Racial profiling by stores, landlords and companies: Are we racist? (CBC Marketplace)

go back to where you are racism is all around us I live in Canada I don't live in a terrorist country why are there so many turbines that are easy to spot when it is so obvious and spread on YouTube? You can treat different breeds in your daily life. Otherwise, say searching for apartments or following while shopping a robbery suspect in your life, have you ever followed me? Never in my entire life, what about you? I've been followed several times, yes of course, yes, and you, oh hell, yes of course, let's take a selfie We asked three friends to help us with an experiment Leland DeLorme Rory McCusker and Mark Sims like three days after Christmas They called me really yes, I was just walking on a safe path, it's not always so obvious, the thing is yes in America. they make a drink in the face we just do it in a more friendly way yes, exactly using hidden cameras no one will ever do it yes, that's cool, it's so awesome we're preparing for a cross country test I'm fine, okay , all three of the boys are very similar, they were all born in Canada, they are all about the same age but their skin color is different, Leland is the First Nations brand of Jamaican origin, Rory is of Scottish descent, over the next week we will be on the lookout for discrimination. cities that represent a cross-section of Canada Fredericton Montreal Toronto Regina and Victoria I think in Victoria, uh, I think we'll probably be both, yeah, well, I might get the benefit of the doubt in places these two wouldn't, but everything It depends on the person we are. talking to the right first stop Canada's most multicultural city assisting Rory and Leland looking for apartments in four randomly chosen buildings, all run by professional managers.

We have trained both to be similar in their clothing behavior and questions. I'm only asking about three buildings. Leland and Rory appear to be treated equally Center for Equal Rights and Housing tested hundreds of apartments in Toronto 23 percent of the time visible minority testers were discriminated against while whites were not Rory and Leland head to the next building about an hour apart how? Are you okay with this same property manager, but two different offers, so we have two? I have two buildings here when Rory asks, the property manager sounds more eager to make a deal, this, for example, has a dishwasher.

Rory is told about two apartments, but Leland is not. I don't understand the same speech, he just offered me an apartment, it's subtle, but for Leland it's significant, well, he was in a hurry to get me out. We're headed to Montreal, enough time to talk, so I'm a white guy here. Discrimination does not come. By the way, you really feel inside, you feel offended, no, I feel jealous, you know, because you don't have any of the problems that we had when I was 11 years old. They stopped me, handcuffed me and shot me in the back of a police car because they said I fit the description of someone they were looking for, but they said since I wasn't sweating it wasn't me and the guy was running away from them and it was hot that day. day. that's why they let me go, it's good that you weren't sweating, yes, it's good that I wasn't sweating here in Montreal, we are visiting three apartments, in two of them we don't see any difference, but in the third, hello, Rory is. the first six four nine thirty or I have another one on the third floor, actually, it's still unpriced, but it should probably be around 900.

Now it's Leland's turn. I have February 1st. February 1st is fine, I'm going to 9 30. Leland is the only one. They told me there was an apartment available immediately and back at the van, Rory and Leland noticed another difference and one of the apartments is actually a little cheaper for him than it is for me. Yes, she gave him the same room number at 9:30 and gave me that one. Same 309 on the 900th floor. She also told him that she can't move in until March and was inviting me to move in on February 1st. After stops in two of Canada's most diverse cities, we headed to one of the capitals minus Fredericton, New Brunswick.

What will be highlighted here is the visible minority population in this province, only about two per cent, sometimes when I'm in a store and I feel like people are looking at me, you know, you want to see what I'm going to do. Mark is not the only one who feels singled out as a potential shoplifter the Human Rights Commission in Nova Scotia reports that Black and Aboriginal shoppers report being followed more in

stores

if they follow me around the store the whole thing there goes Rasheed Polo in Minnesota made videos that seem to have struck a chord with over 30 million views we want to see if that happens in Fredericton Mark and Rory will go to similar areas in the same big box retail

stores

over the same period of time okay, perfect and while they're inside, oh look, it's lovely, yes, meet Mary McCarthy, her roots span generations.

