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It is the argument of this paper that the literature on mid-century racial discrimination in sport is incomplete in that it ignores the experiences of a small, but relatively significant, group of African-American football players who actually chose to leave their own country - and correspondingly leave the racially-charged environment of mid-twentieth-century USA - to head north to play professional football in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Beginning in 1946, a steady flow of African-Americans began to migrate to the CFL which, at the time, was a legitimate competitor league to the NFL. This paper attempts to test a perception seemingly held by some that, by moving to Canada, African-American football players were able to escape the racial injustices they often suffered in the US. This view appears to have its roots in the notion that Canada is a 'gentler', more tolerant society, without the divisive socio-political history that characterizes much of the race relations in the US. This paper tests these notions using a variety of empirical approaches. The results indicate that, while African-Americans were better represented in the CFL relative to the NFL, African-Americans still faced some level of entry discrimination in the CFL. In particular, African-American players in the CFL outperformed their white counterparts on numerous performance dimensions, indicating the overall talent level in the CFL could have been further improved by employing an even greater number of African-Americans. Additionally, the paper finds that those CFL teams that employed the highest percentage of African-Americans were those teams that had the most on-field success. Finally, the paper analyses prices of player trading cards from that era, and finds that cards of African-Americans were undervalued, relative to white CFL players of equal talent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent critiques of contemporary obesity discourses that link 'modern Western lifestyles' to an 'obesity epidemic', the population's weight remains a central concern of current dietary guidelines. Food choices that are considered beneficial to maintaining a certain weight are understood to play a key role in one's health. This concern reflects medico-moral assumptions about the properties of food and what people should eat. However, the impact of obesity discourses on different individuals and social groups is rarely considered, although there is some evidence that people do generate, reflect and resist the norms and standards set for them, including those that relate to food/weight. In this paper, we will examine the perspectives on fatness and food choice amongst Black and White women and men living in Vancouver and Halifax, Canada. With this examination, we will challenge conventional assumptions about the singular 'modern Western lifestyle' that leads to obesity concerns by teasing out some of the social, cultural and political contexts within which people conceptualise issues regarding weight and make their food choices. By examining the experiences of both women and men we will also provide important insights into the gendered ways in which people engage with obesity discourses and the injunction to 'eat healthily' as a form of weight management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historic and systemic anti-Black racism are rooted in political, economic, ontological, epistemological, and cultural foundations of Canadian society. The normativity of whiteness and white supremacy are prevalent in social work programs across Canada despite the profession's commitment to social justice and anti-oppressive practice. Advancing conversations which seek to eradicate anti-Black racism are necessary to create equitable spaces for Black people in schools of social work. Using an environmental scan methodology, this article identifies and discusses strategies that can be utilized across schools of social work in Canada and the U.S. to address anti-Black racism. These strategies relate to the collection of race-based data, curriculum development, support for Black students and faculty members, field education, anti-racism training, research and scholarship, and provision of financial resources. We caution that these changes may be ineffective or unsustainable without addressing and abolishing deeply engrained systemic and institutional racism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared factors mediating motherhood experiences among Black nursing mothers living with HIV in two North American cities to one African city. Motherhood was measured with the Being a Mother Scale, and we compared their predictors between the two continents using difference in difference estimation within hierarchical linear modeling. Cultural beliefs congruent with infant feeding guidelines and social support had significant positive but differing effects on motherhood in the two continents. Perceived stress had significant negative impact on motherhood in the two continents. Due considerations to sociocultural contexts in policy development, HIV interventions and education of health care providers were recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does one measure 'goodness' when all ethical choices lead to evil outcomes? To answer this question, this essay uses Martha Nussbaum's fragility of goodness, critical race theory, and data from a SSHRC-funded study, in which we critically examine the parenting experiences of Black families in Canada. Findings suggest how racist ideas in Canada function as "colorblind" laws and policies that affect the everyday lives of Black people including their parenting practices. Our study calls on child welfare services in Canada to develop a comprehensive understanding of Black parenting practices, perhaps enabling more Black children to remain home safely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors explored the importance of sex for 1,289 women living with HIV in Canada. Approximately half of women viewed sex as “very” (19.6%) or “somewhat” important (32.3%) and the remaining reported “neither important or unimportant” (22.0%), “somewhat unimportant” (5.4%), or “not at all important” (20.1%). Women who had a regular sex partner, identified as African, Caribbean, or Black, were more educated, believed HIV treatment prevents transmission, or had better physical health-related quality-of-life reported greater importance of sex, whereas those who were older, used illicit drugs, or experienced violence in adulthood reported lesser importance. Findings underscore the diversity of women's perspectives within the context of their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects nearly over three million Canadians, including immigrants. The timing of the first onset of diabetes has been linked to several other severe diseases. Yet, there is a dearth of empirical studies that examine the timing of the