Racism

Watching To Kill a Mockingbird has caused me to think once more about racism. I would like to think of myself as not harbouring racist tendencies. Indeed for the first 18 years of my life virtually everyone with whom I came into daily contact was of German-Lutheran heritage. The first persons of colour I met were equally homesick International Students at University from the African Continent. One might say I had a sheltered upbringing. I now recognize certain stereotypes that informed my cultural background.

 

Having travelled extensively in the American South now that I am in retirement I have come to a realization that slavery was abolished there yesterday and the wounds of the War between the States remain largely unhealed. Whatever the evils of the ‘Institution’ it is among poor whites and ‘crackers’ that the strongest racist enmities were held then and now. As I’ve written before it’s a said thing when people have such a low sense of their own self-worth that they have to define their self-esteem in terms of the people to whom they feel they are superior. While black slavery persisted the labours of ‘po white trash’ were of little value since slaves worked for nothing. People of colour remain a readily identifiable object of resentment for under-privileged whites and affirmative-action programs serve only to rub salt in the wounds.

 

The time I’ve spent in Texas leads me to believe that these racist attitudes have been in large part transferred to Spanish-speaking Mexican-Americans. Whether these people have lived in America for generations or are illegal migrants matters not. Why are these resentments so strong?

 

o      The birthrates among Mexican-Americans is higher than that of established ethnics. In Austin where I’ve lived they have exceeded half the population. Unless you can afford to live in exclusive enclaves and/or send your children to private schools Spanish will be the first language of most of your classmates.

 

o      The stores you shop in begin to cater to the ethnic tastes of the population they serve—it just makes good business sense. Across America Salsa has passed ketchup as the favoured condiment.

 

o      Your neighbours will speak Spanish and observe Mexican traditions. Gunfire and firecrackers on Christmas Eve anyone?

 

o      Whether a characterization of being lazy is justified there is definitely a different work-ethic. Lacking educational opportunities and skills low-paying menial jobs will predominate and the wages non-union workers accept threaten the standards of unionized workers.

 

o      Lack of education, poor living standards, and poverty breed disease and crime whatever the population.

 

Now let’s transfer the experience to my native Canada. We’re fabled for our civility and acceptance of refugees since our country was founded and settled by immigrants. We even accepted thousands of United Empire Loyalists after the American War of Independence. The process is not without its strains however.

 

o      A country whose acceptance was founded on Christian principles now finds itself embarrassed to make public celebration of Christmas in its schools and other public institutions lest a Christmas Tree might offend. A Holiday Tree has a strange ring to it. The saying of prayers in school and at public meetings is falling prey to similar objections.

 

o      We’ve just fought off the acceptance of Sharia Law in part because Muslim Woman objected more strongly than the public at large. Should woman be allowed to disguise themselves under veils in public when voting or engaging in other legal acts?

 

o      Schools experience similar problems when 90% of their students have English as a second language. Traditional neighbourhoods become overrun by ethnic minorities. How does a teacher of British extraction react when he discovers his Indian neighbour beats his wife on a regular basis? Buying a home that experienced cooking with curry means the necessity of ripping out all the ductwork, replacing all the carpets, and scrubbing the walls down to the plaster to get rid of the stench.  Your neighbour’s son is expected to turn over his part-time earnings to his father—his sister to accept an arranged marriage. Female circumcision, honour killings, female infanticide, are only a shadow of the ills that come with immigrants.

 

o      People who escape persecution abroad too often import their ethnic hatreds with them. Churches, homes, and vehicles get vandalized because the owners belonged to the wrong ethnic minority. One of my neighbours laboured hard for years to get our superintendent fired because he came from the wrong section of the former Yugoslavia. My last mail route included customers from various minorities from that same country. One false word or miss-delivery had the potential for disastrous results. Building a Mosque beside the site of the former World Trade Centre may be ill-advised but minarets shade the QEW one of Canada’s busiest highways. The influx of Jamaicans into the College Park section of Mississauga has turned it into one of Canada’s highest crime areas. I will not shop in the mall there as finding your car when you return to it is optional.

 

o      The Africville Community of Halifax was destroyed and its residents moved with dump trucks to make way for the building of the first bridge across the harbour. The residents and their descendents still mourn its loss. The Black Empire Loyalists of Halifax are subjected to racism to this day and one of the flash-points is the working class community of Cole Harbour; it’s High School one of the centres. Sidney Crosbie is a native son.

 

o      Call a cab in Oakville and its driver is likely to be wearing a turban. The driver is entitled to an interpreter when he gets his licence but who helps the passenger and one had better know where one is going, the driver may not. The fact that the man was a doctor or lawyer in his homeland is of little consolation to either.

 

o      I may not agree with the sentiments of my German friend who went to his grave believing Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ was right-minded but my experience in residence at a Lutheran University that even served kosher dining hall meals has coloured my subsequent feelings about Jews.

 

o      Somehow the experience of prejudice serves to place chips on the shoulders of its victims and these attitudes spill over in their dealings with all others. The victims can be as guilty of stereotyping as the majority. Too often have I been subjected to smug, surly, moral-superiority when my only crime has been having been born White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. In Quebec my build, stance, and very walk identify me as Anglais even before I open my mouth. Unlike some I have never had the experience of not being served because I ordered in English—I do attempt my school-boy French.

 

Nor do I acknowledge easy solutions. The record of Viet Nam refugees in North America is a chequered one. The rigors of climate, cultural dislocation, and economic depression are common to most refugees. The Haitans who came to Montreal are synonymous with the Aids epidemic. Improving the lot of potential immigrants in their home countries would seem a logical step until one looks at the complications. In Italy the mafia made $200,000,000 in economic aid disappear without building a single home for earthquake victims. In Haiti the local administration is so corrupt and inept it is incapable of restoring lost children to their families or identifying orphans if they exist. Rebuilding homes is equally fraught with difficulties. How do you deal with starvation and disease when its cause is internal civil war? Is interfering with the internal affairs of a country justified to prevent genocide? Iraq, Jugoslavia, Afghanistan, Cyprus, anyone?