African-Canadian imprisonment in Ontario. There is no evidence, however, that African-Canadians use or sell drugs more than others. Additionally, while African-Canadians represent less than two per cent of the Canadian population, they comprise more than six per cent of federal inmates.

Legal systems must be constantly monitored and adjusted to meet the needs of an evolving society. Governments and an informed electorate must work together to overcome racial prejudice. The African struggle for justice can be seen as one against law itself. But, looking beyond the law, western societies must embrace a world where inequality – in all its guises – is banished.