race issues in small town ontario

[gristle]

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.

My parents were "not from here" either. One was an immigrant, the other came as a refugee. My quotes were intended to emphasize the young lady's discomfort to what she experienced while visiting Toronto. Her tone was in no way malicious, but her views were very naive. I had a feeling that while she was not racists, there was a sense on her part that skin colour played a role in determining the citizenship or nativeness of the people she was seeing.

I would say that a vast majority of my friends are either the children of immigrants, or are immigrants themselves. I have a tough time understanding how anyone in this country can view rapid rates of immigration as being somehow unusual. It's an essential fact of the history of this country.

 

[Eug]

Heh. My nephew lives in a very Caucasian area. When he was a little kid, he saw a group of very tall lanky black guys and proclaimed they must be basketball players.

He was asked why... "Because they're so tall!!!"

I thought that was cute... stereotyping, but not quite for the reason we thought.