Is everyone so racist in the US?

[tml12]

Amercans arent racist, Individual A-holes are racist. I live below the mason dixie line, and i can tell you that white/black relations, or native american relations are better here then where i grew up in Detroit Michigan. Any who still believes in racism down here is pretty much laughed at.

Racism is prevalent anywhere...why is Quebec so racist? Or is that a different topic?

Minorities are descriminated against everywhere and this is very wrong...I wouldn't call it an American phenom. If Canada had territories in the Southern U.S., you don't think that would have said "Oh no, we are a kinder nation."

We must work on an individual level to reach out to those who have been victims of discrimination and defend them.

[Murray B.]

Canada has a long history of racism and other discrimination but it appears less obvious than it once was. Discrimination against Catholics and the Irish seems to have ended and overt discrimination against blacks seems to have declined but not so much for Canadian Indians. Of course now we can add smokers, gun owners, and fat people to the list so perhaps we may not have made as much progress as some people may think.

Individual racism continues to exist and one can only hope that this will decline with education. This is not the big problem, however, unless the discrimination becomes widespread and institutionalized. Then the victim becomes trapped and cannot find relief by simply moving or finding another job.

It would benfit us all if institutions did not discriminate against any identifiable group but in this respect the United States is ahead of Canada. Methinks there are more individual bigots in the States but more bigoted institutions here in Canada. Which is best? Well, I'll leave it up to you to call the kettle black.

P.S. Are you intolerant of bigots? I know I sure am... which makes me a bigot ... which I can't tolerate. Got to go now, my head hurts.

[moderateamericain]

Canada has a long history of racism and other discrimination but it appears less obvious than it once was. Discrimination against Catholics and the Irish seems to have ended and overt discrimination against blacks seems to have declined but not so much for Canadian Indians. Of course now we can add smokers, gun owners, and fat people to the list so perhaps we may not have made as much progress as some people may think.

Individual racism continues to exist and one can only hope that this will decline with education. This is not the big problem, however, unless the discrimination becomes widespread and institutionalized. Then the victim becomes trapped and cannot find relief by simply moving or finding another job.

It would benfit us all if institutions did not discriminate against any identifiable group but in this respect the United States is ahead of Canada. Methinks there are more individual bigots in the States but more bigoted institutions here in Canada. Which is best? Well, I'll leave it up to you to call the kettle black.

P.S. Are you intolerant of bigots? I know I sure am... which makes me a bigot ... which I can't tolerate. Got to go now, my head hurts.

well of course there are going to be more bigots in the USA, theres more people.

[Murray B.]

well of course there are going to be more bigots in the USA, theres more people.

Yes, I heard it is ten times more but I wonder if there is less bigotry per capita in Canada. Don't forget that there is far more regional and linguistic discrimination in Canada.

For example Mr. Harper cannot represent Canada because he does not have Canadian values. He can't have these values because he is from Calgary and only central Canadians have Canadian values, or so I hear. This is regional bigotry.

I did not make this up. I'm not allowed to make things up.

Forget working for the Canadian federal government unless you are "bilingual". Bilingual in this instance does not mean what the dictionary says, but means English-French in Ontario and French-English in Quebec. Forget it if you know any other two languages because that is not bilingual. This is linguistic bigotry.

I did not make this up. I'm not allowed to make things up.

Overall I do not see how the U.S. of Americans are any great ogres or even how the U.S. government is the greatest evil the world has ever known. For instance, what other country in the history of world would have come up with the Marshal plan? The answer is none, only the U.S.A. would do this.

Who defends Canadian sovereignty in the north while Canadians are too stupid to realise the danger? (Under international law the residents can claim the land). For example, the only residents are Danish then the land becomes part of Denmark. For decades the U.S. has placed weather stations in the Canadian north whenever some other country does the same. This happens regularly and is paid for by U.S. taxpayers. These are not the actions of an enemy.

