wandering bard

that is kind of pessimistic.
I was talking with a Canadian friend of mine the other day, and I was shocked when I heard him say: "oh, you're white and a native English speaker, so you'll have no trouble at all." (he meant meeting people and socializing)
So I asked him: "and what if I were African and my native langugage would not have been English?"
His reply was: "well, that would have been something completely different.."

CalgaryAMC

I met some at a wedding last week. Their social ineptness was embarrassing. First time in a long while I've felt the "you're not from around here" out-of-placeness that comes when every attempt at conversation is met with absolute silence. I congratulated the bride and groom and promptly buggered off.

CalgaryAMC

For right or for wrong, your friend is being honest and telling it how it is, just as you would expect a friend to be.

Kadett

Yep I've had that said to me before (concerning employment in my case). Fact is though that it hasn't rung true for me being a white British, native speaker of English. So I'm guessing if your ethnic in any way, you're experience here must be a total nightmare.

simonhouse

My wife is often surprised by her colleagues at work and their attitude to non-white immigrants. Typical comments include:

"Oh you can't live in that part of town, there are too many [insert ethnic minority here] living there."

"You eat curry? Isn't that gross? I'd never eat anything from a country like that."

"I'm moving away from [insert area here], I try to barbeque in the evening and all I can smell is curry."

donglemouse

I second the experience of the last post

I am on occasions stunned by some of the comments from the people I work with (supposed city professionals) and how acceptable racist comments similar to those above seem to be in the work place..............

wandering bard

I must say I'm horrified by what I'm reading here. During the time I spent in Canada, I never encounter any kind of racial slur, not even a hint! Nobody treated me as a "foreigner", an ethnic minority - and I wasn't even living in Toronto!
I wonder how much all of that is representative of Canadian attitudes.

Dr. Who

Actually - I am working on a little writing project at the moment - it is an article on what white people can do amoung other white people to stop racism. Anyone got ideas they want to share?

dingbat

It is representative of many white Canadians in my province (BC) when they are faced with an immigrant (usually of colour) who is intending to live permanantly in their area. It is especially true when an immigrant will not be patronised, treated like a second class citizen or can do something in the workplace way more efficiently or effectively than was done before. I was told today (whilst on a training course) that immigrants "ruin" nice areas and that they should learn to "assimilate" or leave. When I asked what the person meant - she said "you know, the East Indians, they have ruined Abbostford and taken over all the nice houses. It is no wonder that we resent them.They should be grateful for being here. They just don't get it."

When I said that she was being unbelievably racist, she said that I was just as bad (as an immigrant I presume, even though I do have Canadian citizenship) and must have "pulled strings" to get the position I had as there were qualified (ha!) Canadians who had waited years to get a job like mine. (Can't think why....) I have to say this type of comment comes most frequently from people who have been nowhere and have no experience outside Canada. In BC, that makes up a whole chunk of the less than mobile population. It costs a fortune to go anywhere here, which breeds stagnation and xenophobic attitudes. Just watch the local and national news and read the newspapers; the lack of depth in the reporting and absence of international coverage is embarrassing.

dingbat

What is it for?

Dr. Who

It may go in a book or a journal on race studies - depends how good it is when it is written.

I like what you did speaking up in that training - that is exactly the type of standing up and speaking out that is needed (in my opinion).

the doc

dingbat

Problem is you get branded as a trouble maker when you do speak up. My employment profile has me down as "outspoken"....lmao........to me it speaks volumes that most of my friends here in Canada are also immigrants. My neighbour commented that it is like the UN in my garden when they come round for a beer.

stepnek

From what I'm reading here racism does seem to be rearing it's head quite a bit. However I think the problem is made worse by attacking those who have racist views instead of trying to understand why they have them to start with and then building on that. I sense that here in the UK the problem is getting worse because there is a perception that people from other countries are moving into the UK and then sucking the state dry. Clearly that isn't the case but it is perceived by many to be so. However I've noted that if someone brings this up for discussion then the racist tag is immediately applied and so on. This then means that people decide to keep quiet about their fears whether they be just or not and instead resentment builds up which just encourages more racist feelings. You make a good point about how knowledge is so important in changing peoples viewpoint and I truly believe that healthy discussion will make some people think. It's true that there are bigots out there who have no interest in seeing things from another point of view but I think there are many that just don't understand and feel insecure. We should understand that too no matter how enlightened we feel.

ThemeOne

Isn't it true that there are plenty of stupid people in all countries, with no experiences beyond their own backyard? Nobody wants them, not even their own countries, so they naturally get defensive when people come in from elsewhere.

On a wider note, my parents emigrated to Canada in 1957 and said exactly the same as is being said here: the only people they felt much connection with were other immigrants. Even people from, say, Poland, who they never thought they would have much in common with as English people. Well, it seemed there was more common ground than with Canadians, and it looks like not much has changed since!

CalgaryAMC

Like most people, Canadians appreciate immigrants that attempt to assimilate. For obvious language/culture reasons, assimilation is easier for people from some countries than from others. I don't think Canadians are any more racist than Britons.