Is Calgary a racist city?

[Agamemnon]

A city can't be racist, just a few people in it.

That said, quite a few people in Calgary seem to hold a stereotypically low opinion of natives, so much so they don't seem to realize they're being prejudiced, they think they're just speaking the truth.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

A city can't be racist, just a few people in it.

like I've already clarified, it is a generalization, made solely to avoid using cumbersome language. I could pose the question differently, but I think most respondents to the thread were able to grasp what I meant.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

A city can't be racist, just a few people in it.

That said, quite a few people in Calgary seem to hold a stereotypically low opinion of natives, so much so they don't seem to realize they're being prejudiced, they think they're just speaking the truth.

I think that is almost anywhere in Canada. The majority don't help their people's image out that much.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by flip

That isn't exactly racism as it is xenophobia.

There's a difference?!

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Were you behind the wheel of a car?

Being from Victoria and moving to Calgary I didn't notice much of a difference in the way people were treated from different backgrounds. The only thing that I noticed is a lot of people refer to people from the Middle East as "Brown people" which I found odd and will say it right to their face. People in Victoria will/do look at you like a racists when you say it.

the 'brown' label isn't racist, though it is somewhat odd and annoying. I do think it has its benefits though, in that it doesn't generalize people from that area as Muslims, it's an irreligious label which is somewhat beneficial I think when the religious group in question is (some would say rightly) treated with suspicion right now.

[Traditional_Ale]

I think the definition of racism is different from city to city. In Toronto, for example, everyone is a minority. White, black, brown, yellow, red, other...everyone is a minority so a lot of the mentality simply doesn't include racist thoughts at least on a day to day interaction level.

Calgary has been a white city for a long time and now that is changing. But it would seem to me that out here people are more likely to call a spade a spade regardless of the vernacular or forum they choose to express that. What might sound like a blatantly ignorant racial comment in TO might come off as a reasonable although rough-around-the-edges type of comment here in Calgary. Does that make the person vocalizing the comments a racist?

Depends on where you live, I guess.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by peter12

There's a difference?!

racism: 1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination

xenophobia: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign

so in a hypothetical society where both black and white people were 'the norm', one may be racist but not xenophobic towards black or white people, and be xenophobic but not necessarily racist towards a Chinese immigrant.

[Dan02]

Personally I think Calgary is one of the most tolerant/accepting cities on earth, someone was pointing out the 20 man Aryan march downtown awhile ago as evidence of Calgary being a racist society. What are your opinion of the racial motivated riots that have happened in recent years in both Australia and Europe? Let's look at the racial craziness down south of us in the US. I'd say in general people of all races have it pretty good in Calgary and in Canada in general.

If there is definately one bias, I would say it is definately against the native population, and it exists in all racial groups in my circles of friends not just in the white ones.

[Winsor_Pilates]

All in all, Calgary is an amazing and excepting city. Having said that, I do feel less conscious of being a minority now that I live in Vancouver.
As others of said, Calgary is still adjusting a bit to having a strong minority presence, where Vancouver and Toronto just have it, and you don't even think about it anymore.

The only places in Calgary that I have ever felt are systematically racist is the nightclubs. I can't even keep count of the number of times I was turned away from clubs because of race. 3 years in Vancouver, and it has never happened once; completely different.

[_Q_]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Being from Victoria and moving to Calgary I didn't notice much of a difference in the way people were treated from different backgrounds. The only thing that I noticed is a lot of people refer to people from the Middle East as "Brown people" which I found odd and will say it right to their face. People in Victoria will/do look at you like a racists when you say it.

Middle Eastern people aren't brown. South Asians are brown.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Middle Eastern people aren't brown. South Asians are brown.

what are middle eastern people? Sure look brown to me

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Middle Eastern people aren't brown. South Asians are brown.

One of my good buddies from Calgary was from Iran and he looked pretty brown to me, and even refers to himself and his other buddies as 'brownies'. So I don't know what Middle East country you are thinking of.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by HOOT

One of my good buddies from Calgary was from Iran and he looked pretty brown to me, and even refers to himself and his other buddies are 'brownies'. So I don't know what Middle East country you are thinking of.

Arabs:



Indians:


Iranians:

[Shazam]

If you're going to post pics, they can only be of scantily-clad hot chicks.

[_Q_]

If you want to see girls then here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks79Q...eature=related

enjoy

Those are Lebanese girls, many of them are not brown. Most Levantine Arabs (Syrian, Palestinian, Lebanese and Jordanian) look like that.


These are Turkish girls:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbxA-...eature=related

Also many aren't brown.

I have also met some Palestinians that look like black african americans/canadians. The middle east is very diverse and to label them all as "brown" is an inaccurate genaralization.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Shazam

If you're going to post pics, they can only be of scantily-clad hot chicks.

Arabs:


Indians:



Iranians:

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by _Q_

If you want to see girls then here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks79Q...eature=related

Jesus.
edit: yikes, the quality goes downhill after about three minutes.

[shermanator]

Growing up in NE Calgary, racism was pretty prevalent by brown-skinned people towards white-skinned people. As soon as high school started, and kids begin to get into cliques, it was always "stupid white boy" this and "stupid white boy" that. It was just how things were. I still hear it every once in a while when with my brown high school friends, jokingly of course.

From what I've seen, racism in Calgary really only comes out after somebody does something stupid. So if a person of another race does something dumb, then the racist thoughts / comments come out. And in my own personal experience, this comes out most when on the road. For example, when getting cut off by a cab, "stupid Paki" is the first thing I think of. Does it mean I hate all brown-skinned people? Of course not, it's just my reaction. Is it politically correct? Absolutely not! However, I'll have the same reaction if I see an Asian who can't merge, or a new African driver who is driving 20 under the speed limit.

While we as a society, I believe are getting more tolerant as a whole towards, racism is not dead, and will not die anytime soon. Just my two cents.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Growing up in NE Calgary, racism was pretty prevalent by brown-skinned people towards white-skinned people. As soon as high school started, and kids begin to get into cliques, it was always "stupid white boy" this and "stupid white boy" that. It was just how things were. I still hear it every once in a while when with my brown high school friends, jokingly of course.

From what I've seen, racism in Calgary really only comes out after somebody does something stupid. So if a person of another race does something dumb, then the racist thoughts / comments come out. And in my own personal experience, this comes out most when on the road. For example, when getting cut off by a cab, "stupid Paki" is the first thing I think of. Does it mean I hate all brown-skinned people? Of course not, it's just my reaction. Is it politically correct? Absolutely not! However, I'll have the same reaction if I see an Asian who can't merge, or a new African driver who is driving 20 under the speed limit.

While we as a society, I believe are getting more tolerant as a whole towards, racism is not dead, and will not die anytime soon. Just my two cents.

God damned honkey.

[Mad Mel]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

Jesus.
edit: yikes, the quality goes downhill after about three minutes.

Like many things with women, I disengaged long before three minutes was up.