first onset of diabetes among Canadians, in general, and among immigrants and ethnic minority populations within Canada, in particular. Design:Applying event history techniques to the 2013 Canadian Community and Health Survey, we address this research void by examining factors that contribute to the first onset of diabetes among immigrant and visible minority populations in Canada (N = 8905). Given the gendered patterns in the epidemiology of diseases and the differences in risk factors for men and women, gender-specific models were estimated. Results:Results showed that South Asian, Black and Filipino women developed diabetes earlier, compared to women from the UK. Similarly, South Asian, Chinese, Filipino, Black, South East Asian and Arab men developed diabetes earlier than men from the UK. A significant and important finding of this analysis was that the risks of developing diabetes vanished completely for Black and Filipino women, after accounting for lifestyle factors. For South Asian women, however, there was significant attenuation in their risks after accounting for lifestyle factors. The findings were strikingly different for immigrant men. Specifically, their risks of developing diabetes increased after accounting for lifestyle factors. Conclusions:These results suggest the development of gender-specific and lifestyle interventions, targeted at specific immigrant groups with increased risks of developing diabetes earlier in the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research was to examine a mediational model of attachment, religiousness and spirituality in predicting well-being in people of Christian faith. One hundred and eighty-five participants were recruited from Baptist churches and 19 from a Baptist-based university. Whereas no support was found for a mediational model of attachment, religiousness and spirituality in predicting well-being, support was found for a path model whereby greater levels of insecure attachment to God were associated with lower levels of religious spirituality (RS). In turn, lower levels of RS were associated with greater levels of emotional distress (ED). Therefore, for this sample of Baptists, having a secure attachment to God was related to an increase in religious behaviours, fulfilment with one's prayer life and belief in a purpose for life. It seems that increases in these religious and spiritual variables are related to less ED. This suggests that heightened connection with God, both through religious behaviours and heightened spirituality, is a beneficial pursuit for people of Christian faith. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Indigenous cultural and language negotiations ongoing in the contexts of South Africa and Canada are documented in two studies, one sharing narratives from Black parents in South Africa and the other sharing narratives of Métis Elders in Canada. Black parents’ perspectives on Indigenous language and cultures and the role of education in postapartheid South Africa are explored. Métis Elders’ perspectives examine the negotiation of identities through Indigenous languages in Métis contexts, importance of sharing stories in Indigenous languages, and understanding Michif and language negotiations in colonial and neocolonial times. We compare across these Indigenous contexts their complex and evolving language histories, racial categorization and repression of identities, demographics and impacts on languages, roles of languages in relationships to self and culture, and roles of English dominance in relation to Indigenous languages. Conclusions suggest the importance of nurturing and respecting Indigenous languages in both nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on ethnographic research with Canadians who practise the Afro-Brazilian martial art, capoeira, to discuss, renew and perform African heritage, black circulating cultures and Canadian nationalism. I make several incursions into Paul Gilroy's theory of the Black Atlantic. First I draw attention farther north to Canada to show that diaspora cultures reference an ‘elsewhere’ as they also come to represent ‘here’; capoeira is used to engage with local Aboriginal and multiculturalism politics. I overcome the little attention that has been paid in Gilroy-influenced black cultural studies to embodiment, corporeality and the particular movements of the sporting body, which are deployed to preserve and share diaspora cultures. This examination of the micropolitics of sport reveals the past, ‘tradition’ and ‘African’ symbols and heritage (roots), along with antiphony, innovation and transnational circulation (routes) as essential elements of black expressive cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents findings from the first national surveys of United States and English-speaking Canadian MSW social work faculty examining their support of curriculum content on sexual orientation and gender identity. Faculty in either country are generally supportive of including LGBT content but report significantly more support for content on LGBT populations as compared to the types of oppression experienced. Significant predictors of support for LGBT content include being female, younger, non-White/non-European, having positive LGBT social attitudes, and the availability of resources on transgender-related issues. The findings suggest that faculty development should address the social attitudes among faculty as well as integrate gender identity into diversity discourse in social work education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The racial category "black" is not merely an excluded category in a history of documented Western preference for "white" immigrants. Comparative historical evidence shows clear strategies to keep black persons out of First World nations, except as temporary labour. In this climate, black migration occurs partly because each nation has an ambivalent relationship to the black labourers, soldiers and seamen who offer their service expecting membership in the polity in return. Finding such membership objectionable, Western governments individually avoid black immigration. They also watch, imitate, and respond to each other's admission policies vis-à-vis blacks to ensure each limits the size of the black population they "welcome" relative to the other nations. When seen as a policy corpus , these actions may be interpreted as an anti-black immigration policy operative on a global scale. This article theorizes a transnationalization of racialized (anti-black) immigration policy in the histories of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides a more detailed perspective on the segregation of blacks in Metropolitan Toronto Housing Authority (MTHA) public housing. Proof of racial segregation; `Ghettoisation' of black tenants in MTHA housing; Reasons for the segregation of blacks and other visible minorities within particular parts of the public housing sector; Blacks in MTHA housing in 1971 and 1986.