This class and specifically writing this blog for class, has made me realize how racism is still an issue in Canada today. Although racism may not be as blunt as it has been in the past, it is still there, lurking secretly behind every stereotype and media portrayal of a certain ethnicity. The fact that I didn't realize racism was still a major issues, plays into my personal "white privilege" factor proving this point all the more.
Thankfully, there is movement and action happening all around Canada against racism. Although there is still work to be done, Canada has made substantial progress in comparison to the rest of the world in its ideals for national equality. This is important but we cannot turn a "colour-blind" eye to racism quite yet. Awareness is one of the key factors in overcoming racism. I hope that this blog will bring that awareness to my readers, as SOCI 3220 and writing this blog itself, has done for me.
Africville is one of the best kept secrets in the Halifax municipality. As a student moving here from Ontario, I recently discovered the underlying racist history of the town. However, I realized that many local Nova Scotians had no idea about Africville either. The minority of people living in the Halifax area that were of African decent were made to live in the most run down area. For more information on the history of the town, check out this site made by Dalhousie: "Black History Canada" and this site for more: "Africville - The Spirit Lives On".
Why isn't history such as Africville taught in schools as Canadian History? This is part of Canadian heritage and swept under the rug as if it never even happened.
Black racism is a horrible blemish on North America's history, and also seldom talked about. A recent conference that I went to with this Sociology class brought these issues to light. El Jones, an amazing spoken word artist, discusses Nova Scotia's black history in one of her works. The video below was taken at the 2008 Africville reunion as El Jones was asked to speak.
El Jones plays with words and brings new meaning to old phrases. She looks social and political problems straight in the face and tells them exactly what she means. This is why her poetry and works have become such a great activist force in the Black Consciousness movement in Nova Scotia.
Stereotypes are one of the most subliminal forms of racism. This is displayed in every ethnicity, but particularly with people of African decent. I saw an anti-racism ad that read: "Name a positive stereotype about black people". Can you think of one?
"Now, I'm not saying that white people are better, but being white is clearly better, who could even argue?"
This quote is taken from a comedian, Louis C.K., in his stand up comedy routine. He discusses white privilege from a humorous stand point and makes many good arguments as he goes.
White privilege is something that few people want to talk about. Louis C.K. makes this point as well but uses different language: "If you're white and you don't admit that it's great, you're an asshole."
Whiteness is something that few people want to talk about due to the dark past shadowing over white history, and the pain that many ethnicities have felt. In modern society, we try to sweet white privilege under the rug. An activity in class brought this to the surface.
After doing a quiz and answering questions privately about race and discrimination in our personal lives, the professor asked all students to come to the front. Re-asking the questions we had already answered on our own, we were asked to move to certain places in the room depending on our answer. The fact of white privilege was shown clearly as the white students remained stationary for the most part during questions of "how often do you feel discriminated against?" "Are you often the minority in a public setting?". This exercise really demonstrated what most people are unwilling to face: that being white has a certain privilege.
This topic is taken up from an academic perspective in Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack". This article describes how whites are still privileged in today's society:
"I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance in my group."
This article also provides a list of statements that apply strictly to white privilege. It's an interesting activity to do. To check it out click the link above.
Another article about white privilege hit the news recently (March 2013). This article by Robert Huber, "Being White in Philly", focuses on "White, Race, Class, and the things that never get said". This article created an outrage in America as the article made many racist comments about the community of Philadelphia.
Huber's article hit the newspapers and broadcasters as the heated debate between freedom of speech and race raged on. Here's a link to a New York Times article responding to Huber's "Being White in Philly": "A Magazine Article on Race Sets Off an Outcry".
Should race be something that can be publicly spoken about it? Where is the line between freedom of speech and racism?
European settlers began exploring Canada in the 1700s and 1800s, sponsored financially by companies such as the Hudson Bay Company. These companies were looking for new places to expand their economy, look for new goods to trade, and find more efficient trade routes to get to Asia and other places around the world. Native peoples were first deemed the name of "Indian" as Europeans had believed they'd landed in India. Soon after, early explorers corrected this, realizing they'd found a new and distant land. However, the name of "Indian" still sticks to aboriginals of Canada to this day. While the first meetings of native and European explorers were friendly, the friendship soon turned sour as Europeans attempted to instil a spirit of industry among the natives, something that was a new concept for the aboriginal peoples of Canada. Europeans came to claim the land of Canada and colonize it as an expansion of Europe, while natives used the land for resources when needed. This imperialism grew throughout Canada's history and soon reserves and residential schools were created to assimilate aboriginal into a new culture. The struggle between the natives and Europeans are a dark part of Canada's past, casting a shadow over the very foundations of this country. Yet, surprisingly, this violent history was created into toys for young children to play with and act out. Cowboys and Indians is a basic game and can be played with toys or by acting out the scenes. However, no matter how the game is played, the outcome is always the same, with the Indians tied up and the Europeans dominating these people with guns and horses.
Michael Yellow Bird describes these toys in his book, Cowboys and Indians, as "toys of genocide". He compares these toys to Jewish and Nazi toys, something that would create an outrage in modern society, yet the cowboy and indian toys slip unnoticed. After reading Michael Yellow Bird's article, the racism in these toys seemed so blatantly obvious. However, native peoples have been subtly discriminated against since the settlement of the Americas. Michael Yellow Bird points this out, as he uses the Washington Redskins, a sports team in the United States. The language use of "redskins" is a racial concept, used to demote the native peoples.