Here the black slaves who escaped to Canada's maritime territories on the Erie Underground Railroad may not seem like big thieves, but several years ago at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto she was accused of being one. I realized that someone was standing in front of me and I heard a voice say open your backpack open it right now I told her no I will not open my backpack I have not done anything wrong why do you think that happened she saw the color of my skin She was very disrespectful in her tone towards me and I knew intuitively she thought I was a thief, we sometimes hear the term driving while black do you think there is such a thing as shopping while black absolutely a human rights court agreed with her ordering Shoppers Drug Mart to pay you eight thousand dollars?

I was a middle-aged person of 55 years old. A middle-aged black woman and I didn't deserve that treatment and I thought no, I'm not going to let this escalate to what Mary experienced is called consumer

racial

profiling

and it's not just at Shoppers Drug Mart. Have you ever

racial

ly profiled someone? Say yes, this man works as a security consultant for big box stores. He has to hide his face and voice from him because he is afraid of losing his job. I think that makes you a

racist

to some extent. I would say very well, unfortunately, the stereotypes of him exist. but these aren't just stereotypes, you're saying they're stereotypes that you think are true in my experiences, yes good Boppers, we picked three retailers in random locations, a drug market for Walmart and Best Buy shoppers, in most stores we don't see any difference, but at Best Buy something catches our attention, both Mark and Rory are in the store between 15 and 20 minutes, but as the minutes go by this begins to sound familiar.

Oh, I'm fine, thank you. Did you feel like he was legitimately trying to help? No not at all. I just felt like you only heard here. He is once again racially

profiling

. You know, I'm the black man in the store. Best Buy tells us that they train their employees to be respectful of customers of all backgrounds, but when we show our images to our security consultant from what he can see. Mark gets extra attention. They may assume that the job would have a higher chance of theft. Basically, the reason is to make the person feel uncomfortable so that you know if. shoplifting was, in their mind they know they wouldn't do it, they think you might be

racist

.

Would you do a test to find out? Wow, that's unexpected. This is your market. Are we racist? Most of us think we are a pretty tolerant country. but how well do we really know ourselves, we will have jokes here and there that might be racist, but other than that I love everyone equally, we only had a little, not that much, I actually think we are a very inclusive place with the one I get along with. Everyone talks to everyone. I have friends from all ethnic groups. I don't think they are racism now compared to other countries I've been to.

Canada is quite tolerant. I personally don't think there is a racism problem in Canada, so don't do it. I don't think there is racism Rory, first on our list, these guys are traveling across Canada to retail outlets and rental

companies

to see if they are treated differently based on their race, but right now we are turning the tables on them to test their bias racial. Now the stopwatch, good luck with the test, we'll find out how you do in a few minutes, but first we're in Toronto, at CBC HQ, challenging you to test yourself. You are racist?

Do you think you have racial prejudices? I don't have a race bus at all, so let's have you take your test. We would like to think that we treat everyone equally. Wow, that's kind of unexpected, but what about our thoughts that lie below the surface embedded in our subconscious Minds? We have called in a racial bias consultant because not all of our social behavior is done consciously, some of it is influenced by implicit attitudes or subconscious feelings or attitudes that we are not aware of. Can we talk to you about it? signs draw attention some people stop to take pictures most just keep walking hello but not Sarah she works here and decides to try our test it starts with a paper survey you have to agree or disagree with statements like this if only black people did it. try harder, you might do as well as white people, you might cover up some of your attitudes when asked to report them explicitly now Sarah takes it to the next level the implicit association test you have to make split-second decisions on a keyboard sort black and white faces connecting them with good and bad words are the mistakes the hesitation which reveals prejudiced thoughts about 10 minutes later Sarah's results are in your data suggests a strong automatic preference for European Americans compared to African Americans? how do you feel?

I mean, me. I grew up in a small, predominantly white town in northern Ontario. Sarah's responses on paper showed very little racial bias. A stark contrast to her test results on the computer. One thief says the disconnection is not unusual. You were doing this on a very conscious level, while This is unraveling all of these subconscious thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that are embedded within you. You call it racism 2.0. It is difficult to detect, but it shows up in many ways. Jokes, generalizations, backhanded praise. You are very pretty for a black girl. You should trim your beard.

