Nov 16: International Day for Tolerance
From Awareness to Action: Defending Diversity in a Divided World
The International Day for Tolerance, observed every year on November 16, is a global call to reaffirm our collective commitment to respect, inclusion, and human dignity. Established by UNESCO in 1995, the day urges communities, governments, and institutions to counter intolerance in all its forms, racism, xenophobia, religious persecution, homophobia, ableism, and more. In 2025, as polarization, hate-fueled violence, and social fragmentation rise across the globe, this observance serves as both a warning and a rallying cry: tolerance is not passive acceptance - it is active resistance to injustice.
In Alberta, intolerance does not always arrive with dramatic headlines, but it lives in everyday interactions and institutional systems. It is found in discriminatory hiring practices, in anti-immigrant rhetoric, in the underfunding of Indigenous programs, in the exclusion of queer youth, and in the marginalization of people with disabilities. While hate crimes have risen across Canada in recent years, the deeper harm is often quieter, rooted in systemic inequities and sustained by silence.
Why This Day Matters
Tolerance is more than peaceful coexistence; it is foundational to a just society. It is the recognition that diversity, of race, faith, culture, ability, and identity, is not a problem to be managed but a strength to be celebrated. In Alberta, where communities continue to grow more diverse, intolerance undermines social cohesion and deepens disparities across education, health care, employment, and housing.
Racialized and religious minorities, Indigenous peoples, 2SLGBTQ+ communities, immigrants, and persons with disabilities continue to report higher rates of exclusion, harassment, and institutional neglect. For many, the consequences of intolerance are material, lower incomes, poorer health outcomes, limited access to services, and psychological, contributing to chronic stress, anxiety, and social isolation.
Education systems often fail to teach the true histories of colonization, slavery, or residential schools. Media narratives regularly exclude or misrepresent minority communities. Political discourse increasingly frames diversity as a threat rather than a strength. These dynamics are not accidental; they are produced and reproduced through policy, practice, and prejudice.
The Role and Responsibility of Social Workers
Social workers in Alberta are at the forefront of the struggle against intolerance. They work in schools addressing racism and bullying, in hospitals advocating for language access, in shelters defending the rights of gender-diverse individuals, and in child welfare systems seeking to repair the harms of colonial policies. Grounded in a professional code that values equity, social justice, and self-determination, social workers understand that tolerance must be practiced not only interpersonally but institutionally.
Yet, social workers also confront the limits of the systems in which they operate. They often witness how intolerance, when unaddressed by policy, undermines their efforts. From gaps in culturally safe services to the criminalization of poverty and mental illness, systemic intolerance remains deeply embedded in many areas of practice. Social workers frequently find themselves advocating for change while navigating burnout, ethical distress, and institutional resistance.
There is an urgent need to support social workers in this advocacy, not just through words of recognition, but through investments in anti-oppressive education, workplace protections, and policy reform. Social workers cannot dismantle systemic intolerance alone, but they can help lead the way when given the tools and support to do so.
Fostering Tolerance Through Anti-Oppressive Practice
On this International Day for Tolerance, we must stress the importance of inclusive, anti-oppressive practices and call for accountability, sustained investment, and institutional change. We should recognize that silence in the face of intolerance is complicity, and affirm that dignity, justice, and equity are rights. Tolerance must be practiced daily, through policies, decisions, and relationships that reflect the value of every person.
Anti-oppressive practice provides a pathway to move beyond coexistence toward true inclusion. It urges us to examine and change the structures that perpetuate harm, and to build systems where difference is not just tolerated but respected and protected. The following commitments offer a framework for advancing tolerance through action.
1. Critical Recognition: Naming Structural Intolerance
To foster real tolerance, we must acknowledge that intolerance is not only interpersonal, it is embedded in systems. It arises from historical injustices, colonization, white supremacy, ableism, cisnormativity, and other entrenched systems of power that normalize exclusion and inequity. Recognizing this helps us to shift from asking individuals to “tolerate”, difference to building systems that actively embrace and equitably support diversity.
2. Inclusive Commitment: Practicing Equity in Action
We need to ensure ongoing intentional efforts to create spaces where everyone is safe, respected, and valued. Tolerance becomes more than coexistence; it becomes systemic inclusion. This means:
Centring lived experience in all levels of decision-making, particularly voices that have been historically excluded.
Challenging dominant norms that shape policy, practice, and service delivery based on whiteness, Eurocentrism, or other “neutral” standards.
Decolonizing institutions and embedding culturally grounded practices that reflect the knowledge, realities, and resilience of diverse communities. This includes centring Indigenous-led frameworks that prioritize relational accountability and cultural resurgence, as well as incorporating Afrocentric models of family and wellness, diasporic traditions of community care, and other ways of knowing that honour spiritual connection, collective healing, and holistic well-being.
3. Structural Accountability: Transforming Systems
Fostering tolerance must go beyond individual attitudes. It requires sustained transformation in how we educate, govern, and serve. This includes:
Embedding cultural safety and trauma-informed principles into public systems.
Practicing ongoing self-reflection to address biases in policy and practice.
Linking client advocacy to systemic efforts, pushing for inclusive legislation, equitable funding models, and community-led service design.
Implementing anti-racism and anti-oppression training across public institutions to shift organizational culture and increase accountability.
Protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples through commitments to land, language, and governance justice.
Ensuring equitable access to public services for people of all backgrounds, abilities, and identities.
Funding culturally competent and community-led services that reflect Alberta’s diversity and meet communities where they are.
4. A Call to Collective Responsibility
Tolerance must not remain symbolic. It must be made visible in the policies we implement, the spaces we create, and the relationships we cultivate. Every inclusive policy, every culturally safe program, and every act of allyship is a step toward justice. Tolerance is not about being polite. It is about transforming systems that exclude into systems that include. It is about interrupting hate, redistributing power, and honouring the dignity of every person, especially those who have historically been silenced. To build a truly inclusive Alberta, we must move beyond declarations to decisions, beyond awareness to accountability.
Written By Evetta Solomon
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