Fighting systemic racism: DIVERSEcity joins provincially funded race-based data collection initiative

DIVERSEcity receives funding to join a provincially funded initiative to collect race-based data

DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society is proud to be part of a province-wide initiative to help combat systemic racism in BC. We are one of 70 community organizations that have been awarded funding by the Ministry of Attorney General to conduct engagement sessions with the people we serve on race-based data collection.

DIVERSEcity will hold seven engagement sessions, both virtually and in-person, in January 2022, with racialized LGBTQ+ newcomers, immigrant adults, seniors, BIPOC women, BIPOC youth and BIPOC people with disabilities to share their experiences of discrimination and discuss how anti-racism data legislation could be used to address systemic racism.

The confidential information DIVERSEcity collects in Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley will then be summarized into a report in February that will help shape the province’s anti-racism data legislation. This legislation aims to help reduce systemic discrimination and modernize sectors like policing, health care and education.

“We are proud to be part of this important work in identifying gaps and barriers for racialized British Columbians,” says Rola Nasreddine, Manager, Volunteer & Civic Engagement at DIVERSEcity. “While collecting this important information from our clients, we want to ensure we create a safe space in these engagement sessions, so we will have a trauma-informed counsellor available to provide emotional support, given that discussions may be triggering.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives Rachna Singh said in a government news release, “We made a commitment to move forward on anti-racism data legislation in partnership with communities, and I’m thrilled to see so many organizations stepping up to support this work,” said, adding that she looks forward to “hear first-hand their thoughts on how best to build and implement the legislation to support our work to address systemic racism and barriers in government programs and services.”

Anti-racism Engagement Sessions at DIVERSEcity

Want to take part in one of our upcoming anti-racism engagement sessions at DIVERSEcity?

As a participant, you will be asked to take part in an engagement session with our consultant focused on four key areas:

• How you are represented in the data
• Collection of race-based data
• Access and use of race-based data
• Impacts of using race-based data

In these sessions, we will discuss your experiences accessing government services and discuss how anti-racism data legislation could be used to address systemic racism. The engagement sessions will be 90–120 minutes in length and will take place on Zoom. A Zoom invitation will be emailed to you before the session.

See the schedule below for the session that’s right for you. Contact Garfield Hunter, Anti-Racism Data Collection Consultant, at garfieldwhunter@gmail.com or 236-338-0212 to learn more. Or register now via this online registration form.