Colour Code | RACISM IN CANADA
This podcast is so fascinating. It actually made me laugh at Ian on the radio. It reminded me of conversations we had in my Women Studies class, which was my first introduction to racism conversations and it was a new experience for me then. In my class I found myself also becoming defensive right away when we spoke about racism especially with my South African, which is why I found the radio discussion interesting. My Women Studies class changed the way I looked at myself and how I viewed racism and topics around it. Firstly, his point about “them” not talking to him in a grocery store line up is the first establishment of him making the entire topic about him. It’s about his feeling and his feeling that “they”don't want to interact with him because he’s white. Poor him... He blames the race as a whole instead of blaming the person themselves. He should be wondering why that one person did not talk to him like maybe they were having a bad day or he/she was tired, busy thinking, or whatever else the reason might be. Instead he looked at that persons skin colour rather than their identity. I myself work hard at it to not look at someone’s skin colour and assume that we’re different because that’s how I grew up and that’s how a lot of people around me are. I try and focus on looking for similarities instead of differences.
Secondly, he nailed the topic of reverse racism. Claiming to be a minority in his community is once again him playing “poor me” and making it about him. I think the worst and most consistent part of the radio talk was the “me vs. them” theme. It was so clear that in no world could he have any connection or things in common with “them”. He doesn’t realize that him saying that he feels like a minority in his community doesn’t hold any means because he still holds the white male patriarchal privileges, even if he’s “outnumbered” by other races where he lives. He’s not attempting to understand or relate to them in any way but rather trying to minimize their experience by stating that he feels like they are being racist against him. He feels attacked and he feels like they don't want to include him in his own community and the entire conversation is about him as this poor white male who won’t be accepted into his community because “those” people don’t accept him. Does he accept them for who they are?
That goes into my third point about the assimilation of immigrants in Canada. The 68% positive vote is shocking to me, but then again not really. The immigrant topic is touchy here in Canada because most Canadians, if were classifying it as when you’re born in Canada, are multicultural and yet people have this assumption that Canadians are white. For me when people ask me where I’m from when they hear my accent I don't get offended because I am from somewhere else and I realize my priviledge of having white skin in this country. Though what I thought of when they discussed it in the podcast was in my Women Studies class when a few girls in the class said they find it so hurtful and offensive when they are asked where they are from because it confirms this assumption that if you have black skin there is no way you could be from Canada / be Canadian. This to me was the first I thought about something like this and I think until you hear it from those with lived experience of racism, you don’t know whether your actions are racist or not and it’s not for you to determine that either. I found that it’s not about you and how you think you are racist or not but rather about the person on the other end and how they experience it.
To me, the worst part of the entire podcast and radio interview was that Ian made it all about him and his experience as a white male, and not for one second did he consider how they might feel or how his actions might make them feel.
On a side note I love their statement about referring to things as “you did a racist thing” rather than saying “you’re a racist”, as I think actions can be worked on and bettered piece by piece. I can’t say that I’m not a racist because I constantly try and work on little things I do that could be racist. But if someone tells you you’re a racist I think there becomes de-motivation of trying to better yourself and work on the steps you can take to be more inclusive and accepting and considerate.