Racism towards CBU international students
The chosen social issue for the current study is racism among international students in Cape Breton University (CBU). There is a general knowledge that tertiary institutions such as universities and colleges are open and are in dying need to create diversity necessary for a conducive learning climate. Nonetheless, an overarching and overlooked field of inquiry is the stereotypes and racial attitudes encountered by international students in foreign countries. Since international students face critical issues cutting across culture shock and language problems, adding racial discrimination is likely to impact their academic performance, social relationships, and health. The discrimination from language, action, race and prejudice towards CBU international students are happening in Cape Breton area. A number of CBU international students have said that they have experienced discrimination from local people.
The community of interest for the current study are general international students, typically non-indigenous students at CBU. Therefore, the main population includes Africans, African Canadians, Indians, and Eastern Asians which include Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. Racial discrimination not only emerges from fellow students but also the residents and some lecturers within the institution. Racial discrimination occurs either physically or verbally. Often than not, international students may be verbally abused, asked to return to their home countries, or despised in various ways because of their race. Also, racial discrimination can occur in service delivery, student opportunities, and participation in health programs. As a tertiary institution, CBU receives students from over 50 international countries, and this may imply that students from this country are suffering the same racial fate. Racial discrimination can occur in different forms as earlier indicated. First, students of color may be deprived of academic resources, engagement in group work, or discriminated against essential services such as the provision of healthcare, food, and housing.
My personal experiences of being discriminated is the main reason that I choose this topic and the experience of my political class in last semester is another reason. The professor let all international students include Chinese students, Korean students, African students and Indian students to share our experience of being discriminated. What shocked me is every international student in that class has said they have in a situation of being racially discriminated. That is the interest to me. Nova Scotia government keep saying here is no tolerance for racism. But what I have experienced, what my classmates have experienced and when I search “nova scotia racism” on Google, I know it is happening all province. The experience of being racially discriminated is hurt and I even do not want to think about it anymore but that is an extremely serious issue we need to focus. So, that is the reason I choose this topic as my community psychology project.
Various psychological concepts have been put forth to explain the issues surrounding racism and the consequences of racism in various settings. For the current study, the three main concepts considered include prejudice, discrimination, and social stereotypes. The concepts however are highly interrelated and overlapping in nature. In this case, prejudice regards the negative feelings, attitudes, and stereotypes directed towards every individual in a particular race, religion, or ethnic group. Normally, prejudice can occur even before getting to become acquainted with people. Thus, white supremacy prejudgment may condition the racial prejudice against people of color and minority at CBU. In my view, discrimination can be the treatment of people in certain ways and away from normality because of differences in age, race, skin color, religion, or ethnic group. Racial discrimination can take various forms such as unfair healthcare coverage, poor housing, racial hiring, and other forms of injustices. Stereotype regard to oversimplified generalizations of beliefs and stereotypes about a particular group, people, race, religion, or age. Thus, the three concepts can explain the development of racism and forms of racism experienced by minorities and students of color in CBU.
From an ecological perspective, additional factors that are associated with racism at CBU include historical factors, culture, and national laws and policies. These issues have assisted to propagate the elements of racism and racial discrimination in Nova Scotia. Although Canada is still experiencing racial injustices propagated by the historical events, people of color in Nova Scotia still live with impacts of colonialism, white privilege, and racism. It noteworthy that historical injustice may not be easily erased or changed to accommodate different opinions. However, CBU management can learn from historical injustices to deter racism and hence social coexistence. Also, the problem can be derived from national laws and policies. To note is that education in Canada is within the docket of the national government. Surprisingly, Canada has no robust policies that advocate for equality in education. Because of a lack of inclusion and inequality policies, indigenous students receive greater education support than foreigners and immigrants thus, a higher performance by the indigenous population. Finally, white supremacy as a cultural factor that hints racism in CBU. Therefore, there is a need to address these ecological perspectives to eliminate racism in CBU.
Adequate and robust data collection is necessary to better understand the intensity of racism and hence develop a policy framework that can deter the social issue in CBU. Both quantitative and qualitative data are necessary. A mixed-method would be used in data collection considering the richness of data and ease of comparison of information. The target population for data collection includes international tertiary students and the management at CBU. Both questionnaires and interviews would be used to collect data. A random sampling approach would be used to collect data. The data will be collected after the consent note has been delivered and signed by relevant authorities.
To conclude, CBU is an institution that recognizes cultural diversity as a key-value and instrument for continuity. Similar to other institutions, racism remains a great challenge. This can be understood based on prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination, and an ecological perspective. Further data collection of the racism in the institution is necessary for policy and action plan.
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