Because it's more of a professional aspect, people ask me where I'm from trying to figure out what race she was. Your hair looks great, but it would look much better if it were straight. Some people tell me it's like it's them. You seem to sound white on racism. It has changed over time, from taking on more overt forms in historical times to becoming more subtle today. Anthony can relate and often wonders if there are hidden meanings behind some comments. I've met people before who say I'm an open book, but then they just said you know you look at them a little funny like, okay, why did you do that?

Why did he say he will take our test next? His data suggests little or no automaticity. preference between African Americans and European Americans, what do you think? I would say it is accurate. The same vibe you give me. It's the same vibe that I will give back to you. This is how I live my life. And what about Leland? Mark and Rory was a cool little test because he confused your brain and made you think you just responded automatically. I would love to tell you my results. I just don't prefer that you prefer him just a little over sorry. oh, he's okay, guys, his data suggests little to no automatic preference between African Americans and European Americans. their data suggest a strong automatic preference for European Americans compared to African Americans. their data suggest a moderate automatic preference among European Americans compared to African Americans.

I think that's pretty accurate, honestly, I feel uncomfortable with my results, like no one, no one wants to see that Ferrari, a sobering moment of joy in Toronto, a valuable review, your data suggests a slight automatic preference for African Americans in comparison with European Americans. Think about it, um, I'm married to a European-American who's British, so he'll say yeah, I'm out of luck, yeah, she's surprised. Will you take the exam on cbc.ca Marketplace and think this is just a coincidence? he followed me and just caught up with me he grabbed me here he pulled me back he pushed me from coast to coast this is your market I'm Connie Walker in Regina the heart of the Prairies is also the home of Rory Mark and Leland welcome to Regina it's like minus 40 something we're traveling across the country with these guys on an undercover mission when you're shopping or looking for an apartment in Regina, does the color of your skin matter?

City natives are treated like shit, literally, no matter what you do. Make another Union did this, another Andy did that and these guys have heard every negative stereotype in the book when I left Toronto forfirst time. One of my friends told me not to date a native Indian girl. You'll eventually run into this in Regina at some point. uh, you know, native, native, the natives are lazy, they get money from the government, none of them work, how would you describe that relationship and the way the tension plays out here? um, segregation people, people, uh, it's a segregated society, it really is, so what are those racial ones going to be like?

The undercurrents manifest themselves by posing as young married professionals. All three boys are attractive rental candidates. We will send you to three different apartments, each managed by a property management company. Leland, our indigenous evaluator, goes first. Hi, I'm just asking if he has any rooms. available below leasing agent say hello Mark Canadian what's up uh um? Do you have any room available? Yeah, but he looks at how he greets Rory. My name is Rory. Maggie, nice to meet you. Ask his name. He shakes her hand. A subtle difference. It could be Rory. He seems more outgoing.

I'm a pretty friendly guy. I'm sure that helps me when I get into these situations. But moments like this don't sit well with him, you know? It's, it's, it's hard to argue that it's not because I'm white that I've been treated this way and it also makes me feel uncomfortable around the other kids, it makes me feel almost like I should I'm sorry, but Rory. says that standing up and facing discrimination is not easy, you almost have to pick your battles a little bit because you can't, you can't just be this social justice warrior that goes around correcting people all the time, so sometimes you have to than tolerate that. behavior a bit a woman who refuses to tolerate it is Bevan Fox she was shopping with her grandson at Walmart when we left the store the alarm went off she says she was accused of stealing and was physically harassed he grabbed me here he took me back he pushed me away He grabbed me again and hugged me.

I could just buy my coat so hard. That experience shook her, but Bevan says he was more worried about how it would affect Ed. It's annoying, it's supposed to. I told him: are you okay? and he said um. Yeah, I'm fine, let's go cook them, so I said, "I'm not done. I'll deal with this tomorrow," so he filed a human rights complaint. Homer discriminated against me because of my race or perceived race. If that is. What you think happened, that's what I think happened because while they were looking for me, other non-First Nations people were passing by and the alarm went off and they didn't stop them at all.

