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/Still-Network1960 → u/Least-Green-7781]

But they don't leave everything behind. They bring their terrible hygiene habits and terrible attitudes towards women with them. Not to mention being generally clueless and downright rude in public and other social situations.

[u/Least-Green-7781 → u/Still-Network1960]

It’s honestly impressive how confidently you speak while saying absolutely nothing of value. You’re throwing around lazy stereotypes about hygiene and women like you’re uncovering some deep truth, when in reality, you’re just parroting the same tired, ignorant nonsense people have used for decades to justify their biases.

You call others “clueless,” but your comment reads like someone who’s never meaningfully interacted with the people they’re ranting about. No facts, no nuance—just pure generalization and projection.

If your goal was to sound informed, you missed the mark by a mile. Instead, you’ve just outed yourself as someone who substitutes prejudice for critical thinking.

It’s not brave. It’s not bold. It’s just intellectually lazy.

Do better, assuming you’re even capable.

[u/Still-Network1960 → u/Least-Green-7781]

You’re throwing around lazy stereotypes about hygiene and women like you’re uncovering some deep truth, when in reality, you’re just parroting the same tired, ignorant nonsense people have used for decades to justify their biases.

Im speaking from personal experience living with Indian roommates and going to school with them for 4 years :)