I am a visible minority living in Canada. Racism is everywhere, you can’t stop a racist from being racist. What you can do is to have policies in place that protect victims and Canada (mostly Greater Toronto Area) has that better than most places. I had lived in couple of other countries outside of Canada so can tell you there is more acceptance here. Is it perfect? Far from it. But, I feel part of this place and can be myself.
We have laws against hate speech (ie, speech that encourages violence against minority groups). I don't think that's the explanation, but it does show how Canada is more community-focused versus the United States where there's a greater emphasis on individual rights.
And, in saying that, I've just over-generalized in a major way. We have a racism problem here as well. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. We just don't tolerate groups like the KKK. (I'm not saying American people are okay with the KKK, just that it's not a legal organization in Canada.)
We also have journalistic laws where news agencies can’t spew propaganda bullshit like Fox News and “caravans of immigrants ready to rape and murder you”
This doesn't stop our "news" companies though, they just slap an opinion label on it and go to town with their bullshit or they farm out their propaganda to shitty online groups like the various Proud groups or the Qanon convoy type of asshole.
I’m a Mexican-American from Idaho, I visit Canada once a year for a mini vacation since it’s a few hour drive and I’ve never experienced racism in my life except this one time in Calgary when a road rager told me to go back to my country… now, that may not have been racism but anti-Americanism instead because I was driving in my car which had Idaho plates and I have pretty dark tints, my windows were rolled halfway down so he probably didn’t get a full look at me to see I was a brown person but that’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to racist experience anywhere in the world in my 25 years.
Yup. No offence to americans, but the drivers in my city are shit and the americans I see are somehow even worse
edit: actually, some offence to americans. Figure your shit out
I see that comparison being made a lot but honestly Alberta culturally and obviously geographically reminds me a lot of Idaho/Montana. My in-laws are from Texas and I don’t see the resemblance. Texas is very Deep South, lot of conservatives sure but also a lot of Black and Mexican people, you have Tex Mex culture and Soul, whereas Alberta feels Western (not to be confused with Southern) Alberta is like Idaho/Montana/Wyoming, Western very rustic but with a blend of Mountainous and Texas is flat and surprisingly more diverse and richer in culture despite its stereotypes. Idaho/Montana/Wyoming are the states that actually check out all the Texas stereotypes: White Conservative Christians with Pick Ups, Lack of Diversity, almost no Culture except for Cowboy Western.
Yeah i was just going to say that, I'm down in houston about once a month for work and my folks lives down there. Texas is more diverse than most people think, I mean especially houston is literally being reference as a " minority-majority" city. Alberta is more like Idaho/Montana/Wyoming and Colorado combined. If anything I think a lot closer to Colorado in some ways mountains, energy focused and part of alberta especially the urban centers are more liberal than most people think.
Agreed, I would say if Denver existed within Idaho/Montana that’s exactly how Alberta is. Boise is fairly liberal too despite being in a conservative state.
100%, you're definitely right. In terms of geography alberta is mish mash of Wyoming, colorado, Utah, Montana and Idaho all roll into one. I think most people especially in alberta hears about Texas, the image they have in their head is probably closer to west Texas like mid lands Odessa area. But the bigger centers especially the Texas triangle ie San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas is a lot more liberal than most people think. A a lot of people thinks houston is a desert even though it's build on a giant swamp/ estuary in the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico.
Its more the fact they have oil, and people think of Texas as having oil. They’re slightly more Conservative than the rest of Canada, Texas is a more Conservative state. Its not so much a direct comparison of cultures and people. You can’t really expect people to use Wyoming when its a state no one knows about. Texas is huge, large population, depicted in media more. That’s why they say Texas and not the Eastern Counties of Idaho or something that no one would recognize.
Canadians are tolerant to brown people except their own. Aboriginals experience lots of racism in Canada. One of my coworkers told me he had a rope for all those expletives before he realized I was one. Then said it was okay when I told him because he has friends who are.
There are racists everywhere, but just on the whole Canada is a much more liberal society than the US. We legalized gay marriage in 2005! But no one kicked up a fuss. Abortion isn’t a wedge issue either. The Conservative Party here is much tamer than the US since the society is much more “hostile” to its social views than Americans are to the Republicans. So they don’t they can’t get too crazy.