Walmart tells us they have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to screening customers based solely on their race. What Bevan says she happened to her is called consumer racial profiling. Now let's see what happens when Rory Leland and Mark hook up and walk into the stores in Regina. Each evaluator is instructed to search for 15 to 20 minutes. In the first two stores there is no difference now we are putting Shopper's Drug Mart to the test. Mark doesn't notice any eyes on him while he shops, neither do we after 10 minutes. Rory is approached by an employee. I definitely got those eyes from that.

A woman at the cosmetics counter called someone else right after I left, although it's not that unusual for them to ask a guy in the makeup section if they need help. I'm littering on the same shelf for about two minutes. It's the first, but not the last, that this employee searches Leland. A minute later, there she is again. Leland stops to examine the baby food in aisle five, that's when he hears an announcement on the store intercom, seconds later the same woman appears below a minute she walks down the aisle three times and her coworker twice a minute later she returns Leland enters another hallway and seconds later Spot It Again you can see both employees floating near the end of the hallway scanning and observing, they also do it within 15 minutes Leland Meets this man seven times and this woman eight times just coincidence Leland doesn't believe it so he's been through this before it's definitely because umbrella are you surprised to have experienced that in Regina Regina is a very racist city?

I'm sorry to tell you that I'm not surprised at all, but it still bothers me. We tell Shoppers Drug Mart about Lee or say that allegations like these are taken seriously. They are investigating. We are back on the road west towards Victoria. We've seen that skin color can make a difference in how big box retailers treat you. What will happen when we go undercover shopping in Victoria? Yes, everything was fine. I had no problems in the retail test in Victoria. I don't think we stood out much. not at all, yes, I agree. The guys go apartment hunting, they go to three different buildings in the first two locations, nothing stands out, but in this apartment, Leland talks to a different agent in the same building, ten dollars more a month, not much, but one thing is I've learned from this cross-country experiment that even small gestures, Peggy, nice to meet you, can mean a lot.

These experiences are causing Rory to reexamine her own past. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I can remember a couple of native kids in high school where they always bullied us and it wasn't that you didn't have to do this to fit in, but it certainly made you feel like one of the cool kids by joining in and giving them a hard time. Tough time for these kids, and I remember it. I'm sorry, you want Canadians to give money to terrorism. What you want to do, are you ready to face racism? I'm the minority, I'm the one who came to this country basically to terrorize you, right?

We talked about this. On Twitter we are using the face racism Marketplace hashtag like you've never seen before. Meet Shireen Hampton. I'm cold. She is an actress. she ever she played a role like this before. We ask you to collect money for Syrian refugees. The only. What will change is that she is wearing a headscarf known as a hijab and a face covering Nick, both worn by some Muslim women since the attacks in Paris a series of hate crimes against Muslims a mother on the way to pick up her children at school beaten and called terrorist police call it a hate crime a moss deliberately set on fire another Muslim woman harassed on the TTC it's morning rush hour and an entire person felt the need to intervene at the same time welcome to your new home, thank you, we are making headlines around the world for welcoming thousands of Syrian refugees.

I have always felt safe here, but again, I am not walking around in a hijab. Our actress is not a practicing Muslim, but she has family members who are, so this experiment. It's personal because I'm raising money for Syrian refugees. We want to see if what she wears affects the number of people who donate. Anything helps. Thank you so much. Have a great day. I really appreciate it. It's on a busy corner in Toronto. Good night. I appreciate it thank you very much in the first hour 20 donations 77 dollars we will donate all the money to support the Syrian refugees now look what happens when you put on the hijab Hello friends, I am raising money for Syrian families thank you honey, thank you Thank you very much, I am raising money for Syrians in need.

I'm going to raise some money myself. I really appreciate it. She raises more with a hijab. $88, but that's not all. Our hidden cameras capture this. Hello sir, I am collecting. money for Syrian families who are in need coming to Canada people would be knives and bombs oh what to do our actor is stunned that is a terrible thing to say now she tries the same test in a nakab two minutes in me she said I'm about kill him and again hello, I'm raising money for Syrian refugees coming to Canada. She said there's no chance, not only does our actor get the most offensive comments wearing the nakab, she also collects a lot less 51.

