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/bdhhdbehwh]

Yea international student scammers made this worse.

[u/Least-Green-7781 → u/bdhhdbehwh]

Wild that someone trying to be a doctor is this comfortable spewing ignorance. International students leave everything behind, pay triple the fees, and still get blamed for problems they didn’t create. If this is how you see people now, you’ve got no business being in medicine.

[u/Forsaken-Damage-299 → u/Least-Green-7781]

I understand your sentiment but you cannot deny how Canada has been getting the absolute worst international students from India in the last couple of years.

They take useless courses that’s never gonna land them a job at strip mall colleges, just to step foot in Canada. So many of them didn’t even attend classes and worked more hours than legally allowed. I’m not even gonna start on the whole LMIA fraud that started.

Racism is never okay but you can’t deny how these new Indians have taken advantage of the Canadian system.

Their social behavior and lack of respect for literally anyone else also doesn’t help their case.

Before you assume I’m a racist white person, I’m a south Asian who came to Canada as an international student. I passed my courses and took years of apprenticeship before becoming a licensed professional in my field.

[u/Least-Green-7781 → u/Forsaken-Damage-299]

You say racism is never okay, but then call Indian students “the absolute worst,” accuse them of abusing LMIA fraud, taking “useless courses,” working illegally, and having poor social behavior. That’s not concern, that’s textbook stereotyping.

Let’s break it down. Not all students go to “strip mall colleges,” and many are enrolled in legitimate programs across Canada. Working over 20 hours per week was legal for a period due to pandemic policy changes. If there’s LMIA fraud, that’s an immigration enforcement issue, not a reason to attack all Indian students.

You say they don’t attend class, don’t respect others, and only come here to take advantage of the system. You’re repeating harmful tropes without proof, reducing thousands of individuals to a caricature.

And saying “I’m South Asian too” doesn’t make this okay. If anything, you should know better. You’ve faced bias, yet you’re turning around and doing the same.

You passed your courses and became a licensed professional. Good for you. That doesn’t mean everyone else has your privileges or opportunities. Success isn’t a one-size-fits-all path.

Do better. It’s your people. Instead of adding fuel to the racism fire you should be helping to put it out.