My Life with Racism

Blog written by Rafi Islam, Youth Community Animator – TERT, BCS.

Systemic Racism was something that was prevalent throughout my childhood and adolescent life. I moved from Bangladesh to Canada at the age of two and this is where I was educated, and learned many of the life lessons of childhood. My school which borders East York and Scarborough, was a predominantly white school that mainly consisted of a small percentage of black, brown, and asian students. Kindergarten was my only means of learning English. During lunch I was constantly being bullied by two white girls and although I could minimally understand what was being said, I was being harassed constantly and was never able to advocate for myself. The bullying continued and I was the only target, which caused me to have resentment towards my Teacher, having me believe that I was the cause of the bullying and that I had no support. This was all simply because I couldn’t speak English due to my lack of exposure to the language and limited vocabulary. It took my homeroom being changed, and one of the two students moving away, that I was finally able to build relationships with my peers and lose the sense of fear I had about being the source of problems and trouble for my class.

 I am now in Grade 8, enrolled in an anti-racism project tasked with ending racism in Toronto called T.E.R.T. The program has given me a better sense of what racism is and the root causes of why it occurs. Although I joined the program having experienced racism myself, I have learned a tremendous amount about the subject which I hope will help me make a difference and impact within my community. 

#Anti-racism, #Respect, #Love,  #Perseverance

If you have any feedback about this blog or would like to contact the TERT campaign, please email us at YouthResilient@bangladeshi.ca. Thank you!