On March 21, 1960, 69 people were killed and 178 were wounded when police opened fire on a demonstration in Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa. The demonstrators were protesting what was then the Government of South Africa's policy of apartheid: the strict segregation of people by race.

Six years later, the United Nations commemorated the event by designating March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This annual event is a sad but necessary reminder that racial discrimination must be combated everywhere not just in the world's trouble spots, but also here at home.

How does this affect us here in Canada? It would be easy to say that compared to many countries, Canada does not have a problem. For many Canadians, however, discrimination can be a fact of life. Canada is a nation of immigrants; today more than 9% of people living in Canada are members of racial minorities, in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver, the number is 20% or higher. Add to that the approximately four per cent of Canadians who are Indian, Inuit or Métis, and our population is more racially diverse than it ever has been.

While diversity enhances Canada's social fabric, it can also increase the possibility of discrimination against those who are different. This is not to say that Canada is in any way a racist society: in fact, most racial discrimination is not deliberate or overt; it is the product of a lack of awareness about other cultures, and subtle prejudices which need to be overcome.

Each year, human rights commissions at the federal and provincial levels receive dozens of complaints of discrimination on the basis of race. In many cases the allegations deal with job discrimination: a person who was turned down for a job or a promotion because he or she didn't quite "fit in" or was not considered "personally suitable". In others, like a recent case dealt with by the BC Human Rights Council, the discrimination was housing-related. In that case, a couple complained that they were denied an apartment after the caretaker discovered that the husband was Indo-Canadian. Other cases involve name-calling, racially-motivated jokes or other forms of racial harassment.

Still other cases involve what is often referred to as "systemic" discrimination: for example, the Canadian Human Rights Commission has been dealing with the issue of why some federal government departments have so few senior managers who are members of racial minorities, even though there are many minority employees in the lower levels from which management is recruited.

Sometimes racial, religious and cultural differences have become flash points for discussion: for example, the debates over the wearing of turbans in the RCMP and the Royal Canadian Legion; or tensions within communities over the impact of immigration.

Questions like these show that we still do not have all the answers. What we do know is that governments and human rights commissions cannot combat racial discrimination on their own. Changing attitudes, eliminating prejudice and fighting discrimination must take place at all levels: in the home, in the school, in the workplace and in the community at large.

Canadians can be thankful that we have never had the racial problems of South Africa or, for that matter, our American neighbours to the south. That does not mean, however, that we can be complacent, or ignore the issue altogether. We can all do our part to help combat racial discrimination, and ensure equality is a reality for everyone. We should think about it not only on March 21, but also on every day of the year.