The colour of system avoidance in Canada: Investigating the importance of immigrant generation among African Canadians

Abstract

The criminalization of Black people in Canada, and their relative distrust of systems of criminal justice, are well-established realities. Here, we problematize the monolithic construction of Blackness implied in this statement. Interrogating differences in African-born immigrants’ responses on the General Social Survey, we build on existing theories regarding the 1.5 generation of immigrants in order to demonstrate that those Black immigrants who arrived as children, grew up in Canada, and participated in Canadian education, labour markets, and other institutions of socialization, are the most likely to distrust police, systems of criminal justice and Canadian institutions more generally. We theorize that, contrary to prevailing opinions regarding the ways in which distrust in Black communities stems from wariness of law enforcement in home countries, Canadian system avoidance is led by Black people who are from Canada.