Posted on: 17-01-04 14:49:18
RACISM IN CANADA -> bull##it
Racism exists in all countries, but I can confidently state that Canada probably has the least racism in any country on this globe. Indian is full of racists and hypocrites. I know how blacks are treated in India and its miserable.
I have yet to experience even the slightest form of racism towards me in Canada.
I would like to hear FIRST-HAND racism experiences from people here who claim they experience racism. FIRST-HAND experience. Yes things may be happeing in the background, but thats all circumstancial. People blame not getting a job to racism. Go and look at the same company it may be full of russians, yugoslavians and black West Indians.
Yes Some companies only hire people from their own nationalities which is bad and the worst of them are Indians .. who are the biggest racists and try to give jobs only to Indians. And they are some indians who prevent other Indians from getting jobs .. equally racist.
Please don't get me wrong .. I am proud to be an Indian, but I hate the fact that most Indians have a habit of compaining without examing themselves, their own culture or their own country.
When I was in India I saw so many blacks being called Monkeys in India (Bhandar). I wouldn't blame if that black guy called an Indian a baboon in Africa.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.southasiancircle.com" target="_blank">www.SouthAsianCircle.com
Manjeet, I have seen both Dubai and Toronto ... No comparison.
As you have said, In Dubai it is mostly Locals or Outsiders.
Canada is way much better. Here, I haven't crossed anything like that as yet. Its just a talk - distant talk. Similar to Salman marrying Aishwarya.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mumbai Maazi Ladki ...
Quote:
Orginally posted by shrek
RACISM IN CANADA -> bull##it
Racism exists in all countries, but I can confidently state that Canada probably has the least racism in any country on this globe. Indian is full of racists and hypocrites. I know how blacks are treated in India and its miserable.
I have yet to experience even the slightest form of racism towards me in Canada.
I would like to hear FIRST-HAND racism experiences from people here who claim they experience racism. FIRST-HAND experience. Yes things may be happeing in the background, but thats all circumstancial. People blame not getting a job to racism. Go and look at the same company it may be full of russians, yugoslavians and black West Indians.
Yes Some companies only hire people from their own nationalities which is bad and the worst of them are Indians .. who are the biggest racists and try to give jobs only to Indians. And they are some indians who prevent other Indians from getting jobs .. equally racist.
Please don't get me wrong .. I am proud to be an Indian, but I hate the fact that most Indians have a habit of compaining without examing themselves, their own culture or their own country.
When I was in India I saw so many blacks being called Monkeys in India (Bhandar). I wouldn't blame if that black guy called an Indian a baboon in Africa.
I do not want to stress on what kind of racism exists in Canada - because it is a fact of life that racism/casteism exists everywhere, let alone Canada. Any Indian who says he has never experienced it first hand is not lucky, but is being hypocrite or so engrossed into submission to westeners that he subconsciously avoids even thinking that they might be looking at you with a different eye.
What I dislike more than racism is an Indian calling Indians as the worst. It is a psychological fact that some people try to overcome their inferiority complex by unnecessarily trying to act with a superiority complex. Not only they do not have any loyalty towards their race (I am not talking country), but develop an inferiority against the white race to the extent that they start feeling they are superior to other desis and start calling the whole race as lousy. If anyone is proud to be an Indian, he can never, never and never say that Indians are full of racists and hypocrites. How can one be proud of being one of the worst???
And let me tell you - I have seen chinese, malays, indonesians and italians - like some of you, they think that their community is the worst on this globe. They speak exactly the same sentences as you do - the word changes from Indain to chinese to indonesian to..........All such people speak that way because everyone is exposed mainly to his own race throughout his own life and sees all the bads in his own race. To put it very strongly, I would go to the extent of saying that people who say (or even think) that (their race) is the worst when it comes to this or that......they are almost saying - my mother is a whore.
yes, I am an Indian who dares to keep his identity as an Indian even amongst Canadians and have impressed many of them to change their normal behaviour to suit my Indianness though they had difficulties initially. I prefer to put it this way - Indians are great, but yes there are things we can learn from chinese, italians,canadians.........etc. etc.
Instead of wasting your efforts in convincing people that Canada (or any other place) does not have racism, devote your energies and time in being a true Indian, giving Indian values to your friends, family and children Work towards helping Indians rather than critisizing them - making them more knowledgeable and convincing them that we all should be proud to be what we are.
Metaphorially, be bold enough to wear a kurta pajama when you visit a friend's house - specially if he is of the same Indian race, even if you are in Canada! If you can cover (and undercover!) your trousers and shirts to keep you warm, same can be done with kurta pyjama. Don't call Kurta pajama as a dress to be ashamed of and shirt trouser the only dress one should wear!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
Quote:
Orginally posted by chandresh
I do not want to stress on what kind of racism exists in Canada - because it is a fact of life that racism/casteism exists everywhere, let alone Canada. Any Indian who says he has never experienced it first hand is not lucky, but is being hypocrite or so engrossed into submission to westeners that he subconsciously avoids even thinking that they might be looking at you with a different eye.
Thinking that a racist person is someone beneath your time is actually being engrossed into submission by westerners? I dont really get it!