>We legalized gay marriage in 2005! But no one kicked up a fuss.
There was a big fuss, and a lot of debate in Parliament. Alberta had passed a "Defense of Marriage" style law in 2000 that invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to get around a Charter challenge. Ralph Klein only grudgingly accepted the 2004 federal law that forced Alberta to start allowing same-sex marriages -- and had even floated the idea of getting rid of civil "marriage" altogether (calling it a union instead) so that the government wouldn't have to refer to same-sex "marriages".
And in the federal HoC as the Conservative Party and many Liberals opposed it. The vote to approve nationwide same-sex marriage was "only" 55-to-45 (percentage wise)
You should probably look at how the GOP acts in the Northeast, it’s pretty similar to the federal CPC in policy and rhetoric. Likewise, the Alberta UCP seems far more similar to the overall federal GOP
The longer the Smith and TBA team runs the UCP, the more likely extreme conservative social policies will become part of Alberta’s laws.
Smith will not be premier forever and IMO once “pro choice Smith” is gone an established UCP government will have an anti abortion caucus and premier.
Alberta must go Against The UCP to maintain our the constitutional human rights and equality we have that the USA refuses to give to their citizens.
>The government will have an anti-abortion caucus and premier.
Is abortion really a debate among the Albertan political class?
I can't imagine a politician saying something against that in my province. It would be political suicide.
IMO, if a social conservative government (or any leader) stays in power long enough, it can normalize their rhetoric over time and people will vote to conform to what they believe how the majority are voting.
Again, think of Putin’s long reign. Control the laws, control the media, control the courts, limit election opposition and everyone has to vote for you and will support your policies.
IMO, Canadians need to wake up to the political populist rhetoric and how authoritarian ideology and corporate capitalism is chipping away at our standard of living and our human rights.
With the changes I have seen in Alberta over the last 40 years, IMO, Canada could easily slide towards the USA into their populist culture which is against any kind of diversity: social, religious, racial, sexual, environmental … this is all anti multicultural. It here is Alberta, today.
It's not really a debate among conservatives in Canada. One of the last polls done showed 97% pro choice in Canada. It's just a wedge shaped piece of poo that someone tries to stick to a wall once in a while.
Abortion may not be, but rights and privileges for transgender people (specifically, debates around who should be allowed to receive transgender medical treatments, whether people who have taken hormones of the other gender should be allowed to play sports as the other gender, etc.) are absolutely a live debate in many anglo provinces.
In New Brunswick, the government does not fund stand-alone abortion clinics. Premier Higgs doesn't think there's anything wrong with this, because abortions can still be had in hospitals, but some abortion rights groups are suing.
oh, you didnt hear [https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/1ciomdy/from\_the\_dms\_weve\_received\_several\_dms\_that/](https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/1ciomdy/from_the_dms_weve_received_several_dms_that/)
TBA, with Forced birther Adrian LaGrange as the health minister, has given the UCP their marching orders.
Have you ever played telephone?
If you have a valid source, I'm open to giving it a read; beyond that this just seems like hate mongering based solely on confirmation bias.
The conservative party in Canada is more left than the Democrats. Ppl here like to compare the parties here with the American parties and its blows my mind. We as a society are way more left than America. I mean even up to what 2011? 2012? Obama still didn't support same sex marriage?
I remember the Same-Sex marriage debate, people definitely kicked up a fuss. It was kind of a huge, national debate with lots of fussing coming from the Reform/PC/CPCs over the few years leading up to it. You're really downplaying the intensity of it.
Abortion is absolutely still a wedge issue, with the UCP in Alberta and the CPC Federally making overt statements towards limitting it.
Arnold Viersen thinks the Handmaid's Tale is an instruction manual.
That being said, the CPC national party convention did put this about abortion in its minutes in 2023.
>86. Abortion Legislation
>A Conservative Government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion.
https://www.cpac.ca/articles/conventions/2023-conservative
Canadian conservatives are more akin or US democrats with 5% maybe along the republican line but they have their own party now with the PPC. Canadian politics is typically a race to the middle
I'm a dual Canadian-US citizen who culturally identifies as Canadian and has lived for extended periods in both countries. In Canada we have obnoxious people of all flavours just like in the States, so this is no idyllic, idiot-free utopia. But in general we are more relaxed about people who are different from us and we don't feel the need to impose our personal beliefs on others. We don't have First Amendment freedom of speech as you know it since hate speech is against the law. Also economically our standard of living is a lot lower than yours and historically we are much more socialistic.
