Voices Matter: The Impact of Serious Legal Problems on 16- to 30-year-olds in the Black Community

Strategies

Asking for Help

Participants dealing with family matters accessed legal aid or hired a lawyer privately to help resolve custody, separation, or child protection issues. One person dealt with the family law problem himself and struggled with the court process; he complained about the many offices he had to visit and the paperwork.

When discussing a serious debt problem, one person explained that she did not talk to anyone or ask for help because there is no local support for her experience in her small, suburban community.

When talking about discrimination, participants identified formal options as internal complaints mechanisms or invoking administration or management, including making a complaint to the principal or the management of a store. None of the participants indicated that they had considered a formal legal system option for their experiences of harassment and discrimination. There was no meaningful legal recourse option that was visible to the participants

A number of participants agreed that using community supports such as social workers or participating in the formal legal system resulted in stigmatization inside their community.

“It is really hard to ask for help because no one really knows what you are going through… You want help, but you don’t want people to judge you.” - 18 year old

Consequently, they indicated that, where possible, they did not seek formal recourse or support.

Formal Resolutions

Most participants who were involved in a formal legal process were forced to appear in court due to a family or criminal matter. They sought legal help through legal aid or a private lawyer. In a family law context, they were relatively happy with the results, but commented on how slow and confusing the process was.

One participant who was given a traffic ticket as a result of an interaction with police did plead not guilty and went to court. The participant was found not guilty after telling the judge about their experience with the police.

“I had a lawyer assist me. It was a positive experience working with a lawyer. He respected me as a client (he did not see me as a young person going to court for an issue). He defended me well.” - 18 year old

One participant who had been arrested indicated that her issues were better resolved once she became pregnant, as she felt the criminal justice system was more willing to provide resources and support to her as an expectant mother. However, she experienced conflict with child services while she was pregnant, which resulted in her newborn staying in hospital after birth. Despite child services acknowledging that they had made a mistake, she did not make a formal complaint because she did not want to engage the system any further.

Informal Resolutions

Participants spoke about a range of resolution approaches from “just accept it” to, in one instance, resorting to violence.

Efforts to find accessible or subsidized housing in Toronto always resulted in long lists. This left participants in substandard housing because there were no feasible alternatives. None of the participants mentioned dispute resolution options for housing and were resigned to the power differential between landlords and tenants.

The participant who dealt with her debt and collections issues worked two jobs to pay off the debt. She indicated she did not receive help and did not attempt to negotiate the debt.

For educational issues, two of the participants spoke about self-advocacy, approaching a teacher they felt comfortable with or directly approaching the professor. These approaches were considered successful. Other students spoke about “just accepting it,” which was not considered to have resolved the issue.

For retail customer issues, most participants indicated that they now choose not to spend money in stores where they have had a discriminatory experience. One participant indicated that they raised the issue with store management but had no resolution.

“Sometimes you just go in a store and they have extra eyes on you or keep an eye on you just because of your skin colour.” - 18 year old

For retail employment issues, all of the participants who spoke about discrimination on the job, either from staff or customers, quit their employment. The participant who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace quit her job after management failed to resolve the issue. The participant who experienced threats from an ex-partner ignored the person and the behaviour until it stopped.

Participants who experienced bullying or threats indicated that they ignored the issue, resolved it themselves or, in one instance, spoke to the school principal. Each of these responses was considered a successful approach to resolution. In one instance, the participant resorted to violence and was consequently arrested and charged.

Participants provided numerous examples of attempting to resolve the issue of police treatment when they are stopped through advance preparation, such as always carrying their ID, reading resources about their rights and how to interact with police, and ensuring that their friends also know their rights. During police interactions, participants talked about trying not to escalate situations, and cooperating with police while still asserting their rights.

Making Legal Complaints to Authorities Other than the Police

Attempts at resolution that did not result in resolution entrenched participants’ alienation from pursuing legal solutions. One participant, as the oldest child, has always had to deal with the housing agencies to get their family’s apartment repaired. One participant had trouble getting a housing subsidy. He talked to a social worker, but in the end, nothing changed. After a year of unstable housing, another participant was able to get student housing without a credit score. During the year, the participant did not feel he could make a complaint.

One participant related an experience of anti-Black racism at her on-campus residence. After refusing to show student ID to another student barring entry into her own residence, she reported the incident to campus security. She was not taken seriously and was told that the cameras on the building were not working so an investigation was not possible. A week later, all residents were told of another investigation into a stolen chair, relying on footage from the same cameras. She is reluctant to complain again.

