Toronto (Ontario) - March 15, 2010: The University of Toronto Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) are pleased to announce a round table discussion on "Civility, Respect and Engagement: What is their place in the fight against racism?" The event will mark the 50th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

Civility, respect and engagement are the foundations for effective social interaction and social change. To make diversity work as a positive force of transformation, there is ample need for applying deference next to our right to freedom of expression. As agents of progressive social change, human beings are also required to counter passionate, visceral and uncivilized forces of racism, which can have profoundly damaging effects on the advancement of humankind as a whole.

The round table discussion will feature the following experts: Ayman Al-Yassini, CRRF Executive Director, Isfahan Merali, a Legal Counsel with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and Rani Srivastava, Director of Clinical Resources in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. The discussion will be moderated by Charmaine Williams, Associate Dean, Academic at the Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto.

The event will take place at the University of Toronto Faculty of Social Work, on Monday, March 22nd, 2010, at noon.