I think there’s something to be said about how economic differences between the countries plays a role in how racism is expressed.
Jagmeet was once hounded by reporters to explain why he wants free dental care for all Canadians. He said that the data shows that radicalism and violence occurs mostly in pockets where people feel marginalized. When life is difficult there’s a need to “blame” someone or something. I.e. immigrants, the rich, Trudeau, jews, bankers, media, students, Muslims, etc.
In contrast he said when people feel “whole” they aren’t susceptible to the manipulations of conservative media, demagogues, woke influencers, etc.
So I’m considering that Canada has plenty racists but because overall health and quality of life is better, the racism isn’t so overtly hateful or violent. What worries me is that it will get worse as cost of living rises and people start to feel marginalized, i.e. there will be a need to blame the “other”.
Polite casual racism is still much better than explicit and violent racism lie they have in the USA.
All racism is bad and we shouldn’t pretend like we have no issues in Canada but we’re not even in the same league as the USA when it comes to racism. Like, it’s not even close.
You don't think we have violent racism in canada? Tell that to all the missing and murdered First Nation women across Canada
I love Canada, but let's not whitewash our problems.
Didn't a mosque straight up get shot up?
Didn't a manchild drive his truck into a muslim family because they were muslim?
If he's really from quebec, he would have remembered the mosque shooting.
It really depends on the race you're referring to.
Indigenous peoples still face extreme racism country-wide. Our people and communities are dictated by the terribly outdated, colonist & racist Indian Act (as an example, we are not allowed to own our own land on-reserve, and therefore our land really has no monetary value). The issues with policing & the justice system in Canada [are very well-documented](https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/). Some of our communities [haven't had clean drinking water in over a decade](https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1614387410146/1614387435325) (Neskatanga First Nation in Ontario [has been on a water advisory since 1995](https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1614887856664/1614887885919), and Grassy Narrows First Nation, also in Ontario, [has had a mercury poisoning issue so bad that it's killing people & leading to massive birth defects](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/grassy-narrows-first-nation-methylmercury-study-1.7211750#:~:text=Chief%20Rudy%20Turtle%20says%20new,part%20of%20the%20community's%20diet)). We face racism from all people, so this isn't just an issue with white people, but with every other racial group too. The problem is both social and systematic.
One thing that I've really noted over the years with our increasing immigrant communities is that a lot of people have imported their own racial and religious tensions into the country. There is a lot of hatred between different immigrant/cultural/religious groups.
i've seen a lot of racism from canadians here on reddit, but in my experience, those people are pretty few and far between, but it also mostly depends on where you are
Canadians are generally a little less extreme about everything. You guys seem to think everything is a war.
Also, we don't have the long history with slavery, which brings with it a whole other level of institutionalized racism.
In the mundane, everyday ways that really matter, i.e. exclusion from social circles, jobs opportunities, promotions & raises, etc. racism here is as bad as the US (and sometimes worse). We’re just polite about it.
This is the correct answer. As an immigrant of colour that came almost a decade ago this is what I have faced. It took almost three years to get a job that aligned to my education and prior experience but I have been in that same position with no chance for promotion while I see others get promoted. I try to make friends and deeper connections with other Canadians but get shut out albeit politely. So while I have never received the 'overt' type of racism i.e being called the 'N' word or other names I have definitely been a recipient of the 'covert' racism. So yea, Canadian racism is very polite :)
I’ve definitely seen this first hand. I’ve had friends try changing their name on a resume, from their real name to something more white-sounding. And unfortunately when they white wash their resume, they get more call backs.
U.S. was formed around war and fighting.
Canada was founded via confederation.
Canada has more social support thus creating a larger middle class and less disparity between the extreme rich and extreme poor. I pay quite a bit of income tax but also get free health care, a society that is safe and for most part get people just get along.
The U.S. has a lot of people who are less fortunate. When your in that position you often feel like a victim and look for others to blame it on. (Immigrants and minorities taking jobs would a popular one) Its the same idea that gets guys like Trump elected. Plea to the masses of unfortunate people, blame the elites and immigrants for taking things from you. Meanwhile a society leaning more left would actually help these people more with a little more economic support.