She made me feel bad for women who really understand those comments. I can only imagine how many times it happens to them on a regular basis. Thank you. Shireen Ahmad prepares it. What a writer mother. Community organizer. Good job. Mustafa, you are a great boss. He was born and raised on the east coast, but his nationality. still questioned people say go back to where you came from I'm like we're Halifax she's heard it all we warn you the language is strong terrorist towelhead camel Packy is very common the first time someone said that to me. it was like, wait a minute, oh my god, they're talking to me and that's not really a great feeling, it's really horrible, she doesn't actually want to be seen as a victim, but she says it hurts more when no one helps, the worst part is. not only being a victim of that type of verbal or physical attack, but also being isolated or immediately after experiences as shireens.

Inspire this next experiment. What are you doing? Oh, I'm losing money for Syrian refugees. We're making things better by using our hidden cameras to see what it takes for you to stand up to discrimination. I think they need our support and I want to help you. So what you want to do, you want to support terrorism, is that what you want to do, that's Austin, he's another actor. We've hired, we've written the script for it based on our interviews with Muslim women who have been attacked in public. You know they're all terrorists, right? Yes, will you take a stand when necessary?

Do you want Canadians to give money to terrorism? That's what you want to do why don't you go back to your own country huh, excuse me, you know what Canada is, okay, we don't use whatever that thing is, I'm Canadian, no you're not, some people turn to look but still pass by we look from our trucks you are not Canadian I am Canadian which does not take long our first intervention to because what is the problem with harassing this woman man we are going this is a social experiment These two are actors you two intervened, you are getting emotional, tell me why that is on your mind.

I still want to see someone treated like that. I have small town values ​​and I guess I was surprised to see someone treating someone like that. It doesn't matter where you're from or who you are. What was going through your mind when you looked at this school. I could not stand it. I don't understand how people can become so rude. We organize again. You're trying to bring. more terrorists in the country is that what you are doing is not at all, sir, that is not at all what is happening. I think that's what it looks like to me.

Why is he being so aggressive with her? Are you trying to tell him that? She's bringing carrots, yeah, well I don't think you're right and she's alone and it's not fair for a man to yell at a woman Look what happens this time, okay, she's doing this again, going towards Shireen, You don't look like a Canadian to me, I'm Canadian here, I'm Canadian, okay, excuse me, yeah, thanks, hey, I'm just speaking my mind, okay, it's time for us to go in, let's watch the door we're going to, we've talked. some Muslim women who tell us they hear those things in real settings you two said what made you want to get involved because sometimes I hear that kind of thing and I'm too afraid to say anything because people who think that way are crazy and you don't know what they are going to do, yes, and what they are capable of.

I'm so happy he stood up with me because we talk about things like this all the time and how much it bothers us. Tell the people who don't intervene that they're passing by but they're part of the problem, like how can you treat other people like it's amazing that you're defending yourself from the Canadian, cool, yeah, we repeated our experiment five times and every time. every time someone chimes in I didn't mean to upset you and I'm not actually a horrible racist person so originally Ross, yeah thanks for not being okay, as for Shireen she says it's empowering to see people take a stand when people react.

I don't think their background or their race or their religion matters, it's just that you feel that support and that solidarity by having a last name like they're going to think that person is a foreigner, they can't really speak English, what's in a name? find it's pretty sad that a name is vetted first before qualifications, the real deal, this is your market as we cross Canada we face some major, sometimes uncomfortable issues, can your name and race hurt your search for a job, that question is? taking us to the University of Toronto, we'll meet The Smiths Neil Smith Allison Smith and Smith Sarah Smith Jill Smith Emily Smith Brett Smith Jeff Smith Brandon Smith confused but hey, all those names are fake, they're real, a little more connected to how they look at Michelle Sanger Alia up there Karina seagalog is Daniel Longo is Idris everyone has an interest in modern prejudice and is part of a class that studies it some have lived it well, who of you in your entire life up to this moment feels like you?

I have personally been the target of prejudice or racism, so let's try an experiment in the labor market. Ethnic-sounding names receive fewer callbacks. What are the jobs you are applying for? Most of them are receptionist or administrative assistant according to our10. Each of the students applies for 10 jobs, but with both their real name and their Alias, their resumes are very similar, although some details have been changed. You really work at Gap. Your resume says Gap and Alias, so it's not exactly the same since then. You work at Banana, okay, so what do you think will happen?

