Newmarket's Anti-Black Racism Task Force is asking residents of all races to take part in an online survey that could help shape the town's policies to address racism.
"The purpose of the survey is to get some insight from the community regarding their lived experience of anti-Black racism in Newmarket," said Jerisha Grant-Hall, chair of the task force.
"If you are an institution or an employee of one, there are also some questions about representation. That will give us some idea on how we can best make recommendations to council and guide policy around making our community more inclusive for all of us."
The task force is asking for community members of all backgrounds to take part in the survey and share their perspectives on the issues, not just people who identify as Black or another radicalized minority. Grant-Hall said that it is important to hear from all parts of the community.
"We want to hear from everybody. Anti-Black racism isn't something that should be dismantled by just the Black community. This is a Canadian issue, and all of us are impacted by it. I like to say that all hands are on deck to end anti-Black racism," she said.
If the survey gets a good amount of respondents, Grant-Hall said the data from it could be used to inform a wide variety of municipal policies. Having data that helps quantify the problem of anti-Black racism in the community will be a big step toward coming up with solutions.
"If we are able to measure things, we can manage and address them. The data will give us the temperature on what we need to work with," she said.
It's too early to say what specific policies the data might suggest. In general, however, Grant-Hall hopes it will be useful for addressing access to services and policies regarding hiring, promotion, and workplace discrimination within the municipality.
The survey will remain online until March 31. Click here to take the survey (10 to 15 minutes).
