“At Least We Don’t Have Trump”: Canadian Racism’s Systemic Character—A Countersystem Perspective

Abstract

With a focus on how a (mostly) white Canadian elite play the primary role in creating and shaping inegalitarian, hierarchical, and unjust relationships among racial groups, the author uses U.S. sociologist Joe R. Feagin’s theory of systemic racism to provide insights into Canadian racism. Like Feagin in the U.S., the author demonstrates that in Canada racially oppressive conditions have regularly generated counter-framing that assertively resists the dominant white racial frame (WRF) and systemic racism. The author also provides illustrations of the recognition of racism’s systemic character at the highest levels of leadership in Canada.