I think my listening will get a faster response, compared to my real name, what do you think people believe if they see a name that sounds like it has a last name like a Pokémon? then they are going to think that that person is a foreigner, they really can't speak English or maybe they are going to find it difficult to adapt to the position. A similar experiment in the US found that white-sounding names received 50 more callbacks than those associated with African. Americans, our students will get similar results while resumes are posted, we look for solutions, how are you okay and that brought us to the Toronto Symphony?

Oh great, thank you very much, you can't miss the diversity among the musicians, but look at the symphony in the 70s, mostly men and very white, everything changed the day the auditions went blind. It's all about the screen that hides the person auditioning from the hiring committee for the job. They have no idea who is behind the decisions based on the music. It's just not race or gender. it had a big impact from the beginning when the screens appeared now the orchestra is almost 50 percent uh women 50 men David Kent is a musician in the symphony and his personnel manager there is a large component of some visible minorities now in it now that would have happened Without the screen, we don't know, of course, but I have a feeling it has had a strong impact.

What goes around comes around, hey, the popular show The Voice does too, the judges can't look at the singer and it's not just the law schools of the music world, with names largely removed from applications, assignments and exams, it is also called Blind Recruitment and Assessment David, yes, yes, nice to meet you. Ahmed Hussein remembers him from his time in law school, what do you do? I think about the idea of ​​blind recruiting, it intrigues me and I think it's the kind of thing that would help a lot. Here's the problem with Ahmed, he can do something about it, he is a new Liberal MP, you can't objectively say that the federal government.

The civil service looks like Canada, no one can, so if recruiting is blind, if we try this and it makes a noticeable difference in your representation of Canadian society, then I think it's worth it. The boss, the Prime Minister, highlighted the number of female authorities. When he created his cabinet, a cabinet that looks like Canada, the changing face of Canada is well represented in this University of Toronto classroom, it still seems quite dated by today's standards. Professor Michael Inslick's course on modern racism. I think 40 or 50 years ago you could express yourself openly. uh hostility or avoiding antipathy towards a group no, I'm not going to allow a black person into my golf club and politically you can't say that anymore no, politically you can't say that anymore, I'd be ostracized, but that's not the case.

People are free from those attitudes, no, if we know what the problem is, what the solution is. In fact, I think you know, uh, what's happening in a city like Toronto and Vancouver or maybe Montreal, to some extent it's a natural experiment if you will. in contact with each other, so my classroom is like the United Nations, they are all different types, literally, multicultural, very, very multicultural and people are sitting next to each other, so the idea here It is not only exposing yourself but also becoming friends, the results are for us. resume test, so which name did better, their real names or the fake name, any prediction of what happened with the resume test.

I think the Western name got a lot more attention. Well, the western name received more attention. It's quite sad that a name is being searched. At first, before the grades, do you think that's racism or prejudice? Yes, yes, I do, but in our test only Daniel got more answers for his white name than his ethnic name, some students got no answers at all, while others got the same number for both his fake name and his first name. real names. Personally, I'm surprised that you assume there will be bias from an employer, that's only correct because what I've experienced from people around me has been that we shorten our names to get a better answer or more answers.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting that. there is a lot of difference between the names I think there is more of a bias when people see you and what they see I am the dark-skinned boy with the turban I am the minority I am the one who has come to this country basically you like to just terrify yourself, right to fight Against discrimination, the British government has just instituted blind recruitment for its civil servant. MP Ahmed Hussein believes Canada should do it too. This is something you consider valuable. I would do what you say if it were good enough for you under the law. school should be good enough for the federal civil service so what have we learned?

I don't want us to have to cut your name just to give you a fair chance. I want my name to be there because I'm proud of my name. Racism can be forceful and when it is, we have seen Canadians stand up to stop it because in most everyday places it attacks long-held beliefs and trust. That's just how some people are and I've had to deal with this my whole life the last hour has been a learning journey despite all its multiculturalism Canada is still a work in progress those fighting against prejudice are in our government.

I urge this house to consider adopting name-blind recruitment right here in Canada among friends in our classrooms on our streets they are we are all valuable intelligent human beings no matter the color of our skin our sexual orientation I mean, people matter, we all matter