I entered this program with a preexisting passion for criminal law and criminal justice reform. Before beginning my studies, I was particularly interested in understanding how the criminal justice system operates and identifying opportunities to make it more equitable. However, the coursework throughout my master’s program has allowed me to explore these interests through a much broader human rights lens. Rather than viewing criminal justice primarily through the framework of individual responsibility, legal accountability, and punishment, I have developed a greater appreciation for the historical, social, and structural factors that shape individuals’ interactions with the justice system. In particular, my coursework has challenged me to consider how trauma, systemic racism, colonialism, and social inequality influence both the administration of justice and the realization of human rights.
In HRSJ 5710, I wrote The Making of a Suspect: Social Constructions of Race and Racialized Policing in Canada, which explored how colonial constructions of race continue to influence the over-policing of Indigenous communities in Canada. In Chapter 1 of On Critical Race Theory, Ray (2023) examines the social construction of race, challenging the assumption that racial categories are natural or fixed. Race is not simply a characteristic of individual identity, but rather a category shaped by historical and social processes that influence how people are perceived and treated. Racial categories can become embedded in institutions and social practices, shaping access to resources, opportunities, and equal treatment. This understanding was particularly relevant to my research as it points to the importance of understanding how historical constructions of Indigenous identity continue to influence contemporary perceptions of criminality and suspicion. Rather than viewing the disproportionate policing of Indigenous communities as an isolated contemporary issue, I came to understand it within the broader context of colonialism and the enduring influence of racialized assumptions on institutional practices.
Bakali’s (2016) discussion of securitization further deepened my understanding of how racialized constructions of identity can be used to justify unequal treatment by state institutions. Securitization involves framing particular groups or populations as threats to public safety or national security, thereby legitimizing increased surveillance and control. In the context of Islamophobia, this process can contribute to the perception of Muslim communities as potential security threats. This framework also provides a useful lens through which to examine the over-policing of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Historically, colonial authorities constructed Indigenous peoples as uncivilized, dangerous, or incapable of governing themselves, using these representations to justify colonial intervention, displacement, and control. Although the historical context differs from the securitization of Muslim identities, both examples illustrate how dominant narratives can construct particular populations as threats, legitimizing heightened institutional scrutiny and unequal exercises of power.
In contemporary Canada, the ongoing effects of colonialism can be examined through the disproportionate surveillance and policing experienced by Indigenous communities. When Indigenous peoples are disproportionately treated as suspicious or associated with criminality, policing practices that perpetuate cycles of criminalization are justified. Securitization provides a way to understand how such practices can become normalized when increased police presence and intervention are presented as necessary responses to perceived threats, rather than examined in relation to the historical and structural inequalities that shape these communities’ experiences. This does not mean that the historical treatment of Indigenous peoples is identical to the securitization of Muslim communities; rather, both contexts demonstrate how racialized assumptions can influence whose behaviour is perceived as threatening and whose rights are consequently subjected to greater scrutiny.
Together, these readings deepened my understanding of human rights by demonstrating that formal legal protections do not necessarily eliminate the social and institutional practices through which discrimination is reproduced. Ray’s (2023) discussion of the social construction of race helped me recognize the historical processes through which racial categories acquire meaning and influence institutional behaviour, while Bakali’s (2016) intersectional approach highlighted how systems of power interact to shape lived experiences of inequality. These perspectives informed my analysis of racialized policing by encouraging me to look beyond individual acts of discrimination and examine the broader assumptions, historical narratives, and institutional structures that contribute to unequal treatment. Consequently, I developed a stronger appreciation for the importance of addressing systemic discrimination as part of meaningful human rights protection. Ensuring equality requires not only recognizing individuals’ legal rights but also critically examining the social and institutional conditions that determine whether those rights are experienced equally in practice.
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