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| Blogs > Rentier1 > What? Me worry? |
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On Racism The recent rioting in Missouri got me thinking. I have observed that many view racism through the lens of the environment they live in, and seem to be unable to grasp that others see things differently for valid reasons. One instance of this that struck me was an interview on This American Life first aired about ten years ago. A Black American lady lawyer was describing her experience of living in France. On one of her first visits there, she and two friends barged to the front of a movie theatre line as they commonly did in the US, relying on White guilt to keep others behind them silent. Not in France. Much to their shock and amazement they were cursed out royally. One assumes she no longer does this. Another example is more personal. I had an acquaintance who grew up in Maine. She is a typical American 'progressive' who reacts with passion against any slight aimed at African Americans. During her university years she waitressed at a Maine restaurant. She encountered many French Canadians from Quebec during that time. She has nothing but disdain for them. They behave badly and are terrible tippers, among other faults. I attempted to her that the linguistic division is our racial division, and that one did not say such things in better circles. This made not impact on her. |
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8/26/2014 7:39 am |
Very interesting, but hardly the point of the blog, is it?
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8/26/2014 7:37 am |
Nonsense. It's a life style choice, just like smoking.
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8/21/2014 9:03 am |
Racism is indeed country and culture specific and has been going on since man began recording history. All we have to do is to look at the countries in the mideast where different ethnic backgrounds have been fighting for thousands of years for confirmation. Our American/Canadian/European perspective often can not even see the differences. Spiritwoman ^i^
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8/21/2014 8:13 am |
Just when I think stereotypes are not true, I run into White American southerners who are either mint julep swilling landowners who want the darkies back in the field, or inbred gun toting KKK supporters.
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8/21/2014 8:10 am |
My son lives on Knight and Marine that is the dividing line between the Chinese and East Indian communities in that area. I shop at their stores whenever I am in Vancouver. The signs in the East Indian stores are always English, and in the Chinese ones mostly bilingual. Only ever encountered hostility once. It was from the owner of an East Indian clothing store who clearly didn't want me in his place. Not sure why that was
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8/21/2014 7:29 am |
Hi Rentier: Interesting topic but it's almost impossible these days to even talk about race without offending someone or being labelled a racist. I'm Italian and was born four years after WW2 ended, and know first hand how it feels to be at the bottom of the social register and on the receiving end of racism and it's so demoralizing. So many Italian people changed their first names, some even their surnames, hoping people wouldn't think they were Italian....Giovanni became John, Maria became Mary, etc. I changed mine from Francesca to Francine. An African American teenage boy in Missouri was interviewed on CNN today and he described how, even before this current situation, the police talk to him and his friends so disrespectfully, just like they were inferior to white teenagers. It's easy to talk about Muslim terrorists and not be labelled racist. Most immigrant groups have been at the bottom of the ladder at some point. Italians were certainly viewed with some disdain when I was kid in Montreal in the 50's and early 60's. My point is simply that a thinking human being should understand this and not simply accept conventional wisdom of the era.
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8/21/2014 6:58 am |
Hi Rentier: Interesting topic but it's almost impossible these days to even talk about race without offending someone or being labelled a racist. I'm Italian and was born four years after WW2 ended, and know first hand how it feels to be at the bottom of the social register and on the receiving end of racism and it's so demoralizing. So many Italian people changed their first names, some even their surnames, hoping people wouldn't think they were Italian....Giovanni became John, Maria became Mary, etc. I changed mine from Francesca to Francine. An African American teenage boy in Missouri was interviewed on CNN today and he described how, even before this current situation, the police talk to him and his friends so disrespectfully, just like they were inferior to white teenagers.
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8/21/2014 6:41 am |
Of course. But we should recognize that and try to understand why other people in other countries might see things differently. E.g. There was a toothpaste in Hong Kong called 'Darkie' that featured a grinning Black man. That would certainly not have passed the race sensitivity test in in Canada or the US. And yet similar depictions of Muslims are quite acceptable these days.
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