Quote:
Originally Posted by RichieRich
Ever since I moved to Canada in the early 80's I was aware that there was embedded racism within Canada. It was far more obvious than most people realized and yet these people did not see or understand that what they said (or acted) as racist nor derogatory. It was SO embedded in their psyche and culture. I'm not talking upper class, I'm talking about the working "Joe" and his family... the middle and lower middle class. Their entitlement that THEY were absolute not racist was shocking, and they validated their words and actions by pointing to South Africa (large scale anti-apartheid riots, gatherings, etc... were occuring both in SA and "supportive" countries). The only difference, IMO, was that racism in SA had an official title (apartheid) whereas Canada and USA did not. In this example I am mostly referencing the obvious skin tone differences, however I as a child here in Calgary I had "yellow" and "brown" friends (oriental, Malay, east-Indian, etc...) that also experienced various degrees of prejudice. As there are people "of color" in my immediate family I still hear and see things often.
Although racism and prejudice has declined it's still present. It has changed too, and not necessarily for the better. Is there any difference between subtle racism/prejudice? or named segregation, or blatant in-your-face prejudice better or worse?
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This disconnect Canadians have with their prejudices is pretty startling when you come from somewhere else, even the US. I don't think it's that blatant and I think that's why people have trouble identifying it and dealing with it, it's these learned ideas that infect the way people think and act, even while telling themselves "I'm not racist." Some people have come to believe that as long as I don't outwardly hate someone because of their skin colour, I'm not racist. But how has their own upbringing influenced the way they think about others, even on a subconscious level? Or their parents' views?
One thing though, I love your overall message, but we don't use the term "oriental" for people anymore. I know you didn't mean anything by it, so I just wanted to let you know.