It was interesting to me, because I know that I do some of those things (like being nervous when I'm alone and a black or Latino man walks by me), but I also hate it when others of those things happen to me (like people asking me where I'm from or what I am).
We're supposed to be receiving online sexual harassment training soon at my workplace. A lot of us have been joking that we already know how to sexually harass people without the training. I wish I could make my students take it.
I'm curious what differences you perceive in the US vs. Canada. I definitely know that my own perception of multiculturalism in the US has changed as I age and travel more widely. I used to think that racism was a think of the past, as was sexism, but sadly I've learned that is not true.
Any suggestions for things you think individual people in the US can do to help defuse racial tensions here?
Meanwhile, I'm curious as to the validity of your own perception that there isn't as much racism in Canada as the US. My point isn't to throw your judgment into doubt, just to confirm it with outside sources. Do you know of any such sources that confirm your perception? One thing I was able to dig up was this image from Wikipedia showing income disparity throughout the world (because in the US income is often tied to your race). Canada has less income disparity than the US, potentially confirming your perception.
I deleted my posts because I realized I'm not the best person to describe Canada's multiculturalism to you, and I didn't want anyone else reading it to be misled. You'll just have to visit some day and see yourself :-) And having visited the US five times now, all I can say is that it's not like home :-)
First off, I don't consider myself racist, but I suppose I prefer dealing with smart people rather than stupid people. That's a clear bias. (I'm sure I've got others.) I've been on the wrong end of racial slurs more than once -- I've been called a chink in the subway by a group of african american girls, and my name has certainly not done me any favors. My view for helping fight racism is to teach it in school, and let law enforcement deal with the blatant cases. As for people looking at your own race in a better light? Do so by being a good person.
For some reason, this article really annoyed me, in that the authors were just stating what we already know happens from day to day. Instead I'd love to see some research on whether any sorts of discrimination can EVER be eliminated once it's been indoctrinated in somebody, either done consciously or subconsciously. I think I would not be surprised if the success rate is less than 50%. I just don't see a point to their research... they're dealing with 2nd or 3rd order effects here. Work on curing the 1st order problems!
America already has relatively good discrimination law practices and teaching systems (mostly, I suppose), I'm skeptical that we can hurry along that sort of evolution of citizenship mindsets that easily. I think it has an added advantage of being more diverse than other countries, but we are still somewhat undiversified in that it's mostly Christian Caucasian.
To be honest, I don't see what types of lessons I should take from this article. If I know somebody stutters, should I complete words and sentences for them? Should I use other less obvious criteria when determining who to ask for help, such as hair color, ability to speak English, age, shoe size, etc.? I'm always going to have to make a choice, and that choice is going to be biased by what makes me comfortable. I could piss off somebody no matter what I do. That's an Aesop's Fable, isn't it?
As for the airplane anecdote, I think the answer could be both -- that they were overly sensitive AND the flight attendant may have just preferred to ask them to move instead of the others. They could have just said something like, "We prefer sitting in the front, thanks. Perhaps you can ask if other people would like to sit in the back?" Now the real question in my head is, do you think that flight attendant is going to be any less racially insensitive after that incident? What do you think her take-aways from that incident would be?
1. i might be racist but not know it, let's think about this some more (ala an xkcd comic a few days ago, haha) 2. asians and africans are over-sensitive 3. i should think of a better comeback if people confront me about my racial microaggressions 4. dear god i hate my job
I'm a pessimist. I think the probability of #1 happening is less than 20%.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2010-10-15 12:30 am (UTC)We're supposed to be receiving online sexual harassment training soon at my workplace. A lot of us have been joking that we already know how to sexually harass people without the training. I wish I could make my students take it.
I'm curious what differences you perceive in the US vs. Canada. I definitely know that my own perception of multiculturalism in the US has changed as I age and travel more widely. I used to think that racism was a think of the past, as was sexism, but sadly I've learned that is not true.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-16 06:50 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, I'm curious as to the validity of your own perception that there isn't as much racism in Canada as the US. My point isn't to throw your judgment into doubt, just to confirm it with outside sources. Do you know of any such sources that confirm your perception? One thing I was able to dig up was this image from Wikipedia showing income disparity throughout the world (because in the US income is often tied to your race). Canada has less income disparity than the US, potentially confirming your perception.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-16 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-17 05:41 pm (UTC)For some reason, this article really annoyed me, in that the authors were just stating what we already know happens from day to day. Instead I'd love to see some research on whether any sorts of discrimination can EVER be eliminated once it's been indoctrinated in somebody, either done consciously or subconsciously. I think I would not be surprised if the success rate is less than 50%. I just don't see a point to their research... they're dealing with 2nd or 3rd order effects here. Work on curing the 1st order problems!
America already has relatively good discrimination law practices and teaching systems (mostly, I suppose), I'm skeptical that we can hurry along that sort of evolution of citizenship mindsets that easily. I think it has an added advantage of being more diverse than other countries, but we are still somewhat undiversified in that it's mostly Christian Caucasian.
To be honest, I don't see what types of lessons I should take from this article. If I know somebody stutters, should I complete words and sentences for them? Should I use other less obvious criteria when determining who to ask for help, such as hair color, ability to speak English, age, shoe size, etc.? I'm always going to have to make a choice, and that choice is going to be biased by what makes me comfortable. I could piss off somebody no matter what I do. That's an Aesop's Fable, isn't it?
As for the airplane anecdote, I think the answer could be both -- that they were overly sensitive AND the flight attendant may have just preferred to ask them to move instead of the others. They could have just said something like, "We prefer sitting in the front, thanks. Perhaps you can ask if other people would like to sit in the back?" Now the real question in my head is, do you think that flight attendant is going to be any less racially insensitive after that incident? What do you think her take-aways from that incident would be?
1. i might be racist but not know it, let's think about this some more (ala an xkcd comic a few days ago, haha)
2. asians and africans are over-sensitive
3. i should think of a better comeback if people confront me about my racial microaggressions
4. dear god i hate my job
I'm a pessimist. I think the probability of #1 happening is less than 20%.