Dorothy

Probably pretty similar to who the openly, ugly racism is against in the UK.

JonboyE

I think discussing racism with Brits is not that different from discussing the smell of fish with people who work in a fish processing factory.

BEVS

How so?

I grew up in the UK. Lived there for decades.

Irish Mum. English Dad.

Parent's pals were all manner of nationalities due to their work . Dad , chef. Mum , silver service.

My Dad's best friend was 'gay' as they call it now. Our babysitter was 'gay'.
The lad in my will is 'gay'.

I am a Brit who can discern one fish from another. My husband grew up in the Midlands. He just sees people for what they are on a person by person basis. Given the melting pot , you mixed or you did not mix. He mixed .

TBH I was shocked when I first came to NZ ref. the racist observations and remarks. The division really. I hadn't come across that since Alf Garnett times.

Not saying it is not in the UK. It certainly is. However, I think , as always, we hear of the few, not the many.

lookingtogo

Happy to be told it isn't so. I paraphrased to delve into some of the comments. Discrimination is probably inbuilt but I think it's worth looking at the situation, acceptance in that culture, and reasons for it within the context.

Dorothy

Ok, let me rephrase my answer. Based on what I read in this part of the forum I would say a lot of the ugly blatant racism in Canada comes from a good few of those who chose to emigrate there.

It certainly is not unique to Canada and from the good many Brits I know (and just from reading these forums) it seems to be far more acceptable to them to dislike Poles, Romanians, the Irish, "Yanks/Septics", Australians, the French, Indians, muslims, "cradles", etc.

For my 43 years in Canada I rarely heard other nationalities/races looked down on the way I see and hear it by a lot of the Brits I come in contact with.

dbd33

Oh, come on, the aboriginal population is a special case, discriminated against by most people, but the rest of the population is one seething mass of resentments and racial condemnations. In organising teams at work race is always an issue, he won't work with Africans, she's ok with Japanese but not Taiwanese, he wants nothing to do with the cradle, on and on; people bring their conflicts from home and then pick up new prejudices here. For a practical example of race conflict affecting life in Canada have a look at any of the disruptions at York University.

caretaker

Good grief, what sort of a snake-pit do you work in?
Of the ex-pats I know there are several I consider racist {maybe 2 out of 25) but I wouldn't say it's a higher percentage than other Canadians although it would be nice if that were true. Any of them are embarrassing no matter where they're from.

orly

I think your information is out of date.

JonboyE

Quite, and there are others who it is not acceptable to dislike so we don't mention them, but we still dislike them.

Wise words IMO.


To be human is to be racist, to be racist is to be human. We all come pre-programmed to cling to our own kind and fear outsiders. It is how the human race has survived so far.

Moving countries we may be surprised to find it is more socially acceptable to specify a person's race when making a derogatory comment. Societies are different. However, whilst it might not be acceptable to say, "Paki go home," in the UK any more, from my experience that was what 90% of the people thought and it influenced their every interaction. I believe that racism is ingrained and endemic in British society. I don’t think we are any better or any worse than other peoples in this regard. It is just that it is our normal so we fail to see it for what it is.

That is why it is amusing/frustrating to hear Brits complaining about racism in Canada. Especially racism against First Nations. After all, the institutional racism against First Nations in Canada (and I guess in NZ too) is the legacy of our British forefathers.

Nasty, vicious, racism in the UK may be rare (though it is disappointing what a confrontation, a crowd, or a couple of beers can release) but the attitude of, “you are not one of us and don’t you ever ****ing forget it,” was pervasive. That attitude seems entirely absent from the bit of Canada we live in.

lookingtogo

Off topic but I quite like Dorothy's avatar...

dbd33

In what way? Here are links supporting the need for the parents to prove, or, in narrow circumstances, attest, that the child is Catholic:

https://www.tcdsb.org/FORPARENTS/Adm...s/default.aspx

"Criteria for Admission to a Toronto Catholic School

ELEMENTARY School Admissions:

The following original documents (for your child) are required upon registration:
1) Birth Certificate
2) Proof of Catholicity (one of the following):
- Your child's Catholic baptismal certificate
- The parent's Catholic baptismal certificate (some conditions may apply)
- A letter of enrolment to the R.C.I.A./R.C.I.C. programme from a Catholic
parish priest.
3) Passport/Immigration Documents (if child was not born in Canada)
4) Proof of Address (some examples: a lease agreement, utility bill, proof of
purchase)
5) Immunization Record

For further information or to make an appointment for registration, please contact your local elementary school.

Please note:
Non-Catholic children of Non-Catholic parents who are not enrolled in the R.C.I.A./R.C.I.C. programme are not eligible for admittance to TCDSB elementary schools."

http://www.archtoronto.org/disciples...ildren_000.pdf

I suppose I can find a link substantiating the need to prove appropriate property tax assignment but it's all simple enough; school boards with "Catholic" in the name are state funded for Catholics, the ones without "Catholic" in the name are for everyone else. Some people cheat, just as some people cheat to get into French school board schools.

Shard

Those seem stringent requirements. However, even if they were waived, there is something very hypocritical about someone not of faith sending their kids to a faith school. It undermines their own non-faith and undermines the faith doctrine that the school is attempting to inculcate (not that we should be too worried about that). Faith schools should be illegal in my opinion. One day they will be seen as preposterous as racially segregated schools.

Shard

Hmmm....

Dorothy

Commit it to memory, 'cause it's only going to last another couple of days. I change my avi and signature on the first of every month.

MillieF

Good!