Good research and racist comments
The study that inspired the racist comments, and this post, is interesting because it helps folks who have a hard time seeing racism understand that it’s rampant in Canadian culture. The researchers sent off over 6000 resumes to potential employers in Toronto. Among many other findings, it was found that those resumes with English sounding names received interview requests 40 percent more often than applicants with Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani sounding names. You can download the whole paper or it’s brief, here.1
It’s a good study with significant social relevance. And Maclean’s Magazine wrote an article about it. 2
But the comments on this Maclean’s article tell the story of racism in Canada, as much as the research itself. This comment by “Julie LaFlamme” might constitute hate speech. Apparently she thinks all people with racialized minority names are immigrants. Wow. And apparently she thinks it’s acceptable to discriminate on the basis of race. Wow. And apparently Maclean’s thinks this kind of comment is acceptable. Heck.
Comment by “Julie LaFlamme” to MacLean’s article on 22 May 2009:
So this is a surprise? Funny I thought that if a company was paying its employees a fair wage, submitting their taxes on time, and generally behaving in an acceptable way, it could consider the type of employee it would choose to hire also based on the ability to fit in with the culture of th business ( how many .A.S.P.s do you see working at retail establishments in Chinatown?)
If people don’t want to hire immigrants, why should they be obligated to interview them? This is taking political correctness just a little too far. Why should an immigrant get a job over a natural citizen, whose parents & grandparents have built the country up.
I am so tired of catering to immigrnats – who seem to think nothing of trying to bring their conflicts & screw-ups from their old homes here with them.
Hopefully those who work in immigration will grow a set & start doing their jobs screening undesirables who end up being citizens of convenience, not contibutors to our society.
- Why Do Skilled Immigrants Struggle in the Labor Market? A Field Experiment with Six Thousand Resumes by Phil Oreopoulos, UBC – Policy Briefing Note ↩
- I found the article online and they may not have published it in their print magazine. It doesn’t appear to be signed by an author, instead it’s signed: by Maclean’s on campus – The Canadian Press ↩
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That’s a little sad to hear. I wouldn’t want to live in a place where jobs sunk down to discrimination. There’s a danger though when you start expecting a certain standard with companies. I believe success spreads. When something works others seem to follow.