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What’s in a name?

Posted in : Blog
Posted on : May 1, 2019

Michael Bach

Visible Minority. Racialized Person. Person of Colour. Which one are we supposed to use? I get asked that question a lot. Truthfully, for every person you ask, you’ll get a different response. And I’m genuinely not sure which one is right.

The phrase “visible minority” dates back to 1984 and the creation of the Employment Equity Act and was intended to describe "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour^[i]". The qualifier "visible" was added to single out newer immigrant minorities from both Aboriginal Canadians and other minority groups distinguishable by language (French vs. English) and religion (Catholics vs. Protestants), which in some cases are "invisible" traits.

Read the entire article here.

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[i]     Employment Equity Act. Government of Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/81-004-x/def/4068739-eng.htm

 

Tags CDNdiversity Diversity Race Language Equity Employment Equity Act