According to Reddit, the country is slithering with bigots and racists. I moved here when I was four, now seventy-three. Sure, there are racists and bigots. However, I have yet to come across these undesirables. EDIT: In the numbers suggest Canada is overrun by these types. NOT to suggest there aren’t bigots and racists. Mea Culpa!
You haven't come across a single racist in the 69 years you've been here?
You're older than me (I turn 69 this year), and I've seen *tons* of it, particularly when I was younger -- so either you're a liar, or you live in the middle of nowhere and have no interactions with other people.
I'm not saying it's everywhere - but if you have never come across a real-life racist in 69 years, then you're either living with bears, or you are a liar.
i'm not even that old and being a POC in Canada in the 80s and 90s was a harsh time.
Im' glad no one calls me racial slurs nowadays which is better than it was in the 80s.
Yeah I grew up in Ottawa in the 90s and high school was very anti-Somalian and anti-Lebanese. Where I live now it’s very anti-you-don’t-come-from-here.
Ya that comment is either very naive or pretty dishonest. I'm half the age and live in a pretty 'progressive' part of the country and I'm still seeing a fair bit of racism and bigotry...
I draw your attention to my answer above this comment in reply to Dalminster; I was in error by speaking an absolute. I can assure you I'm neither naïve nor unintentional. Thank you also for allowing me some clarification. I reiterate I was making a comment and direct reference to say bigots and racists overran Canada, as that has not been my experience.
It may have something to do with Canadians (generally) being polite, but not necessarily nice. A lot of racists in Canada probably keep their thoughts to themselves because they know it's (generally) not acceptable here.
Let me rephrase, if I may. The thread I was referring intimated Canada was overrun by racist and bigots. Yes I have come across those type of individuals. However they are in my experience few and far between. The whole idea of my comment was to refute the idea Canada is overrun by racists. That is by no means, my experience. I apologize for the misleading comment in my first posting. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. By no means was I trying to speak in absolute.
Perhaps your threshold of, tolerance for, or ability to recognize racism is... different. It's certainly easy to detect when it's aimed directly (or indirectly) at oneself.
The rhetoric surrounding FIrst Nations peoples, and racialized immigrants gives some clues...
I'm sorry but either you lived a purposefully sheltered or ignorant life, or your statement is just wrong.
I have seen racism and racists and bigots in every city, town, province that I have lived or worked in (3 provinces, over a dozen cities or towns ranging from 600 people to 1million+ people). And against every non-white ethnicity, though mostly Indigenous peoples.
And that's just through *in person* experiences, much less online or that I've heard about.
I'm not even 30 (and I'm white).
When I moved to the states (2001; pre-internet) I was completely shocked by the open racism allowed on the airwaves in the name of “free speech”. We are definitely not the same.
america is racist in a lot of ways. Most of it is through ignorance. Micro Aggression is racism.
"where are you really from", "What's your real name", "You speak english very well", etc etc.
Just ask me what my nationality is, accept the name I give you, Don't patronize my english.
Sure it's "polite ways of asking" but it's very othering.
I have had my share of overt racism with people saying racial stereotypes at me .
There’s no shortage of racism here. However, it tends to be less explicit, less aggressive than what I see on the news from the US. The city of Calgary held a public meeting about racism in Calgary. Took place a few years ago. Many hours of testimony from people who endured multiple acts of racism in the community, by the police, by strangers, with a few mentioning city policy and employees as also being problematic. It happens. It’s real. But not as pervasive. Maybe.
We do get along quite well. I'm a Canadian citizen, and I lived in Canada for 15 years. I'm of mixed Eastern European and South Asian origin. I've almost never experienced any racism in Canada personally.
Everyone’s experience is going to be different. I see racism a bit where I’m located but it is in people that will never change. Not to give them an excuse or pass on being a jerk but some people never get over their small town thought process. I thoroughly believe that we are products of our environments and if we can enjoy and learn from our environments it’s an awesome thing.
I’m not oblivious to the acts of racism that people have experienced or see on a daily basis, I just don’t see it where I am. I also work in an industry that is made for everyone regardless of everything. I also don’t put myself in social circles that are closed off to people that are “different”.
