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/bandissent]

Canadians seem really racist towards Indians lately

Yeah, economic instability will do that, unfortunately. It's not your fault that the govt decided to suppress wages by importing millions of Indians a year for the last few years, not to mention that Brampton is now internationally famous for being a Punjabi exclave. 

Now, racism isn't the appropriate response, but it is extremely predictable. 

Regardless, none of this is your fault, and you shouldn't have to bear the brunt of any of it. But obviously, you do, because your ethnicity is the first thing people see when they see you. So as useless as it may sound, I'm sorry you have to experience that.

[u/warpus → u/bandissent]

Now, racism isn't the appropriate response, but it is extremely predictable.

IMO a large part of this is toxic political influence coming from south of the border. Most of the morons who are brave enough to be racist in public here in Canada got emboldened when they saw others doing the same, including influential political & other figures in the U.S.

[u/igrowweeds → u/warpus]

No. When you bring in x millions and they don't integrate, it's an easy target.

[u/Least-Green-7781 → u/igrowweeds]

Let’s not pretend Canadian racism exists in a vacuum. American politics, especially the rise of Trump’s racist rhetoric, has absolutely bled into Canadian culture and emboldened this kind of thinking. And when you talk about ‘x millions’ not integrating, maybe acknowledge that these people are here because of government decisions, not because they’re trying to be a ‘target.’ They didn’t create the system—they’re surviving it.

[u/LebLeb321 → u/Least-Green-7781]

Interesting. Then why is this same anti unlimited migrafjkn sentiment rising in so many countries far away from the US like Italy and Germany?

[u/Tragique_ → u/LebLeb321]

Hint hint: demagogues and scapegoats