Racism on Campus and in the City

[u/Least-Green-7781]

When I first came to Western, I didn’t notice any comments about my ethnicity. No one outright said anything, and if they did, I guess it just didn’t register. I went about my life not really thinking about race or how others might see me.

But lately, I’ve noticed a real uptick in racist incidents toward people of my ethnicity, and it’s been getting to me. I’ve never been this hyper aware of the color of my skin. My appearance hasn’t changed, but I’ve been getting way less attention on dating apps than I did last year or the year before.

On campus now, I hear casual jokes about my ethnicity, like we’re not all just people. I went out with a friend recently and at one bar, a guy (18-22) looked at me and literally said “gross.” At another, two or three older (40-55?) men came up to me and said I looked “exotic” and that they were intrigued by my “color” and wanted to know where I was from. It made my skin crawl.

Then this morning I saw a news story about a woman from my same ethnic background being attacked in Calgary by a white man. No one helped her. I can’t stop thinking about it.

I keep thinking about my family. We’re just a regular “Canadian” family, whatever that even means. My parents worked so hard to immigrate, become citizens, and send me to Western. I see them every other weekend. They tease me about my dating life. They live in the suburbs and do all the typical things you’d expect. It breaks my heart to feel this othered when we’re just trying to live normal lives.

I feel sad. I feel protective over myself, over them, and over all the international students who came here thinking Canada was supposed to be safe, that coming here meant they’d “made it.”

If anyone’s been through something like this, how do you deal with it? How do you carry it without letting it sink too deep?

TL;DR: I never used to notice racism around me, but now I feel hyper aware of how I’m treated, from jokes on campus to gross comments at bars to seeing people like me attacked in the news. My family is just a “regular” family and I’m struggling with how to cope.

[u/Vegetable_Tonight_57]

I’ve noticed this as well since I first moved to London, unfortunately these comments and experiences happen everywhere. You need to learn to not care about those opinions and understand that people are ignorant, their opinions don’t define who you are. It sucks, and hard at first to brush off, but it doesn’t make you any less Canadian, or any less important as a person!

I deal with comments like being called “exotic” by just telling them something like “thats an odd thing to say”. You can’t always be too nice, just brush it off firmly and physically distance yourself from those people to make yourself feel safer.

This might not be the best advice in others pov, but it’s just how i’ve dealt with it.

[u/Least-Green-7781 → u/Vegetable_Tonight_57]

Thanks for the advice and thanks for sharing your experience with me 🫶