The participant who was a victim of crime pursued recourse through the formal legal system, including through police and social workers at victim services. The participant did not feel that sufficient investigation was conducted before the matter was withdrawn, leaving the participant with a feeling that justice had not been served.

Participants who had difficulty receiving Employment Insurance (EI) or the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) indicated that they took active steps to address the delay in payment, including repeated calls to help lines and using government websites. All participants with this issue indicated that it had been resolved.

Reasons for not reporting

Reasons for not reporting or not taking action on legal issues ranged from lack of awareness of a recourse, to a sense of futility or mistrust of processes and officials. None of the participants specifically cited financial barriers to legal resolution.

One participant chose not to contact a lawyer about employment-related discrimination. He spoke with a settlement officer to try to understand Canadian hiring processes. He was advised that it might be a case of discrimination, but that he would have to take his chances in court to prove it. Without residency papers, he did not want to get involved or take additional risks. He worried that the federal government would use a legal action as a reason to deport him. He was not sure if even asking a lawyer about the problem might lead to the government flagging his immigration application.

A number of participants agreed that making a report might result in stigmatization inside their community. Consequently, they indicated that, where possible, they did not seek formal recourse or support.

Relationships with Friends and Family

One participant accrued a significant debt and struggled to pay it off. Collection agencies called frequently and spoke with her parents. It has strained her relationship with family members. She felt alone during this period and continues to worry constantly about money.

The legal aspects of family law were stressful and expensive, even if the outcomes were generally satisfactory. Participants expressed frustration and confusion. One explained that it has led to trust issues with her friends and families. Others described the impact of watching their parents’ separation as detrimental to their own relationships.

One participant explained that having immigrant parents meant that she did not have support systems at home to help her deal with anti-Black racism. She felt caught in between, having to explain the workplace discrimination to her parents, who did not share her experience.

Relationships in the public sphere

Discrimination at work has led to mistrust and a feeling that things are not fair, but that there is nothing to be done about it. For one participant who faced additional immigration-related vulnerabilities, the sense of mistrust intensified.

“People have power and they use it to make you feel less-than.” - 18 year old

As parents, participants described being caught in lengthy or frustrating child custody issues. One person, while pregnant, was flagged by child services as gang-involved based on racist assumptions. Another participant had legal issues about the custody of her child and worried about their safety.

Participants spoke about a number of issues they faced in school, starting from elementary school and lasting into post-secondary. They experienced and observed Black children labelled as “troublemakers” or “loud” more quickly and more often than children from other races. Black children were singled out and punished rather than supported. Participants also indicated that Black children were more quickly sent to “resource,” were not supported to succeed academically and were encouraged towards trades rather than university, even when they expressed interest in university. In university, one participant experienced a professor who explained points twice to him and not to other students, despite the particpant not having asked a question. These experiences of discrimination accumulate and result in an expressed mistrust of authorities.

As customers, participants indicated that in some stores they were followed persistently by staff and watched by security. In some stores, the employees ignored their requests for service.

As employees, participants spoke about a number of challenges they experienced related to being Black, including noticing that no racialized staff were assigned to work the cash or to be up front with customers. Racialized staff also received overtly critical management in a manner different from other employees.

“It got to the point where the assistant manager scheduled me on days when the manager wasn’t working, because I was the only one she picked on.” - 29 year old

Other participants described customers ignoring them, asking to speak to other staff, or expecting them to provide an unreasonable level of service and then complaining if they did not comply.

“I faced a lot of discrimination racially at my last retail job with customers treating me differently and making comments. They basically treated me like a slave…. I talked to the company but because it was so high end, they didn’t do anything. Eventually I quit the job. … I decided that I wasn’t going to work there anymore, and I’d find a new job that respects me.“ (Took 3–4 months to find a new job) - 20 year old

A number of participants indicated that they had experienced delays in receiving Employment Insurance benefits and the CERB because of COVID. They spoke about trying to navigate a complicated and confusing system and repeated calls to phone lines that were unanswered.

One participant described anti-Black racism on campus. She was denied entry to her building and questioned by another student who did not believe that she looked like a student. She distrusts campus security’s willingness to protect her and is stunned that she can be challenged in this way.

Relationships with authority

Participants had many negative experiences with those in authority – whether in health care, or police services, education, or employment. One striking example is of a participant who had been flagged by child protection services and was not allowed to take her newborn baby home from the hospital. Eventually the allegation was found to be false and child services apologized. She resents the loss that was caused by the way this authority was misused.

