Canada’s racist social norms — and how we can change them
In a Facebook group, a white woman responds to a post about new government funding for clean water at an Indigenous reserve, complaining that Indigenous people already get too much support and should do a better job of looking after themselves.
At a bar, a man of European descent joins a discussion about police treatment of Black people and insists that racism and racial profiling happens in other countries, but not in Canada.
Why is it that some people make these kinds of perceivably racist and offensive remarks publicly even as others who might share the views hold their tongue? Whether someone makes such comments out of ignorance, prejudice or insensitivity, people tend to conduct themselves in accordance with what’s socially acceptable.
What garbage. Anything you say that makes the race baiters upset makes you a racist.
Imagine picking up a copy of the Washington Post (as if you ever would) and reading the headline, “Why White people are afraid of ‘crazy’ Black people.” Setting aside the obvious reasons that would come to mind, you’d immediately realize you were dreaming and wake up, because the Post would never run such a thing.
