How do you experience racism/discrimination?
- Thread starter ragincharlie
- Start date
The funny thing about racism is that the victims of it are the biggest racists.
Which makes some sense. If you perceive that your race is a major factor that limits your opportunities it is somewhat natural to begin seeing everything in racial terms, while if your race is a non issue you will tend to see the world in non racial terms.
The odd result is that the minorities that suffer the greatest discrimination are themselves the biggest bigots.
But the discrimination that they face is still real, and still a problem our society must solve, despite the odd hypocrisy of the victims. I see that hypocrisy as a result of racism, as part of the harm done to people.
I am familiar with those minorities who are the worst biggots, and while I understand it and have sympathy, I dont' agree that the hypocrisy is a result only
of the racism they face. I think it is also a result of their own fear, anger, and learned behavior.
I can't think of the last time I have experienced overt racism. Back in my younger days, I experienced severe racism. I was bullied by a couple of the bullies in my school
because I was not white. They tried to beat me up everytime they saw me (or so I thought). The reality was they always chased me but never caught me, and the one time
they caught me they did not really beat me up. Still, I felt like if they caught me, they might just kill me. Of course, I was new to the country and had seen some
movie (or maybe it was in the news) of how a bunch of white guys in a pick up truck saw a black guy, grabbed him, beat him up and then dragged him behind their truck until he was dead. I thought that the same thing could happen to me at any time because I was surrounded by white people. I wondered if anyone would help me.
I was too afraid or felt too embarrassed to tell anyone about it. Part of me felt that the people I was telling might feel the same way as the guys who were bulling me and that nothing would really be done. First year of high school was also terrible. Some of the upper class guys were terribly calling me all kinds of names.
I remember trying out for the football team, and when I am doing laps, guys would come from behind me and try to knock me over, and call me names.
I was a real skinny kid, and I was too afraid to stand up for myself. During all of this, the kids around me did not stand up for me, or even tell me discretely that
they were against the bullies, so I wondered if they condoned the bullying.
How did I deal with it? I did not, I kept it to myself and suffered. In someways, I felt ashamed of being a different color. The only difference between me and others, was that I rejected the easy way out. The easy way out is to bond with other outcasts or other people of my race/culture (strength in numbers etc.. ). I looked in that direction for a very short time, but what I found were a bunch of bitter people who were willing to reject the "Canadian" society, and follow their home country's culture/norms.
That just did not seem like the answer to me. For a time, I even went with a "Canadian name" hoping it would make my life easier.
Today, I don't see much overt racism. Occasionally, when I show up for a meeting, I can see that the person I am meeting with is surprised to find that
I am not white. I can usually tell because they eventually ask about my heritage, and the background of my name etc. Eventually, they will say something like
"have you been in Canada long, you have no accent". It might be 2 years since the last person called me a name because of my color.
amen!
It annoys me to no end when I see people being described as "Canadian".
Well, wtf am I?!?!
Thank you LaceyLust, I had never heard that before and I appreciate your response.
My benchmark is this. If I have failed to treat another person as an individual, I have been racist/stereotypical.
i thought it came from koreans saying america in korean... the word is pronounced "me gook" ...americans took it literally as " me....gook"
Mix of EI and Arab here. Racism isn't very obvious. Only a complete idiot would do something that would categorize him/her as a complete racist. Racism is much more subtle now. It takes on many forms, like humour. I've heard the "You must be a terrorist" thing so often. People just assume that I get searched in the airport every single time 'for random inspection'. And a few times, I've seen people who resort to name calling (Towelhead, Osama, etc).
There was this one time that my boss's boss told me in front of the whole office (It was a small company) that Muslims had an inability to reason like everyone else, and that's why they blow themselves up.
Another instance, I was seeing this white girl for a while, and her dad told her that my sort of people have agendas and that she should be careful.
Final example, I was chilling with a roommate during my university days, and he couldn't believe how normal I was. He told me that he just assumed that everyone with my background were a bunch of extremists (he told me this after we started hanging out a lot more and we became good friends).
I've noticed there has been a general increase over the last 10 years. Maybe I was oblivious to it when I was younger, but it feels that it's worse now then after 2001. I can't say how to decrease racism, other then not doing it yourself. Having friends with people in your own race isn't racism, neither is being comfortable only with people of your own race, but acting on assumptions that negatively affect others based on race is IMO.
On the other hand, I have heard some Muslims say they enjoy more rights and respect in Canada than they ever did in their "home' country.
This could explain why the white people running out of money and they became panhandlers? Lately, I noticed quite a lot of white panhandlers on the street with perfect English accent when they asked for my money.
You have hit the nail on the head, but many commenters will not see that forest through the trees they themselves have planted in front of them.
Hurray! We're not as bad as some others! Go us! (pats self on the back). Way to reach for the stars there, CapitalGuy.
You really don't get it, do you. If you think Canada is racist, you REALLY need to go live somewhere else for a few years, to see real racism in action. On planet Earth in 2013, Canada is the stars.
I get it just fine. I just don't think we should get all self-congratulatory (and stop making progress) just because there are countries that are worse than ours.
There are, what, 3 or 4 countries that are in the same league as Canada in terms of being non-racist? We are the top of the heap and you know it!! Enjoy life in a nation that is consistently rated one of the very very best places to live on earth (quite often number one), as rated by a diverse range of organizations. There is racism in Canada, but not much, and not NEARLY as much as anywhere else. At a certain point, histrionics need to stop, and enough is enough. We aren't going to be able to legislate each and every person's individual actions out of existence. Canada's anti-racism laws are fantastic. Too fantastic, in many peoples' opinions. Why bash Canada when as a nation we bend over BACKWARDS to accommodate newcomers, where we celebrate diversity, and where we quash institutional racism at every opportunity. Be happy, and acknowledge that Canada is as good as it gets (and is likely to ever get). Quit with the hating already. Thanks.