“You have to be smart about where you go and what you say to certain people because you don’t know, because of what you look like, how they might react to you and how they might think about you.” - 18 year old

One participant described how negative interactions with authority affected her on a daily basis. She rides public transit every day on a post-secondary pass and is always ready to be challenged on whether she is a student. It has become a part of her life; she expects to be asked more questions than other people. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, she takes all of her identification with her everywhere, along with a letter from her employer, as she expects to be stopped by police or challenged about why she is outside (en route to work as an essential worker). She recognizes that her interactions with police have resulted in an ever-present paranoia, but she takes steps every day on the assumption that something bad is going to happen. She makes sure that she knows the rules and is ready in case something happens.

One participant spoke about being repeatedly harassed by an ex-partner, including death threats. One female-identified participant spoke of unwanted attention and sexual harassment by older male customers in her employment in a retail store. These participants have no confidence in legal resolution of these issues through the authorities that hear complaints about discrimination, including the police, human rights bodies, and immediate authority figures like retail managers.

“Government information and documents are all so confusing and no one knows where to go for help.” - 21 year old
“The idea of criminalization starts at a very early age. My experiences with policing were too early. … What I thought was normal I now realize was not normal.” - 26 year old

Some participants indicated that they felt concerned for their physical safety around police. The participant who had been arrested said that she stopped going to school because that was where police came to question her.

Some participants expressed regret in the change of relationship between them and the police, as they had had positive experiences with in-school officers prior to their personal interaction with police. Others indicated that they had never experienced a positive interaction with police. Participants indicated that, after their own experiences, they were less likely to call the police for help.

Cumulative Impact of Racism

Microaggressions 9 in daily interactions led to many participants’ sense of exclusion or apprehension in everyday transactions. The cumulative impact of these racist incidents affects their reaction to services, authorities, and legal issues.

“My race affects my sense of community.”

One participant indicated that her experiences meant that she approaches people of different races, including children, differently. She is cautious and will not approach a child in the same friendly way she might talk to a Black child because of the racist response of a parent.

Participants described surprise or shock at experiencing racism personally. One participant was shocked when racial profiling happened to her and her complaint was not taken seriously. Another described not being hired for a position that he was perfectly qualified for. He received very positive feedback from the hiring personnel, but was then told that management had not approved him for the position. Another, when relating experiences of being followed or watched in a mall, said he could not believe that this was happening in Canada.

“It was not OK. Is this really happening? No one should be going through that. It really made me really stand back and think. No one should ever be made to feel like this.” - 18 year old

A number of participants spoke about specific racist slurs and threats they and their family members had experienced, including watching their mother be told by a store clerk to go back to where she came from. Participants also spoke about being referred to by racist names and being asked by other students which neighbourhood they come from as a means of broadcasting exclusion. Participants agreed that this is an understood form of threat among high school students. Participants raised the issue of these slurs being used between members of the Black community, as well as by people of other racial identities.

“They won’t give us service and they followed us. … We asked the manager and said You guys are always watching us and you are not helping us. … So, me personally I don’t buy their products anymore and I just go somewhere else.” - 22 year old

#BLM and Calls for Police Reform

The focus groups occurred in a time of heightened racial tensions with police in North America. The Black Lives Matter movement has renewed its public calls for police reform. The questions about safety and police interaction were answered in this context and spurred a larger dialogue in each focus group about current issues facing policing and Black communities.

For all participants but one, a police interaction changed their views on police, reducing their willingness to engage police again and heightening their anxiety around police. Only one individual, the oldest participant in the study, indicated that even after a negative police interaction they remained open to dialogue with police and were willing to confront police to assert their rights.

In one focus group, the views on policing were more moderate, expressing that some police presence is necessary and advocating for different kinds of police training, effective police management in various neighbourhoods, and more community supports. This group did not indicate that they were afraid of police, although they did use words like anxious, uncomfortable, and “on alert.”

In general, participants felt simultaneously upset about the recent events and inspired to act. Participants’ comments about police reform and #BLM include:

“The biggest change is the support from all different cultures, seeing all different races marching. Where I go to college is predominantly white, so now it is easier for me to talk about what is happening and what needs to happen.” - 27 year old
"We give too much power to policing. We put too little time into ourselves and our community. There is power in community and in neighbour-to-neighbour resolution.” - 18 year old

Footnotes

9 Indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group.