WARNING: This story contains references to sensitive matters including violence, racism, self-harm and harassment
A government-funded report released to CTV News highlights ‘systemic racism’ against dozens of Black executives within the federal public service, including allegations of abuse, violence and harassment that, in some instances, led to suicide.
The internal report titled ‘A Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service,’ published by Dr. Rachel Zellars for the federal Black Executives Network and released Nov. 4, interviewed 73 current and former Black employees working in the senior ranks of the federal government between October 2023 and February 2024.
It found the interviews “reveal patterns of anti-Black discrimination marked by differential treatment, abuse, cruelty, refusal, and subjugation.”
Several Black executives interviewed in the study spoke of ‘complaints and threats’ used to punish them for their mistakes, including one person “witnessing racial harassment that led to the suicide of a Black colleague.”
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