To me there are two choices when someone 'looks at me with a different eye'
. 1) Hope THAT person...wherever he is from, can grow up and not pass on his mistakes and prejudices to his children. And move on and not obsess over someone elses flaws...its their flaws! Its a problem with his 'eye' after all.
2) Worry about it and allow that persons flaws to get me down to his/her level.
I'd rather take the first one. I wonder how far, in life, people who take the second route have gone.
That was the focus, I'd think, of Shreks message. I do not see him beating down on his people. He did not say Indians are the worst race...what he did say is
'Yes Some companies only hire people from their own nationalities which is bad and the worst of them are Indians'
Certainly he has asked us to take a second look at ourselves( and I agree with the things he says)...how can one grow if one does not look to overcome ones flaws?...that can get a bit uncomfortable at times, depending on how much you have allowed a certain factor to dominate your thinking. I do not think he is wasting his time by writing what he has and would encourage anybody who is interested in personal growth to read that post.
I do think that people(especially newer immigrants) will get further by implementing point 1 above than point 2. I have yet to see the benefits of obsessing about someone elses flaws.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Services- Servicedomino.com
http://www.servicedomino.com
Thanks Jake3D.
Now to answer Chandresh.
First of all I may have been more harsh than I should have been, but many things I said I truly believe. Many Indians ARE hypiocrites and racist. I have rarely seen an Indian not pass a racist remark at a black guy (in India).
All I was trying to convey is that always look at ourselves before we criticize, and I mean it all around. For example a friend of mine was complaining how Temple priests are so bad, and cant even deliver proper speeches, and then I asked him how much he donated to a temple. And of -course it was in pennies. Then I asked him how he expected a temple to have decent priest? (They do work for money too).
Also Chandresh I have no inferiority complex. Just because I can criticize our habits doent mean I have an inferiority complex. I am proud of our iNdian culture and yes I have worn a Kurta Pyjama numerous times, though I think that has NOTHING to do with being proud of your culture. Dress is just one small factor and personally I find Kurta Pyjamas very uncomfortable and no I dont have an inferiority complex.
Also you said that every Indian has faced Racism in canada. Please give me your first-hand experiences.
I AM SURE MANY INDIAN CANADIANS CAN VOUCH THAT THERE IS HARDLY ANY RACISM HERE. BUT YET I WANT TO HEAR YOUR FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE.
Also many times I have seen my new immigrant Indian friendd think Canadians are being racist and infact they just did not understand the Canadian or his/her culture or statement e.g. men dont get close to men here, but in India they do (patting/hugging etc). So if a guy was to approach a canadian guy very closely, the guy would just tell him to back a little and an Indian would naturally think he is a racist, but he is not.
I know some students who called their professors here "Uncle" which of course is ridiculous here. So when the Professor asks the student to stop that, the student may again think of it as racism.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.southasiancircle.com" target="_blank">www.SouthAsianCircle.com
I’m really enjoying this thread. Having lived in a foreign country I may have a few thoughts. I lived in Seoul for three years and experienced much racism. I had a Korean girlfriend and when I’d walk in the streets at least one Korean man would come right up to me and challenge me for a fight and call my girlfriend a slut for being with a foreigner. Obviously, these incidents upset me. But I understood that he wasn’t used to foreigners and that the media scared him to the idea of foreigners in his country. (Remember Korea only opened its doors to foreigners in 1988 so xenophobia is not only prevalent but expected).
I could have never lasted in Korea if all I looked at was what was wrong. Every time someone passed a comment or confronted me, I simply smiled and felt sorry for the individual. For every one ignorant, xenophobic, racist there was 100 amazing, kind, friendly Koreans who would go out of their way for me. One even saved my life. The incident happened in winter. It was a winter night like we’re used to in Quebec and I couldn’t hail a cab because they just wouldn’t stop for me. I was too far from home to walk, the buses had stopped running, and all the cafes were closing up as it was 3am. Cabs tend to avoid foreigners not so much because of racism but because of communication barriers. At 3am they have many people to choose from and they avoid foreigners if they can. So no one stopped for me and everything around me was closing-- the lights were shutting off one at a time, and I felt like I was in a bad movie. I had to make a quick decision. So I went back to the café I had been at and told the lady my predicament and she opened her doors to me and let me sleep there. In the morning I had no problems hailing a cab, as the drivers didn’t have the luxury of selection. I then I have just the opposite example. A friend from Montreal came to visit me during Monsoon season. We went out dancing and when we came out of the club there was water up to our waste (and this is not dramatic exaggeration). I sighed because I thought we’d never get a cab and I know how dangerous monsoons can be. But I thought to soon. The most incredible, unexpected thing happened. Out of the thousand people that were screaming for a cab, the only cab on the street came up to me and my friend and told us to get in. After we got in my friend was surprised and she asked me why he had stopped as I had told her we would never get a cab. Still in shock, I asked him. And you know what this amazing human being told me. He told me that if he didn’t stop for me no one else would have and that a monsoon could very dangerous. The next day the news reported something like 14 people were electrocuted.
Your experience in a new country will all depend on what your eyes are open to. Are you looking for the negative and dwelling on it? Or do you understand that racism is to be found everywhere in the world, that all manifestations of racism are appalling, but there is way more good than bad in any place. Please, list a few things that you love about Canada. There is some racism here but these are perhaps isolated cases and should be treated as such.
Jess