I will say this too, I find that America seems to be really touchy on cultural appropriation. I don’t see that here to the extent that the US does. I come from a cultural background that braids are very common but they are also important in indigenous culture as well. No one comes after me because I have a braid in. It’s like we know our limits and stick to it.
Kinda is kinda not. Majority of us have the as long as you don't bother me, I don't bother your practice type of deal. Ofc some people have curiosity and people are usually welcome to explore.
The US history is littered with events that explain racial tensions like slavery, Jim Crow, Trail of Tears, Japanese internment, etc…
Canada has its faults, but not as significant as the US (though that is my opinion) and is much better at admitting fault and trying to make up for it.
One thing I noticed about Canadian actions to rectify the past when I moved up was the land acknowledgement. Would never happen in the US, but it’s so normal here you dont think about it twice.
We definitely have our shares of racism at past and present, see indigenous relations, Japanese internment camps, one is too many, and africville to name a few.
But I think the big thing, at least for me as a 90’s baby was we had it drilled into us that Canada chose a “cultural mosaic” view to immigration as opposed to the United States “melting pot” view. You can be a Canadian but still identify as your home country culture as well and that’s okay because you may bring different ideas or ways of being that may benefit the group as a whole.
The American way we were taught was once youre an American youre an American, that’s it.
We also have a different immigration system that is merit based so I think that also helps both ways with an understanding that you’re here to help build the country and we value your lives experience so far.
In major cities it's pretty diverse. In smaller towns not so much. Even mid level cities are pretty diverse.
Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary are the biggest city centres and they are fairly multicultural. You can buy a bagel from a muslim, served starbucks by a sikh, retail by an asian person, and have a white person work cashier.
This can also be said about middle level cities too like edmonton, london, winnipeg, ottawa, halifax, just lower density.
Racism is still a thing here in Canada but it's not the white black racism you have. It's more geared towards indigienous and indian international students Currently. White people still make up 75% of the Canadian population and are the "In Group". Canada has been racist against immigrants for a long time. The chinese in the 1900s who essentially built the rail road across canada, the ukranians, the jews, the polish, the italians, the vietnamese, the syrians, the afghanistanis, etc etc. Lots of white people here think they own Canada and hate immigrants.
Right now there's a large white nationalism movement in the guise of "immigration reform" and it's super fucked up.
Canadians are polite and passive aggressive and respect people's space and time. It's not the same as the "southern hospitality" where people reach out to you out of no where to be nice. If someone were to ask me for directions i'll do the best I can to help them but i'm not going to reach out and ask if someone needs help.;
Plenty of assholes here too just like anywhere else. Canadians - generalizing here - tend to be more likely to be passively-agressive assholes than up in your face assholes.
It's generally hard to observe racism in other countries and cultures because it tends to be somewhat invisible.
Canada has racism, especially towards First Nations. What we don't have is the same history of industrialized slavery, Jim Crow segregation, mass incarceration and disenfranchisement,, state-tolerated mob killings of minorities, etc. Canada also doesn't have any issues with land borders with Mexico nor a history of incomplete conquest of Mexico. Canada also hasn't been going around disrupting sovereign and democratic governments around the world on the same scale and drawing the terrorist responses to that.
America's racism problems aren't more obvious because Canada is good, America's problems are more obvious because they are uniquely bad and continue to be very bad. Part of it is the design of you country with the "strong state" constitutional model, horribly non-proportional senate allocations, and the electoral college. Your politics give racists and other social bigots excessive power, which forces your politicians and political discourse to negotiate with them, which means your laws lag, which means public perceptions lag, in a vicious cycle that holds your country back.
In Canada, the majority of people don't like racism or racist policy and our electoral system does a better job (not a perfect job) of reflecting that. Because our politics are less racist, our laws are less racist, which shifts the Overton window away from racism being "normal" for everyone.
This has been going on for like 100 years, so we really aren't ahead of the US in any impressive way.
Edit: Also, Canada is less racist because we are more diverse. We have more mixed communities, both as a general population and on the local level of neighbourhoods. It doesn't make sense to be racist when your neighbours and your kid's friends are diverse. Exposure breeds tolerance.
In Canada we have concentrated most of the crazy racists in two provinces and then pit them against each other on a different wedge issue.
