Why does Canada try to act racially neutral?

Question

My professor says that while Canada preaches about not giving in to racism it is actually a very racist country. He said that he has a friend from Ontario who does a program like meals on wheels and that she is married to a chinese man and alot of the people she dropped the food off for were prejudiced against Chinese people. I can understand fearing people because they never had a need to integrate blacks into their culture like America did with cotton field (and no im not saying that was a good reason for slavery) but why do Canadians, or anyone turn fear into hatred and then prejudice?

Answer 1

Your professor is quite wrong but not completely.

The Canadian constitution requires that laws be interpreted with deference to
this country's multiculturalism and diversity, while the US Constitution until your civil war actually enshrined that blacks were only 3/5 of a person, and at the present time your far right radicals (we can receive your talk radio here) fight the idea of multi-culturalism, and laws applied with it in mind, tooth and nail. We also have double the percentage of immigrants than the USA has
(I bet you didn't know that, did you? -- Americans always think that the USA is
the top country for immigrants but it is not so), and Canada also permits dual citizenship. We believe much more in rehabilitation for criminals and our sentences and prison population is much lower (as is our violent crime rate!). So, although there is much less racism here - and I would include the current anti-Hispanic immigrant hysteria among many in the USA
at the present time as being racist, as well (I keep waiting, waiting, waiting to hear or read of an American politician or talk show host asking and examining why Canada, with twice the percentage of immigrants and a considerably more lenient policy towards asylum, does't have the illegals problem that the States has!) - there is resentment here among some groups against others they feel have received favoured treatment. This would include (as John M. alludes to) resentment of First Nations Peoples (the Canadian English words for Indians or Native Americans) by some non-first nations people in certain parts of the country, and, historically until today, resentment among many "pur laine" Quebecois old-stock French and non-pur laine (English speaking or not) generally and Jews specifically (a distain that was until a decade ago reciprocated by many Quebec Jews against the pur laine and today by many English speakers in the ROC - rest of Canada - against the pur laine), even resentment between the 3 different French speaking heritages in Canada (there is currently a big controversy here whether they should be called "nations") - the Quebecois, the Acadians and the Metis. Although Canada shared with the USA outright oppression of Chinese and Japanese Orientals from the late 1800s until the mid-1900s there is no anti-oriental racism here now, but there was some resentment in British Columbia a decade and a half ago as many Cantonese people became dual citizens and bought up a lot of B.C. property in advance of Hong Kong being returned to mainland China's political control. What anti-black sentiment that exists today is largely concentrated in the Toronto area, and is actually more anti-Jamaican (and anti-American!) stemming from the development in the past couple of years of Jamaican gang warfare and the smuggling of guns to the gangs from the USA . And - yes, as Julio Sanchez answers you - there is much resentment by many Canadians against Americans, primarily due to your government's complete arrogance and being a bully and so hypocritical (will it ever apologize for how it violated international law and screwed our citizen Maher Arar?) and the tendency of so many Americans to being so naive about the rest of the world and thinking the US is always No. 1 (for your information the USA is rated as only the 8th best country in which to live - Norway is first and Canada 5th - and is only 7th in freedom of the press, and these ratings came before your recent legislation trying to legalize your Gulags in Guantanemo and elsewhere and denying habeas corpus or US court review of prisoners in them), and loath to give or share credit (do you know that the Canadian casuality rate in Afghanistan is currently greater than the US casualty rate in Iraq? This is never even alluded to in the USA, one point of extreme irritation causing anger among us against you.)

Such is the current nature of racism and prejudice in Canada.

Answer 2

I think you are misinformed. You do realize that is one instance of racism. That should not paint a picture for the entire country. Those people alone could not make Canada a very racist country.(that would be an unfair generalization)
Have you ever been here? Doesn't sound like it.
Example of stereotyping. Should I assume all Americans are idiots because Rick Mercer taped some of them (professors and college students) answering ridiculous questions without realizing they were ridiculous? One question was about the seal hunt in Toronto and another was about the Prime Minister Poutine. One mother didn't know how many states Canada had. Her young son was able to help by telling her that Canada doesn't have states. If you don't understand what is wrong with those questions, you need to learn more about the world around you.

Your history is also wrong. There were slaves in Canada and not only those that came from the US. We did stop before the U.S. but it still happened.

We have many less people here than in many countires but in our cities we are very diverse. (have you been to Toronto, Vancouver, anywhere?)

You have turned your ignorance (of Canada) into prejudice by labeling all of us because of second hand information that concerns some people only.

To the person above who mentioned out treatment of native people. Have you actually studied the subject. I have (at the university level) and I would not say that the treatment of native people in the US is better than in Canada. (and certainly not historically.) You should learn more about the subject from non-biased sources. Do you honestly think that natives are treated worse now than the US has EVER treated black people? That is ridiculous.

Answer 3

I was in Toronto last year and from what I saw it is very multi-cultural and open to people of all races; however, I did notice a lot anti-Americanism and some prejudice against Muslims.Then again I have seen prejudice everywhere, so I wouldn't say that Canada is necessarily a racist country. In Miami there is even prejudice within the various Hispanic communities. I believe that you professor was either misinformed or it his biased opinion.

Answer 4

I would like to know the name of your Professor!! I am from Ontario and I have no problem with the Chinese community. The only thing I can think of is when Sars came into the Toronto area. There was a big problem at the time and people in the hospital were actually dying of Sars. A doctor died as well in our community from Sars. So maybe it was when this was happening. That is the only time when everyone was walking around with masks on their face and the community became very pernoid. Other than that, we here in Canada are a very peaceful bunch.

Cheers from Toronto!!

Answer 5

Your professor doesn't know anything. My ex BF is black and travels frequently to the States. He says he experiences much more prejudice in the U.S. My best friend is Vietnamese and has not experienced any racism since he came to Canada. As for never having to integrate blacks, your professor probably forgot to mention that the Underground Railroad ended in Canada. There are many black people here and they've been here just as long as my white ancestors. There are jerks and racists everywhere, you can't escape it, but at least my BF's mom never had to sit on the back of the bus or use a separate water fountain.

Answer 6

Your professor is an idiot. From what I have experienced in Canada, they are far ahead of the United States when it comes to issues of racism, but then again, I can only speak for British Columbia.
As for why people in general, turn fear into hatred, is this not a normal human reaction. It takes a proper education and self reflection to avoid such a pitfall. In the United States, the government keeps the majority of its population under-educated for this reason, and exploits the fear to create the hyper-paranoid culture we now live within.

Answer 7

Everyone and every country is in someway afraid of anyone different from themselves. Canada and Canadains have never said it does not have racisms or there aren't any racists , it's just not as blatant as some people and in some countries.
This is the real world, it's every where, wake up and see it, welcome to it, even Disney's fantasy world has some kind of racism, watch the cartoons, see the movies. Real life is dirty, grow up.

Answer 8

I cannot say for the leisure of canada, however in Toronto is in most cases numerous. I reside in Downtown Toronto and I truthfully cannot keep in mind while used to be the final time I noticed a complete bunch of white persons jogging in combination.

Answer 9

Canada embraces cultural diversity, your professor doesn't know what he's talking about.

Ask him if he's ever heard of the underground railroad.

Answer 10

Just as you said they are acting. Many Canadians I have met are very biggotted espesially when it comes to Native Americans. The Blacks in the US were never treated as badly as the Indians were and are in Canada.