Will we ever get to the point where race is irrelevant?

Will we ever be truly colourblind?

We recently had to fill out a census here in Canada. At the end of the document, the government wanted to know the race of each person in the household.

Why?

So they can make race-based decisions regarding financial allocation, policing, education, etc.

Is race the best way to put group people and allocate funds?

I don’t know.

I’m not a sociologist or social scientist. That being said, I have my own ideas, not based on research, that I think will be more effective in fund allocation.

It seems to me that every municipality or province seems to agree that race needs to be considered when creating policy because there is inequality in certain categories.

This article makes that point. It states that:

• The 2016 Census showed that 20.8% of peoples of colour in Canada are low-income compared to 12.2% of non-racialized people;
• Racialized women earned 58 cents, and racialized men earned 76 cents, for every dollar a white man earned in Ontario in 2015. The ‘colour-code’ persists for second-generation workers of colour;
• The 2016 Census data shows a 45% income gap between Indigenous women and non-Indigenous men, while the average income gap between all Indigenous and non-Indigenous people was 33%;
• Black students were 12% of the Toronto District School Board student population but represented 48% of all expulsions; Indigenous students were 0.3% of the student population and 1% of all expulsions; Eastern, Mediterranean and Southwest Asian students were 4% of the population but 8% of all expulsions;
• In 2016, 40% of inmates in segregation at the Toronto South Detention Centre were Black, but they are only 7.5% of the Toronto population;
• Most recent immigrants were spending more than 50% of their income on housing; 15% spend 75% or more of their income on housing;
• A national study reported that individuals with an Indigenous identity were more than twice as likely (18%) to have experienced hidden homelessness as their non-Indigenous counterparts (8%).

Looking at this study, the inequalities seem obvious and so do the solutions.

But is it?

Could it be that it has more to do with poverty than race?

I know what many of you are thinking. BIPOC( Black, Indigenous, People Of Colour) peoples are mostly affected by poverty so poverty is a part of it.

I agree.

What I don’t agree with is that race should be the focus ahead of poverty.

Again, this is just my own opinion and observations. I have not done any study and there are plenty of studies online that anyone interested can read.

We tend to live with our own. It’s no accident that big cities have areas like Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, Jamaica( not the island), Little India, etc. Some areas are doing better than others but you find poverty and wealth in each.

If we focus our resources by race, then one area will get the assistance it needs. But if we focus on poverty, something we all could be, then those that need help will get it in all locations.

I hate division by characteristics we have no control over. You can’t do anything to help me not be black, or male, or short. I’m those things whether I like it or not.

But you can help me get out of poverty, teach me to read, teach me a skill, support my business, etc.

Again, I know what you’re thinking.

BIPOC are mostly poor. BIPOC are mostly illiterate. BIPOC mostly lack skills. BIPOC need help starting businesses.

I agree. But don’t allocate the money because they’re BIPOC. Allocate it because you can change someone's lot in life regardless of race.

Most of the money would go to BIPOC areas anyway.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m writing in circles.

I’m tired of race talk. We’re so divided.

It makes me sad.