Hmm, I could write a book about the good that the U.S. of America has done but this post is already too long.

Suffice it to say that not all Canadians are anti-American and perhaps the pro-Americans number far more than most people think.

Have a good day, Eh?

P.S. The make stuff up refrain is a parody of some unintentionally funny ads currently being run by the Liberal party. One ad claims that Stephen Harper (Conservative Party leader) expressed admiration of American conservatives "behind closed doors". This means that the Conservative is also conservative. This is a real ad. I'm not making this up. I'm not allowed to make things up and this is funniest campaign that I have ever seen in my entire life.

[YankAbroad]

I had to chuckle at the "conservatives in the USA like conservatives from Canada" line, Murray.

Imagine if Harper ran an ad where he talked about "LIBERAL Americans like Ted Kennedy can't WAIT for Paul Martin to win the election."

Pure silliness by the Liberal Party, and one that will backfire with even liberal Americans when it comes to bilateral relations. Even US business and news press has picked up on the anti-American rhetoric. . . it's no longer something "not seen" south of the border, and it will have profound impact on US policy in the future.

[Murray B.]

I had to chuckle at the "conservatives in the USA like conservatives from Canada" line, Murray.

Sorry if that is how it came across. This new Conservative party has influences from Alliance, Conservative, Progressive, and Reform parties. In U.S. political terms I suppose they might be more like what young conservatives at Berkely might be like if there were any.

The point that I am trying to make is that Mr. Harper's statement was not too shocking. If he had expressed admiration for Handgun Control Inc. or something similar "behind closed doors" then that would be news.

Saying the Conserviative admires conservatives says nothing important. I admire Teddy Roosevelt and FDR but this does not mean that I agree with everything that they did. The Liberals are spinning this stuff so much that I am getting dizzy.

[tml12]

I had to chuckle at the "conservatives in the USA like conservatives from Canada" line, Murray.

Imagine if Harper ran an ad where he talked about "LIBERAL Americans like Ted Kennedy can't WAIT for Paul Martin to win the election."

Pure silliness by the Liberal Party, and one that will backfire with even liberal Americans when it comes to bilateral relations. Even US business and news press has picked up on the anti-American rhetoric. . . it's no longer something "not seen" south of the border, and it will have profound impact on US policy in the future.

You are absolutely right YankAbroad.

You know we just had another mad cow crisis in this country? How long do you think the US border stays open?

As if we needed another reason to get the anti-American Liberal Party out of power.

[TooInvolved]

Unf., yes, in my experience most people are pretty racist in the U.S. Sorry to say it.

[fellowtraveller]

What a discussion - which country has the most overt racism?

Clearly it is Canada, since our racism is institutionalized with Indian Affairs, the adminstration of the Indian Act, Health Canada, reserves, boarding schools, the Anglican and Catholic churches and so on. Many of these are happening today, not generations ago. The paternalism is disgusting and beyond insulting to human beings. The very worst place for Firtst Nations discrimination is Saskatoon. Nothing subtle or covert there. Worst of all, the system that has so clearly and totally failed an entire culture continues - nothing has really changed for 150 years. First Nations people face a health crisis, now, that is staggering. Wait, lets blame the dirty Indians for that.

It is Canadas Dirty Little Secret, and a dark shadow on all of us.

[Murray B.]

Wait, lets blame the dirty Indians for that.

Wouldn't it be better to write, "Wait, let's blame the "dirty" Indians for that". As it sits this is a little ambiguous about who is using the term "dirty".

It is Canadas Dirty Little Secret, and a dark shadow on all of us.

Ouch, the truth hurts!

[moderateamericain]

Unf., yes, in my experience most people are pretty racist in the U.S. Sorry to say it.

SO you live in America right? because if you dont you better spend more than 50 percent of you time there to make a bold statment like that.

[tml12]

Unf., yes, in my experience most people are pretty racist in the U.S. Sorry to say it.

