caretaker

He's black, so if he moved into a small or medium sized town it could mean his family and the doctor may be the only people of colour there. Years ago our receptionist at work and her husband turned down an apprenticeship offer he had in north central Saskatchewan for that reason. An example of internal bias: Upper Canada vs District of Assiniboia, that's almost offensive - Ontarians are typically far more concieted and 'provincial', secure in the belief that they are somehow superior to other Canadians and that their extra 200 years of colonisation gives them the right to declare themselves the centre of Canada if not the universe (look at the friggin' map!). Support for western secession still exists. The unspoiled areas of the shield make Ontario enviable, the filthy industrial cesspit of the golden horseshoe makes it economically viable, but the fat bastards in Ottawa eating my food and the artsy Torontonians who just assume they're progressive make them odious to some westerners. Even all the stage directors from Toronto Globe Theatre hired to work here had the same sickening phony accent. Some of them were nice, but that drawl was still there.

Shard

Well that's just a small-town problem then, not particular to Alberta.

Glad to see my example put things into perspective.

caretaker

So you understand then? The difference between small towns in Canada east of Winnipeg and small towns west of Winnipeg is that there are probably more black people in the eastern towns than the west. I know a man who was raised in a foster family in Brandon, Manitoba and he was the only black person in the entire city (adopted into a white family). Until we moved to Regina in 1964 the only black people I'd seen in my life were train porters and the black kids I met here were here because their dad was a football player. There was one black girl in my high school graduating class (1972) in the biggest newest school in town. It's not like Ontario or Quebec or Nova Scotia or Newfoundland where there were established black populations or like anywhere near a seaport. The only black people who lived in Saskatchewan (that I ever heard of) until after the depression was an extended family of escaped slaves who squatted then homesteaded on farmland northwest of the Battlefords. That comes from RD Symons' account of his time as game warden at Meota.

bc_guy

I'm not judging all Albertans to be rednecks. I just have some miniscule (much emphasis on "miniscule") apprehension concerning the negative stereotypes which may or may not be true. It's nothing more than a miniscule apprehension. It definitely won't stop me from going into any random Albertan city or town and interacting with people the same way I would with people on Vancouver Island (a place I liked living in). Like I said, everyone gets a clean slate and this small bit of trepidation can be easily overcome with minimal effort. By apprehension and trepidation, I don't mean that I'm fearing for my life or any such thing. That would be completely ludicrous. I just have this slight fear that I'd be made to feel uncomfortable at times more often than in other places. This slight apprehension can totally evaporate within weeks if I just set foot in town and have enough wide-ranging positive experiences. It's not like I'm expecting your average Albertan city or town to consist of 99% intolerant rednecks who are hell-bent on going out of their way to make certain groups of people feel unwelcome. That's just preposterous.

Shard

Yeah there's more black people in Ontario than in the prairies, especially 50-80 years ago. I can't imagine race is such an issue these days.

bc_guy

Actually, I wouldn't mind if I was the only black person in town (or one of very few in town). I've already been down that road twice and there wasn't any problem. As long as the people treat me like a normal person (which they actually did when I lived there), I'm completely OK. What I fear however, are places that probably wouldn't be like this at times. For example, when I move to a new place that's allegedly not-so-tolerant in some ways, then I'd have an initial uneasiness about my surroundings. After a few weeks, I'll manage to adapt to whatever it's like so long as it isn't too bad. If I find people there to be totally contrary to the myths and stereotypes, then it goes away faster. If I find a few intolerant tossers every now and then, then I just learn to ignore them as long as they don't make up a significantly large portion of the population. This was the case when I lived in Nanaimo. A non-negligible chunk of their ethnic minority/immigrant population (from Asia and the Middle East) had racist tendencies, but it was so easy to ignore them since they made up a small fraction of a small fraction of the town's total population. But myths and stereotypes (even if they're true) won't scare me away from going into a new town with a clean-slate attitude towards the people.

caretaker

Probably not unless you're one of the only three in town who stand out (BC Guy, the doctor, and his wife). At the end of the day whether you understand or not isn't important and may not even be possible.

caretaker

That guy from Brandon had a very special story - for later.
If you are the sole or one of few minority members in a small community the locals probably have to overcome their pre-concieved ideas about you as well but it sounds like you make friends easily enough wherever you go.