race issues in small town ontario

[Roots_Energize]

visible minority in a small town is a strange experience,

when one group dominates in an isolated city, the only way they learn about other people of other cultures is through the television or other media, a very small sample rate, you walk through the work places not thinking about race at all, then someone says something to you that reminds you of what you are, a constant reminder repeating over and over.
In some work places racial jokes are thought of as the most normal thing in the world, jokes about sexuality, skin colour, stereotypes- , My nick name by one person was "Foreign kid"
When a group of "minorities walk by in a big number not usually seen in the small town ,people stare, intense stare, make comments,
you always here negative things about people that look like yourself
"the _______ in Toronto are ........

First generation, son of immigrant parents , living in my hometown yet an outsider, black sheep,

I ride my bike to and from work, and get pulled over on my bike , questioned by the police, name, number, where are you going?
i ask other people if this happens to them, they laugh and say no!

workplace slip up "dirty nig_er" "oops sorry

racial words yelled out on the street


you are not the norm, you are a different type,

worry about dating women, what they will think, family, friends



-The type of comments you hear like " i went up to toronto and omg i was in the Eaton center and i was like the only white person in there"

oh, why are you telling me this?


or they feel the need to tell me the 1 day in there life they experienced racism and make it a point to let me know,



visible minority in small town canada, you cant forget race, because people are reminding you all the time that you are a different kinda of human,


think of this as a censored rant without the shocking details,


being in a mulicultural crew, people that have an understanding of you, you dont have to worry, you can be yourself, you are an individual that represents yourself and not millions of other people you've never met, i do not represent all things evil and bad.



fed up


fed up

 

[Roots_Energize]

you have to mentally juggle between -this person gets a pass dont be sensitive on one hand, and on the other end of the spectrum its like wow that was so racist, oppressive psychologically, what that person just said.

 

[gristle]

I hear you.

I spent part of last summer out in a small town in Nova Scotia. One night out at a nice restaurant, I got to talking with the server. She had been to Toronto just once. It turns out that this was the first time she had been out of Cape Breton (I'd guessed her age at mid-twenties).

She was shocked. Most of the shock was because that she thought that there were so many "people from everywhere" according to her (you know, people not from "here"). My response was that, by far, most of them were actually Canadians. Her answer was that the people she saw were from "somewhere else." I assured her again that the vast majority were, in fact, residents of Toronto and Canadian.

She was having nothing of it (with a smile).

I then informed her (with a smile) that the "people" she was seeing easily outnumbered all the residents of Nova Scotia combined.

She seemed surprised by that. I assured her that there was nothing wrong and certainly nothing to worry about. I pointed out that, in the end, virtually all of us were the children of immigrants. That was how Canada came to be. I added that it was a good thing.

I'm not sure if she got it.

 

[kEiThZ]

Being in the CF I have travelled all over Canada and I can't say I've had the experience you've had. Most people particularly younger folk zre genuinely curious about my culture, heritage, food, etc. I've spent months in Nova Scotia and found people very inviting there. That said I have heard people express discomfort with Toronto's diversity. I chalk that up to unfamiliarity and general discomfort with big cities. Put these people in TO for a month and I'll bet money that all of a sudden they'll brag about the best pasta here or the best falafel there or what that crazy Chinese lady did last week. You want to see xenophobia check out the US or Europe. While travelling in both those places I've been asked where I'm from (they never accept Canada as an answer) and whenever I work with officers outisde of Canada or the US, the idea of well integrated immigrants or people of colour in positions of authority blows their mind. Always makes me glad to come home to Canada where the most I've gotten in a small town is a second look (which you'd get if you were white and noy recognized as being from thay town).

 

[adma]

Put these people in TO for a month and I'll bet money that all of a sudden they'll brag about the best pasta here or the best falafel there or what that crazy Chinese lady did last week.

And to be honest, you can even say the same about certain kinds of erstwhile "casually discriminatory" white Torontonians*. Believe it or not, people can organically evolve over past set ways--those who once might have "clicked the doorlocks" when encountering "coloureds" might now be going out of their way for a bit of ethno-shopping in Scarberia (albeit often with a safe-zone assist from honky-compatible newspaper and website recommendations)

*And I must append: straight white Torontonians, for many of the same issues relative to race also relate to orientation. I'll betcha that a lot of those ultra-hetero suburban lugs who might have jeered at the Halloweening Church & Wellesley pansies a generation ago are now "joining them" instead, dressing in KITH drag and being joined by their stripper GFs who look practically tranny in their Pussycat Dolls finest, etc etc...