In this photo, an old looking native is displayed with feathers in his hair and running down the icon. Goldberg would classify this as demoting a certain ethnicity to look "primitive" in his three conceptual schemes. Early Canadian literature is not secret about their prejudices against the native peoples, calling them savage and uncivilized in their documents. Although Canadians would love to say that that is part of their history, discrimination against aboriginals still continues to this day. The fracking incident occurring in New Brunswick just over a month ago is a recent example of this. As aboriginals and other people of the community strongly protested against Irving fracking, the oil companies would not listen.
A video put together by native Canadian, Veronica Johnny, shows an inside look at the protests that are currently going on in New Brunswick over this issue: Song For Life. This video was very interesting, as it displays old aboriginal proverbs that promoted the preservation of the earth.
Prejudice and discrimination towards native peoples has and continues to occur in Canada. Although Canadians pride themselves on being multi-cultural, our foundations were built on a strong racism towards the aboriginals of this country. Hundreds of years of injustices towards these people have landed Canada where we are now. With apologies and failed promises, the Canadians have let down the true people of this land. Although things have improved, Canada as a country still has a long way to go, and a dark past to redeem, as the racism towards aboriginals still continue to this day.
This title is taken from the McLean's article discussing the effect of students from asian backgrounds who study abroad at Canadian Universities. The article entitled "Too Asian", interviews students from Ontario to get a sense of the reputation of asian students in university. The article writes, "Asian students work harder is a fact born out by hard data. They tend to be strivers, high achievers and single-minded in their approach to university." This, the article argues, causes university students to feel like underachievers. Although the article boldly states that this is not a racial issue it is enforcing stereotypes onto a certain race, "'Too Asian' is not about racism', say students like Alexandra: 'many white students simply believe that competing with Asians—both Asian Canadians and international students—requires a sacrifice of time and freedom they’re not willing to make.'" The articles main argument is that international students, specifically Asian students, are too smart to be in university, out-schooling the original citizens of Canada. This article reenforces asian stereotypes. Youtube star, DavidSoComedy, has developed video blogs that poke fun of asian stereotypes in America. His Vblog 11: Asian Stereotypes has received almost a million and a half views.
As an asian American himself, he makes light or stereotypes and makes some of the myths about asians. One of the comments he touches on in his blog is how asians are known as being good at math. Although he uses humour to convey his points, he argues that everybody outside the U.S. with a decent education is generally better at math than Americans. As an American himself, David portrays that his education in math was not great. He addresses many asian stereotypes such as how asians are bad drivers, asian girls are submissive, and how asians are cheap. These stereotypes are exactly that: stereotypes. Although he laughs about some of the truth behind these myths, others he puts to shame. Comedy can be a very truthful medium, while at the same time keeping the topic of racism light.
The McLean article, on the other hand, addresses these stereotypes as truth, reinforcing them with interviews. An article studied in class entitled, Racism and Post-Secondary Education in Canada by Jeet Heer, took an inside look at the underlying racism in this response to the McLean article "Too Asian". The article responds to this racism by briefly reviewing Canadian education system in the past, describing how Canadian education was originally centred around assimilating minorities into European culture. The article continues to describe how there was once a tax on asian immigrants migrating to Canada. From these examples, it seems as though Canada's racism towards asians in our education system has improved. Yet it is still not perfect. In response to the McLean article, Heer agrues that this article gave simple representations to the ideas of race. Heer backs his statements up with statistics, one of them being that "racialized Canadians earn lower salaries than those designated white in Canada". From these statistics, it is clear asians and other minorities are still racialized in Canada, although we have come a long way. Although Canadian universities promote multi-culturalism and immigrants to come to the school, they are treated with stereotypes reinforced by years of prejudice and racism. Saint Mary's University in Halifax is an excellent example of a school that encourages immigrants and study abroad programs. Heer points out that while the ads for universities display multiple races all laughing and studying together, this sometimes is not the real image of university. Prejudices and stereotypes still run rapid in colleges, as asians in the Canadian education system are racialized.
"The people of Canada have worked hard to build a country that opens its doors to include all, regardless of their differences; a country that respects all, regardless of their differences; a country that demands equality for all, regardless of their differences." - Paul Martin
Canada prides itself on being a multi-cultural mosaic, something that differs Canadian identity from that of the neighbouring United States. Instead of being a "melting pot", Canada embraces all cultures, encouraging immigrants to display their original cultures. In Toronto, one of the most multi-cultural hubs in the world, contains different sections throughout the city that cater to different ethnicities. "Chinatown" is one of the best known ethnic subdivisions complete with farmers markets and oriental food. This allows immigrants or visitors from around the world to find a piece of home and a possible community to connect with. Examples such as these provide a smooth transition for immigrants to come to Canada.
Murtaza Hussain, a Torontonian journalist who focuses his articles on issues surrounding the middle-east, praises Canada in his article, "What the World can Learn from Canadian Multi-Culturalism". In comparison to Europe, Hussain writes that Canada is a pleasant place for immigrants to settle. A recent poll (2011) in Europe stated that "65 percent of Spaniards, Italians and Brits believed there were 'too many immigrants in their country'". This provides a harsh environment for those looking to migrate. Hussain goes on to further write that, "Canadians also tend to have a much more positive opinion of immigration than Europeans. In a 2006 poll asking what made them 'proud to be Canadian', multiculturalism ranked second place, behind only the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms". Part of Canada's identity is multi-culturalism and acceptance of all cultures. However, while Canadians promote peace and racial equality to the world, that does not mean that there are no episodes of racism or stereotypes in Canada. This blog will take a closer look at racial minorities, attempting to provide an in depth and inside look at the mosaic of Canada.
