City council votes unanimously to pass plan to tackle systemic anti-black racism

City council has voted unanimously to pass Toronto's Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism, a five-year plan that aims to tackle the systemic racism the city's 200,000 citizens of African descent face in spaces like schools, police stations, and community centres.

The plan will see more money put into services and community centres in areas with larger black populations, a greater emphasis on diversity in the city's hiring practices, and a review of police training methods to prevent blackTorontoniansfrom being racially profiled and over-policed.

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The request was for almost$1 million in 2018 to begin putting the 22 wide-ranging recommendations, which address five areas, in motion.

Recommendations also called for actions that range from adding employment programs for youth to improving health services for blackTorontoniansand seeing that all city staff receive anti-black racism training.

The theory is that Toronto as one of the city's largest employers, landlords, and service providers is well placed to make a dent on the baked-in barriers encountered by black citizens.

"Anti-Black racism exists in Toronto," writes Mayor John Tory in the plan's introduction. "I believe this is an important statement for the Mayor of Toronto to make."

BlackTorontonians, the document says,remain significantly more likely to be expelled from school, unemployed, incarcerated, or victimized in hate crimes.

The action plan is the final push of a four-stage process to address racism thatbegan in 2016 with the Toronto For All campaign.

Since then, the city has undertaken a review of 41 years of past recommendations and followed up with 41 separate community conversations about what the plan should contain.