Letter from freed slave to former master. *1865

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Canadians have much further to go IMO when it comes to indigenous people than the US as a whole does when it comes to blacks. That's coming from a guy who has lived in Dallas for 10 years, and grew up in Cochrane.

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Canada is still extremely Anglo or Franco centric (depending on where you live). The U.S. has elected a black president, but in Canada, you would be hard pressed to have any federal political success if you aren't from one of the original colonizing ethnic groups. I think Ignatieff was the closest we ever came to breaking that.

As for slavery, the reasons why Canada doesn't have the same legacy of slavery has nothing to do with being more socially advanced. We simply did not have the industry and plantations that the U.S. had, therefore, slaves in Canada, mostly on the east coast, were usually just a status symbol for the extremely weakthy. The other reason is that the French made their slaves citizens so that they would be more inclined to fight against the British.

[Magnum PEI]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Canada is still extremely Anglo or Franco centric (depending on where you live). The U.S. has elected a black president, but in Canada, you would be hard pressed to have any federal political success if you aren't from one of the original colonizing ethnic groups. I think Ignatieff was the closest we ever came to breaking that.

Diefenbaker was a German-Canadian.
Canada was pretty vanilla for a long time, its only recently (last few decades) that Canada has become diverse. I think in my lifetime there will be a non-white Prime Minister, it just takes time. Other than Obama every president has a British Isles background or Colonial Dutch background except Eisenhower.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

The fact you specifically pointed out Americans annoyed me. Your statement is factually correct, but the same applies to virtually any country. In the United States there is at least a well developed civil rights movement, and the existence of racism is both recognized, and acknowledged to a significant degree.

Canadians have much further to go IMO when it comes to indigenous people than the US as a whole does when it comes to blacks. That's coming from a guy who has lived in Dallas for 10 years, and grew up in Cochrane.

Just ask a section of the BC populace about native land claims. Or people in Cochrane about the Morley native reserve. You'll hit a couple of real losers in your sample who will speak very similarly to the dips you talk about in your post - except instead of blacks it'll be about natives.

I doubt there is a nation on earth that should be pointing fingers at others regarding equality. Even progressive well educated countries like Japan treat outsiders differently.

Ummmnnn, I never said that Americans were the only ones who had problems from their past. I did however reference Americans in my post since the person who wrote the original letter was a slave from America and because the book that I referenced was a white American who wrote about his experieces as a Black.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by redforever

Ummmnnn, I never said that Americans were the only ones who had problems from their past. I did however reference Americans in my post since the person who wrote the original letter was a slave from America and because the book that I referenced was a white American who wrote about his experieces as a Black.

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have posted that. I just get tired of fairly consistent America bashing I often see from Canadians. Your post was accurate and on topic.

Apologies.