CCPA statement on systemic state violence and anti-Black racism

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is angered and outraged by ongoing police violence and brutality against Black citizens and protestors across the continent. And while much of the current media attention is focused on the United States, these same problems are painfully alive and present across Canada, including in every province where CCPA offices are located on Indigenous territories.

We recognize that this state violence is endemic, long-standing and a function of structural white supremacy.

As a research institute committed to social justice, we believe that public policy is an essential vehicle for dismantling systemic injustices—including in relation to the coercive power of the state and state violence, economic and gender inequalities, migration and citizenship, poverty, race-blind data collection, housing and food insecurity, and inequities in health and education. We know our work is far from done: we have a responsibility to document, challenge and propose solutions to racism and white supremacy, a responsibility we have yet to adequately meet.

Through our research and analysis, we will continue to document the systemic inequality, racism and injustice that dominates our society, limits access to public services, and infects our democratic institutions. As we move forward, we will listen to and work in partnership with Black researchers, leaders and organizations to press for root-cause, systemic change while holding the powerful to account. 

It is our individual and collective responsibility to ensure that systemic state violence and anti-Black racism are eradicated. 

—CCPA British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, National and Nova Scotia Offices

Resources

If you are looking for resources to deepen your understanding of racial injustice, to share with others, or to donate to Black-led organizations whose voices or calls to action you can amplify, or that you can support with financial contributions,  here are some places to start:

• A Black Lives Matter reading list compiled by Octopus Books.
• Anti-racist resource materials reading list compiled by Iron Dog Books.
• Find a list of Canadian Black organizations and anti-racist groups you can support here.

Topics: Racism & racial justice, Uncategorised