 

[doady]

There are definitely race issues in not just small town Ontario, but also some smaller cities as well. But at least municipalities in small town Ontario don't create town charters instructing immigrants not to kill women. At least the suburbs of Toronto have not experienced race riots unlike that of another major Canadian city. So I am not too worried.

 

[prosperegal]

I hear you.

I spent part of last summer out in a small town in Nova Scotia. One night out at a nice restaurant, I got to talking with the server. She had been to Toronto just once. It turns out that this was the first time she had been out of Cape Breton (I'd guessed her age at mid-twenties).

She was shocked. Most of the shock was because that she thought that there were so many "people from everywhere" according to her (you know, people not from "here"). My response was that, by far, most of them were actually Canadians. Her answer was that the people she saw were from "somewhere else." I assured her again that the vast majority were, in fact, residents of Toronto and Canadian.

She was having nothing of it (with a smile).

I then informed her (with a smile) that the "people" she was seeing easily outnumbered all the residents of Nova Scotia combined.

She seemed surprised by that. I assured her that there was nothing wrong and certainly nothing to worry about. I pointed out that, in the end, virtually all of us were the children of immigrants. That was how Canada came to be. I added that it was a good thing.

I'm not sure if she got it.

Both of you are correct. "Not from here" to me means "not born in Toronto and/or Canada." As we know, half of Toronto isn't Toronto (or was it Canadian) born. My parents "aren't from here" because they didn't come to Canada until they were in their 20s. However, some people would say that my parents are "from here" because they've lived in Toronto longer than they've lived in Hong Kong.

 

[TrickyRicky]

I grew up in a small town outside the city in the 1980's. I'm actually half-caucasian but in that environment I was considered 100% visible minority. Hell, if you were Italian or Greek or something you would be considered a visible minority. The point I wanted to make is that while people may have made superficial comment on the subject I did not find it difficult to grow up in this environment. People were rather accepting in general. I think that when there are very few visible minorities in a community you are considered non-threatening. Your difference becomes more of a curiousity. I know some people had a harder time with it because of negative stereotyping and where their cultural and religious background was more difficult to reconcile with the Anglo-Canadian majority. Where real difficulties arise I think is when there is a sizeable visible minority presence. Then it sometimes turns into a kind of us versus them environment.

To Roots who started this thread I actually don't know what to say. You can't change people, all you can do is not let them get to you so hang in there. Become OK with being different and OK with people being naive. Don't care what other people think of you because if they have issues it's not about you, it's about them.

Here is a funny anecdote for you: I remember when I was learning to drive my driving instructor told me she would pass me regardless because she knew I had naturally inferior sight and aptitude. She believed racial stereotyping so completely she thought she was doing me a favour! The funny part was I didn't even get it at the time. I didn't even understand what she was talking about or what she was referring to.

The police well, what can you say. "haven't I seen you before Mr. x", "he's blank so he'll try to weasel his way out of it" etc. You are certainly in good company if you have been stopped by the police and questioned in an insulting manner. I've got a guy who does labour for me here in Toronto and is caucasian but has a look that fits a certain profile, and I can almost guarantee you no one gets pulled over more than he does on his bike.

 

[Anth]

You want to see xenophobia check out the US or Europe. While travelling in both those places I've been asked where I'm from (they never accept Canada as an answer)

I can't comment on your experience in the US, but in Europe, you have to understand that people tend to sort the world based on ethnic nationality; state citizenship is far less important and less interesting to them. So when they're interested in your ethnic origins by asking where you're "really from", simply saying that you're "Canadian" is disingenuous. Dismissing their curiosity as xenophobia is quite unfair.

 

[Roots_Energize]

Tricky Ricky, this is true, you cant worry to much about what people think, i also think that alot of times people dont mean to be rude they are just really unaware or not exposed to the rest of the world,
im an adult so i can handle it, but sometimes when people dont know there being hurtful it can be more damaging to a young child because he or she has not formed a mature well balanced view of the world, well no matter what age you are always learning, but really young is'nt good for esteem.

