I’m tired of explaining how racism is still very much alive in Halifax. I witness it everyday. I hear and see it, and watch human souls get a little more crushed every single time.
When something is not directed towards you, there’s a human tendency to ignore it. This is the reason racism still lives. Until it can be faced, head-on, by most of the public, nothing ever gets better. That means openly talking about it, and stopping attempts to censor those of us who are comfortable enough with ourselves, to do so.
Halifax had very public, and high-profile, racism issues (only) around 20 years ago, but most of that seems to have been forgotten. Those people are not dead, or have become enlightened. They are themselves, and they still live here.
There are plenty of open-minded students, who filter in-and-out of this city that gives Halifax the illusion of being very progressive. But, most of the students are temporary Haligonians, and they make up a small percentage of the population, compared to permanent residents. So, every single year, students who complete school leave NS, never to come back. Then they are replaced with a fresh batch of high school children, who are ready to think of the world as more than the walls of their school and home.
I think you can see where this is going.. —Professional People Watcher, Esquire
This article appears in Dec 19-25, 2013.
You lost me with your last paragraph. Are you saying that students are the only demographic in Halifax that are not racist, thus providing the city with a false aura of progressiveness? Listen, I’m glad students can find the time to speak out against things like racism and homophobia between all their classes and rape chants but I have lived in Hali most of my life and I think you might be a little confused.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfb0Z_JueuQ
FFS people – stop generalizing this shit!
Racism exists EVERYWHERE, not just Halifax…
Homophobia exists EVERYWHERE, not just Halifax…
Classism exists EVERYWHERE, not just Halifax…
Misogyny exists EVERYWHERE, not just Halifax…
I think you can see where this is going…
Why the fuck do you care what anyone thinks of you or your race? If someone doesn’t like you, does it really matter what the reason is? You will likely never be going out for beers, so why worry about it.
You can’t force tolerance on anyone. If someone is a racist, just shrug it off and chalk it up to redneckery and, move on. No sense wasting time worrying about shit you can’t control. Like Meaty said, racism and intolerance is everywhere.
“That means openly talking about it, and stopping attempts to censor those of us who are comfortable enough with ourselves, to do so. “
Ok .. What if the races aren’t, in fact, equal?
You have to give some examples of this racism OP. Yes, I’m sure it exists in Halifax but you need to show how Halifax is any more or less racist than anywhere else. What were those two incidents that happened 20 odd years ago?
WHAT IS RACISM?
“I’m tired of explaining how racism is still very much alive in Halifax.” Professional People Watcher, Esquire
Perhaps before you get tired of explaining how racism is still very much alive in Halifax you could explain to us just what racism is.
Must racism be overt to be called “racism” – clearly identifiable actions prejudicial to a particular group – or can racism, like beauty, exist only in the eye of the beholder? If Jill who is black claims that Jack who is white has looked at her in “a certain way”, does that mean that Jack is racist? Are all such claims automatically validated?
The Oxford Concise Dictionary defines “race” – it does not have an entry for “racism” – as “a group of persons connected by common descent, of distinct ethnical stock.” Does this mean that if Jack claims that there exists a group of persons connected by common descent, of distinct ethnical stock, that Jack is thereby a “racist”?
As Socrates said long ago, “Define your terms!”
A pleasure as always.
Cheerio!
I hate everyone I don’t know …. & it doesn’t matter what colour you are.
I see no reason I have to like you or want to know you or give a sweet blistering fuck on how you are, to be able to be polite in dealings/interactions with anyone in public. A blanket policy of not giving a fuck if you live or die, works for me. I was taught at an early age to be polite & respectful of others out in the world. Not that I had to like them & if they did not respond in a like manner – fuck them –
So while I won’t cast the first stone , I do have a couple of the larger ones a few pointy ones & a packet of gravel.
This guy pretty much hits a home run on offending virtually everything, bacon, beer, guns, feminists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvJK3yWnblM
AllRight, Bazzer! I LIKE this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uoUDyuBnug
Turn the volume up to drown out the sound of 100,000 Wimmin’s Studies grads grinding their molars down to the bare pulp.
This is fucking stupid, and you just know it will happen here soon
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/d…
I agree that there is racism in Halifax, I also agree with the person who committed its everywhere. Sadly I do see racism. I don’t agree with the person who claims that a person shouldn’t care if someone doesn’t like their race.. its hurtful knowing people don’t like you because of any reason but people who are the victims pf racism don’t get to choose to let it go sometimes, sometimes the racist person can be the very person they need to get something done, like at work or school, or it could be something as simple as wanting to buy something in a store and being told they don’t want you as a costumer.. how is someone really supposed to ignore that?
I have never seen anyone refuse a person services because of their race. I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen but I’ve never seen it and I’m almost 30 years old now. I AM NOT SAYING THAT RACISM DOESN’T EXIST IN HALIFAX (disclaimer) but I think most of the racism that happens is not the malicious sort, it’s more the unintentional sort. Back in my days as a cashier I had a black lady and a white lady in line ahead of her. I fucked something up cause I sucked at that job but we all kind of joked about it and I fixed the problem and then the white women left…only to come back about 20 seconds later and tell the black woman “I just wanted to say thank-you, you were very polite.” ….Now, I know this woman meant well but what she didn’t understand was that she was basically saying to the black lady (in a very condescending way) “I expected you to act rudely based on your race and am surprised that you didn’t.” It was very awkward. The same prejudice may occur in other scenario’s – ex. hiring/firing/salary and so on. And certainly there are instances in recent memory of blatant racism (cross burnings, using the N word [particularly in the work place], Africville/Preston stereotyping” but I just don’t see it as often as some people claim to. Maybe I just hang around a better group of people.
Another anecdote – walking downtown once, saw a group of middle eastern guys in their early-mid 20’s loudly and openly calling eachother the N word. Just about got knocked out when I told them they shouldn’t say that. Their retort to me was “Why do you care, you are white.”
Lets not pretend for a minute that white people are the only ones guilty of being racist/prejudice because that’s foolish. Racism certainly does exist and always will but it’s not something that is limited to any one specific race.
The End.
To add my 5 cents worth, I live in a black community and never noticed racism (heard about it) until my now ex-wife came over from Africa, she quickly pointed out little nuances and innuendos that I never noticed before. The way people looked at her, the way they treated her in stores, and to see their reactions towards her being with a white person just amazed and floored me. It’s almost the same way people look at me with my hair, and to see them giggle and think they are looking big for their friends and proving a point, I just smile at them and have on occasion told them that this face doesn’t care what they think. By laughing at someone who is different in any way only shows ignorance and lack of proper upbringing. I have lived my life to which I treat all people the same, there is no color, sex, religion, creed, or race in my world. To have any of those qualities would show that I would be in fact, racist.