SO you live in America right? because if you dont you better spend more than 50 percent of you time there to make a bold statment like that.

Probably a left-wing pseudo-intellectual from Toronto.

I should add when my friend was in Toronto he asked an Indian woman what time it was and she was like "you are not in my cultural community" and walked away.

Is everyone so racist in Toronto?

[YankAbroad]

I admit it as an American.

I cannot believe our secret got out.

All of us are racists. We're taught from a young age to absolutely DESPISE the 60% or so of our country which isn't white.

They're even taught to hate themselves! Oh yes.

Canada is a completely, totally different society with nothing in common with us whatsoever -- a warm and welcoming place where visible minorities dance in the daisies (until they're depressed by the regular lynchings which occur in our major minority-populated cities like New York, Los Angeles and Boston). Racism doesn't exist in Canada -- especially in Toronto. In fact, the word would have disappeared from the Canadian vocabulary entirely due to its obsolescence, if it wasn't for the Americans and Alberta (ah, but I repeat myself).

Everyone knows it's dangerous to be American and black. None have been elected to Congress or the Senate. None have ever held high-ranking posts or have even had jobs.

Everyone knows it's dangerous to be American and speak Spanish. You never see it on street signs, on the television, or in books. The racism has gotten so bad that Puerto Rico just renamed itself "Richport Island" to avoid being nuked!

America is run by white men and has never had a minority president. Contrast this to Canada, with its long and proud tradition of prime ministers who are racial minorities. In fact, I don't believe Canada has had a white prime minister in the last 50 years!

Yep, a dangerous and racist hellhole, the United States. It's best avoided -- even crossing the border could get you shot to death by a racist nuclear-weapon-toting sexist Republican right-wing neoconservative redneck driving a Chevy K-Series -- and that's at the Vermont border!

[TooInvolved]

Unf., yes, in my experience most people are pretty racist in the U.S. Sorry to say it.

SO you live in America right? because if you dont you better spend more than 50 percent of you time there to make a bold statment like that.

Yes.

[YankAbroad]

I'm firmly a believer that people shouldn't live in places they find distasteful or disgusting, especially if they have the ability to go somewhere else which is better.

This is why I'm perplexed by immigrants to the USA, Europe or other places who ceaselessly complain about what horrible, oppressive, capitalist right-wing immoral hellholes they are compared to back home -- yet curiously remain in these backwards hellholes rather than return home to paradise.

Could you explain why this is so in your case? The phenomenon fascinates me.

[uOttawaMan]

It's because they got tricked into going to the US instead of Canada. So they spend the rest of their lives trying to get into Canada, but have no luck. Thats CLEARLY the reason. kthnx

[tml12]

I'm firmly a believer that people shouldn't live in places they find distasteful or disgusting, especially if they have the ability to go somewhere else which is better.

This is why I'm perplexed by immigrants to the USA, Europe or other places who ceaselessly complain about what horrible, oppressive, capitalist right-wing immoral hellholes they are compared to back home -- yet curiously remain in these backwards hellholes rather than return home to paradise.

Could you explain why this is so in your case? The phenomenon fascinates me.

This phenomenon is called "playing both sides."

[YankAbroad]

they spend the rest of their lives trying to get into Canada, but have no luck

Ah, that's clearly the voice of someone who has had to deal with the "Citizenship and Immigration Canada" bureaucracy, which on one hand complains immigration levels are too low, but on the other hand has created an expensive and labyrinthine immigration process which nobody outside of the third world would bother dealing with -- and has recently INCREASED the paperwork and waiting periods for skilled citizens of western countries to "ensure they aren't treated better" than uneducated third world citizens with few useful skills.

Oh, and before someone says it, yes, I know the US INS sucks rocks too.

[YankAbroad]

This phenomenon is called "playing both sides."

Hehehehe

[TooInvolved]

I'm firmly a believer that people shouldn't live in places they find distasteful or disgusting, especially if they have the ability to go somewhere else which is better.

