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In 19th century Europe and America, some scientists developed various theories about biological differences among races, and these theories were in turn used to legitimize racist beliefs and practices. This work has since been rejected by the scientific community as flawed and as pseudoscience, but the fundamental problem was the assumption that studying superficial differences between humans would reveal categories with profound significance.
Today there are some scientists who claim that "race", in the general sense in which the term is used, is a social construct: the way in which individuals are classified into racial groups varies from person to person, and from place to place, and from time to time. These scientists say that superficial characteristics which are associated with racial groupings are poor predictors of genetic variability. There can be more genetic variation within a racial grouping than between two racial groupings. Other scientists counter that "sex" and "species" are likewise seen by some as socially constructed. After all, humans and chimpanzees (or males and females) are far more genetically alike than different. Therefore categories need not be absolute in order to have scientific utility. George W. Gill, in Nova Online, notes that "Slightly over half of all biological/physical anthropologists today believe in the traditional view that human races are biologically valid and real."
There was a notable history of slavery in Canada in the 1700s. More than half of all Canadian slaves were aboriginal. In 1793, Upper Canada governor John Graves Simcoe passed a bill making it illegal to bring a person into the colony for the purposes of enslavement, and slavery was fully outlawed in 1834.
In the middle to late 18th century, Canada was the ultimate destination for many escaped African American slaves on the Underground Railroad. Many of the former slaves settled in Western Ontario, in communities such as Windsor, Chatham and Buxton , and in Nova Scotia, notably in the town of Africville . Black settlers such as Mary Ann Shadd and Josiah Henson made notable contributions to Canadian history. However, although Black Canadians could not be enslaved, they did still often find that they encountered substantial racism.
Starting in 1858, Chinese "coolees" were brought to Canada to work in the mines and on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. However, they were denied by law the rights of citizenship, including the right to vote, and in the 1880s, "head taxes" were implemented to curtail immigration from China. In 1907, a riot in Vancouver targeted Chinese and Japanese-owned businesses. In 1923, the federal government passed the Chinese Immigration Act, commonly known as the Exclusion Act, prohibiting further Chinese immigration except under "special circumstances". The Exclusion Act was repealed in 1947, the same year in which Chinese Canadians were finally given the right to vote.
However, restrictions still existed on immigration from Asia. In 1967, these restrictions were repealed and Asian immigrants were given the same rights as any other group. In 1999, Adrienne Clarkson, the child of Chinese immigrants who moved to Canada in 1942 under the "special circumstances" clause, became Governor General of Canada.
Japanese Canadians were also subject to anti-Asian racism, particularly during World War II when many Canadians of Japanese heritage -- even those who were born in Canada -- were forcibly moved to internment camps. The government of Canada officially made restitution for the treatment of Japanese Canadians in 1988.However, racism in Canada has not only been connected to immigration. French Canadians, including Acadians, Québécois and Franco-ontarians, and aboriginals have also been subject to discriminatory treatment in Canada.
Notable racist organizations in Canadian history have included the Parti national social chrétien, led by Adrien Arcand, and the Heritage Front, led by Ernst Zundel.
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