A New Brunswick group is working to understand the experiences and perceptions of racism in the province with a new survey.
The New Brunswick Multicultural Council (NBMC) launched a survey on Monday to gather data on New Brunswickers’ perceptions of racism.
“A lot of time it’s kind of erased or dismissed as not a big deal in New Brunswick, in Canada at large,” anti-racism co-ordinator Husoni Raymond says.
“We just want to understand what people of colour, Black people, Indigenous people and other ethnicities are experiencing, and how we can come up with collective solutions to address those issues.”
He says very little data on racism in the New Brunswick context is available, if any.
“We’re hoping to confirm what people have been people have been experiencing, and also gain an understanding of what non-racialized people (perceive), how they view racism.”
Raymond says the survey will inform the NBMC’s advocacy to government on policy solutions to address issues on systemic racism. It will also guide internal projects such as anti-oppression and anti-racism training.
Moncef Lakouas, president of the NBMC, said in a news release that “launching the survey is just one piece of a big puzzle that needs to be solved.”
According to Raymond, the NBMC has partnered with several community leaders, settlement agencies and cultural organizations to distribute the survey and increase engagement.
He says he hopes to get at least 500 responses to the survey. The survey takes around 15 minutes to complete and is completely anonymous.
“The survey is open to everyone because we really want to gain a comprehensive understanding, both from the perspective of racialized people and the perspective of non-racialized people,” Raymond says.