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I know this has been asked millions of times but I'll try and make this thread more unique.
It seems that people automatically equate non racist as white people who are very accepting and tolerant of other races and cultures.
(so called anti racists often engage in double standards is what it seems, as I've pointed out before.)
Do Canadians often use terms like African American?
Or if Canadians are less racist than Americans, is it simply a matter of "not seeing color"?
I know this has been asked millions of times but I'll try and make this thread more unique.
It seems that people automatically equate non racist as white people who are very accepting and tolerant of other races and cultures.
(so called anti racists often engage in double standards is what it seems, as I've pointed out before.)
Do Canadians often use terms like African American?
Or if Canadians are less racist than Americans, is it simply a matter of "not seeing color"?
I've met plenty of Canadians that use the "N" word and are racist. I've also met Canadians who are not and see the color of one's skin having no weight on a friendship.
I know this has been asked millions of times but I'll try and make this thread more unique.
It seems that people automatically equate non racist as white people who are very accepting and tolerant of other races and cultures.
(so called anti racists often engage in double standards is what it seems, as I've pointed out before.)
Do Canadians often use terms like African American?
Or if Canadians are less racist than Americans, is it simply a matter of "not seeing color"?
We wouldn't use the term African American if we are referring to black Canadians because they aren't usually Americans.
I think a lot of racially based reference might be regional so I can only speak from my experience - which is that hyphenated Canadians are common anyway - as in Ukrainian-Canadians, German-Canadians, etc, and so my black BIL is a Jamaican-Canadian. He wouldn't normally be referred to as a black Canadian unless it is in the context of the larger black community, which includes black people from many countries and cultures.
I don't know if Canadians are less racist - I think some of it depends on the circles one runs in. I think it is less acceptable to to refer to race here - unless one is referring to the First Nations. I think Canadians are very racist with regards to the First Nations.
He wouldn't normally be referred to as a black Canadian unless it is in the context of the larger black community, which includes black people from many countries and cultures.
Yes, the black Canadian demographic is very diverse -- it at least includes historically American immigrants (ie. those escaping/leaving slavery via the Underground railroad in the 19th century, though a large proportion afterward also did return to the US after slavery was abolished, or in later years), as well as Caribbean immigrants (for example, the Haitian community in Montreal or the Jamaican community in Toronto) and African immigrants, all of which (if they do) identify as somewhat separate communities.
Also, Canadians wouldn't usually use broader African-Canadian as much to generalize to all the black demographics as a whole because it can't be assumed that all of them share the same culture (as well African- sounds in part like it refers to more the immigrants recently directly from an African country, apart from Caribbean-Canadians and Canadians of black American ancestry).
Last edited by Stumbler.; 04-28-2012 at 04:42 PM..
The main difference between Americans and Canadians: Americans acknowledge their race problems and talk about it, Canadians on the other hand like to keep things swept under the rug.
It seems that people automatically equate non racist as white people who are very accepting and tolerant of other races and cultures.
(so called anti racists often engage in double standards is what it seems, as I've pointed out before.)
I think that kind of depends on where you are. None of my neighbours are white or of European heritage and all of them are very tolerant and accepting of me (white) just as I am of them (not white). I guess that makes all of us non racists, right?
I don't equate non racist as meaning only white people who are accepting and tolerant. I guess because of my location (BC lower mainland) there are so many people of so many different races and some few of those people who are non white are racists against others of non white races as well as against white races while others of all races are not racist at all.
I'll give you an odd example - there have been occasional race wars between gangs - Asian gangs vs. East Indian gangs vs. Middle Easterner gangs vs. white European gangs vs. black gangs. Then there is the so-called "non-racist" gang called the United Nations Gang (aka Global United Nations Syndicate). Their gang name alludes to the various ethnic origins of the members who make a point of not being racist towards anyone with their membership but might be racist toward other ethnic gangs.
Heh heh heh.
Sorry, but I think it's funny and silly and so immature.
Quote:
Do Canadians often use terms like African American?
No. It's "that there black dude on the sidewalk" or "the Asian chick at that desk" or "that Native Indian guy standing by the door" kind of thing. When discussing people descriptives will often come up in a conversation where people may get referred to by their ethinicity and physical appearance but there's nothing racist about it. It's just a way of identifying and describing people and their cultural background or origin for the purpose of frame of reference.
Quote:
Or if Canadians are less racist than Americans, is it simply a matter of "not seeing color"?
Canadians DO see and register ethnicity and color, including the color white. I don't think most Canadians are any more or less racist than Americans. However, I do think Americans "fuss" about racism more than Canadians do. Maybe that's because there seems to be three distinctively prevalent races in America, while in Canada there are more obvious races all mingling with each other.
I don't agree with Average Fruit's assertion that Canadians sweep racism under the rug. I think it's just not as evident in Canada as it is in America because Canadians don't stress out about it as much as Americans do. Canada is accepted by all Canadians as a multicultural nation and America is not.
Canadian society is way less segregated than American society. I think Canadians are also more tolerant even in the most "red-neck" areas.
I live in a redneck area and I grew up in a redneck area and I never heard a racist term until I was 23 and that was in Winnipeg. I was actually completely and probably comically floored because I hadn't grown up with that at all.
Yeah, I grew up in a totally redneck area - northern BC - the thing is everybody that was there were all people of all ethnicities and colours - all immigrants from all over the world. They were all rednecks (loggers, miners, fishermen, hunters, post-war survivalists, etc.) but none of them were racists towards each other. I didn't even know what the word racist meant until I was in my mid 20's when I moved to the lower mainland and started hearing about racism problems in America.
on one hand, I think the US overplays the Race card but on the other hand, I think Canada is a little too nonchalant and indifferent about Race...and I although I didnt spend too long there (6 months increment for 2 yrs), I got the impression issues around race were sweeped under the rug. I mean, colleges in Canada dont even have racial breakdowns of their students???
Another way at looking at it though- is that the minority groups in America rally for more voice than their counterparts in Canada...an example is I find Asian-Americans on the US West Coast are more likely to get involved in (and be successful within) certain fields (broadcasting, politics) than their counterparts in Vancouver for instance. What I dont get is that Vancouver is a city full of Asians and last time I was there, I remember there is like 1 Asian tv news anchorwoman (who was full of herself btw)- either the Connie Chung syndrome didnt kick in up there, or the glass ceiling is even harder to break...
However I do feel "outright" racism is the least intense in Canada- out of all English-speaking countries with Australia on the other extreme, and the UK and the US in the middle.
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