This is why I'm perplexed by immigrants to the USA, Europe or other places who ceaselessly complain about what horrible, oppressive, capitalist right-wing immoral hellholes they are compared to back home -- yet curiously remain in these backwards hellholes rather than return home to paradise.

Could you explain why this is so in your case? The phenomenon fascinates me.

Are you writing to me? I wasn't clear from your post.

TI

[YankAbroad]

Yep, I am writing to you.

[TooInvolved]

Yep, I am writing to you.

Well, only one of your assumptions is true: that I find the US distasteful. I don't have the ability to go somewhere else because it's just not that easy and I'm not sure where a better place would be.

I'm not an immigrant to the US. And I haven't and don't ceaselessly complain.

However, if I wanted to hazard a guess about why immigrants might do so, I'd say that maybe they expect to have a better life once they leave home. In many ways, they do to be sure. But IMO racism is something worth complaining about.

[YankAbroad]

I don't have the ability to go somewhere else because it's just not that easy and I'm not sure where a better place would be.

Well, if I, the son of a poor farm boy, could get work in China, Canada, Japan, and Britain, surely you could do the same.

IMO racism is something worth complaining about

Oh, sure. It's just that I find the left to be as racist as the right, just in a different way.

For instance, here in Britain, when I expressed an opinion which said I didn't want any religion -- especially fundamentalist Islam -- influencing public social policies, I was accused of being "islamophobic" by some odious Labour Party twat. What's worse is that he attributed a nasty racist position to me which I didn't have, and told me "I know that you really hate the 'towel heads' don't you? Fucking Yank."

I would never use such despicable racist language, nor do I oppose religious government on racist or ethnocentric grounds -- I oppose them on principled secular grounds. It didn't stop Mr. Harmony and Multiculturalism from blood libel by attributing a despicable racist position to me, though. Interestingly too, he was very conversant in the use of racist slurs -- he accused a colleague of mine in Britain's Libertarian Alliance of "hating the 'pakis'" (a highly derogatory racist slur referring to people of Pakistani origin). He was extraordinarily conversant in, and willing to use, racist slurs in his supposed "defence" of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities -- suggesting to me that he's got some racism rattling around in that gas-filled skull of his.

I guess my final point is that you'll never find that perfect place by moving. You'll find it by making it yourself in your own life, wherever you happen to be (or wherever happens to have the best opportunities for you). So go out and live it.

[tml12]

"Well, only one of your assumptions is true: that I find the US distasteful. I don't have the ability to go somewhere else because it's just not that easy and I'm not sure where a better place would be."

Care to explain why you find the U.S. distasteful? Because it sounds like more whining from the Canadian left. A better place for what?

"I'm not an immigrant to the US. And I haven't and don't ceaselessly complain.

However, if I wanted to hazard a guess about why immigrants might do so, I'd say that maybe they expect to have a better life once they leave home. In many ways, they do to be sure. But IMO racism is something worth complaining about."

LOL I meet immigrants all the time telling me they're not Canadian, just [insert country here] and here in Canada for the *time being*. The same goes for the States.

Immigrants to Canada and the U.S. don't know how good they have it. And many of them are grateful. It is too bad that many of them don't respect their duty.

[tml12]

"For instance, here in Britain, when I expressed an opinion which said I didn't want any religion -- especially fundamentalist Islam -- influencing public social policies, I was accused of being "islamophobic" by some odious Labour Party twat. What's worse is that he attributed a nasty racist position to me which I didn't have, and told me "I know that you really hate the 'towel heads' don't you? Fucking Yank."

The Brits can play the anti-American card too although many of them 20-somethings over their heads so deep in a bottle of Tanqueray I must wonder.

I was in a bar here a few months back and a guy from London was in there. After about six gin and tonics all he could tell you was Britain was responsible for making the English the world's top language, all the French can go to hell, and the Americans were "yankee doodles."

It sure was sad when they were dragging his ass out of there.