 

[confusion]

That's unfortunate if you've had race issues in Canada period. I've lived in the midwest in the USA for my university years and race issues are a million times worse there. We do have it lucky. That being said I've experienced my own race issues in some parts of Eastern Ontario. The most accepting small-town white communities in Ontario have got to be in South-Western Ontario and up towards the Bruce Peninsula. So from my experience at least, those incidents are very localized, and I wouldn't let it bug you much.

 

[Mustapha]

Tricky Ricky, this is true, you cant worry to much about what people think, i also think that alot of times people dont mean to be rude they are just really unaware or not exposed to the rest of the world,
im an adult so i can handle it, but sometimes when people dont know there being hurtful it can be more damaging to a young child because he or she has not formed a mature well balanced view of the world, well no matter what age you are always learning, but really young is'nt good for esteem.

It's horrible when the young are exposed to this. I was a toddler when the (very) occasional person addressed my grandfather as 'Charlie", as in "hey Charlie". In 50s Toronto his response was to ignore the remark. He always told me ignorant people said such things. One of his customers, a very waspish judge, would invite him to garden parties. So, there has always been good and bad down through time in every corner of our Ontario.

 

[drone]

my daughter is mixed (chinese/white). If we encounter any negative comments regarding her race or ethnicity, and trust me, it comes from chinese as well as whites, I just make it a learning oppurtunity and say.."some people are assholes" and leave it at that.

 

[SunriseChampion]

The most accepting small-town white communities in Ontario have got to be in South-Western Ontario and up towards the Bruce Peninsula.

This may be stretching the issue a bit but try being gay in south-west Ontario small towns. Good luck!

 

[scarberiankhatru]

I hear you.

I spent part of last summer out in a small town in Nova Scotia. One night out at a nice restaurant, I got to talking with the server. She had been to Toronto just once. It turns out that this was the first time she had been out of Cape Breton (I'd guessed her age at mid-twenties).

She was shocked. Most of the shock was because that she thought that there were so many "people from everywhere" according to her (you know, people not from "here"). My response was that, by far, most of them were actually Canadians. Her answer was that the people she saw were from "somewhere else." I assured her again that the vast majority were, in fact, residents of Toronto and Canadian.

She was having nothing of it (with a smile).

I then informed her (with a smile) that the "people" she was seeing easily outnumbered all the residents of Nova Scotia combined.

She seemed surprised by that. I assured her that there was nothing wrong and certainly nothing to worry about. I pointed out that, in the end, virtually all of us were the children of immigrants. That was how Canada came to be. I added that it was a good thing.

I'm not sure if she got it.

Keep in mind that Cape Breton is the kind of place that basically *no one* moves to, where no one is from somewhere else. So "people from everywhere" may not just be a racial remark, no matter how much smiling and winking went on. I'd like to know her definition of "white people"...would it include Ukrainians and Italians?

I remember being in Maple Ridge, BC, a few years back on a high school band trip. The choir came, too, 16 girls. One girl was white while the other 15 were a true mix...black, Indian, Filipino, Chinese, etc. After the choir sang, someone from the crowd was talking to the one white girl in the choir and mentioned that there was a lot of "chocolate people" in the choir, except for her. I don't know how the one white girl responded then, but when she told the story a while later, she mentioned that she had never noticed that she was the only white girl in the choir...the ethnic mix seemed natural. The "chocolate people" remark may have also been a natural response for the person form Maple Ridge, to notice the unusual skin colours and have few phrases on the tip of her tongue other than 'racist' ones with which to express what she noticed...she may have just been noticing that people of every skin colour were together in one school, lived in one city, were friends with each other, etc. If you live in a homogenous community, it makes sense to wonder what it's like living in a diverse community, which is why she asked the one white girl about being the sole white person in a group of "chocolate people."

I don't think she meant to 'be racist,' even if it's hard to see the words she used any other way. Just because people use certain phrases doesn't mean they're consciously being malicious. It's often hard to say whether or not people are 'being racist,' especially if we're on the offensive, just waiting to point to others' words and actions and say "that's racist!" Maybe it's worse when we condemn people who say this kind of stuff...it's certainly not more enlightened or tolerant.