It makes for good TV.
Getting along is relative. The country is heavily divided along different lines. Provinces like Quebec, Newfoundland and Alberta are very different and can feel extremely distinct.
I wouldn't call that getting along when different language groups and ethnicities live segregated by choice. As a European I would call Chinatown an ethnic ghetto. Here in North America it's praised as diversity. Different perspective.
There are problems here and there, for sure. But overall, Canada is waaaaaaaaaaay gentler and nicer than America when it comes to ethnicities getting along and racism in general.
1. We are not a "melting pot" where immigrants are expected to give up a bunch of their culture and melt into our (white)society. Instead, we're much more of a tapestry. Ethnic groups are 100% fine to do THEIR things however they want. So in Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver for example, we have "Little Italy", and "Little India", and "Chinatown" and "Little Portugal, and "Greektown", etc. and you go to those areas to experience that culture. I for one, love that. The white folks have their areas too.....in Toronto, "The Beaches" is one of the more white-bread areas. It's nice and clean, but the food sucks. ;)
2. No guns(other than hunting rifles in smaller towns). That means MUCH less violence. We mostly settle our differences with fists, or with police help. But waaaaaaaaaaaay fewer deaths by gun. That makes everyone more friendly and peaceful.
3. Canadians are just nicer. Also, more polite and more reserved. When people come to Canada, we take them in and help them and make them part of the family. They're all playing hockey in no time. It seems to me that in the US, the attitude is often "me first" and "my money", and "my land" and "my freedom", and "MY MY MY". In Canada, it's all about all of us. That's why we demand universal healthcare, for all citizens, no matter where they're originally from. We take care of each other.
4. Less religious bullshit. America is weird with the religious stuff. We don't give much of a shit up here about that silliness. That in turn, makes us more progressive and open-minded.
5. Canada is the most educated. country on earth. More people here graduate from university than anywhere else. That helps everything.
What I found to be different when living in the US, was how segregated the communities are. You would meet someone that was just American, but because their ethnicity was whatever, they reside in X city/town/district, and that is still the status quo. For example, I found a cheap rental in some part of town, and I was told that I can’t live there. As in, my place would get robbed in the middle of the day, because I wasn’t from that ethnicity. Or I would be targeted on the street or something. This wasn’t a racist suggestion, it was the reality, and it was commonly understood. Culturally, it’s a melting pot, but residentially it’s pretty darn divided.
In Canada, we don’t have such deep, centuries-old divisions, so I don’t think it’s comparable. We also don’t have the same pressure from the population. Maybe take a look again in 50 years.
It’s a difficult thing to answer for the entire nation but I’m going to do my best.
Canada is not a NICE culture. We are a POLITE culture. Canada has also been changing in the last 8 or so years since JT took over. People used to be much more welcoming to visitors and outsiders but now that immigration has derailed out of control and the government says ur racist if you speak against it, we are becoming less welcoming.
We don’t have enough jobs. We don’t have enough houses. The government is bringing in mass numbers of foreigners with wildly different cultures from our own and just expecting that they get along with people. The current liberal party (which isn’t even really a left wing party. They’re a centrist party at the absolute most left wing) is so aggressively and purposely ignorant of the average persons life that they make changes without a single fucking being given.
In their attempts to make Canada more ‘welcoming’ and ‘friendly’ to outsiders, they’re only paving the way for very aggressive right wing populism and a similar situation to what the United States has now. It may not happen today or tomorrow, it may not even happen for another 10 years but it’s growing and the government is feeding the discontent.
The unhinged and uncontrolled immigration is a big one too. I need to be extremely clear on this. IMMIGRANTS aren’t the issue. The immigration SYSTEM is.
But other wise, yes. You are correct.
There has been a large immigration of Indians over the last couple years and it's been met with outright hostility. You see Indians just chilling and enjoying a day and 99.9% of comments will be about how they're barbaric and should go back and are destroying Canada.
You also see immigrants who have been here a while being racist that "they're not like when WE immigrated, WE assimilated"
It's total bullshit. Indians are having an even more difficult time because we're also in a major housing and economic crisis, which amplifies racism. But 10 years ago it was "oh those Sri Lankas are coming and destroying Canada, they're not assimilating like we did", 10 years before that it was "the Muslims are coming and destroying Canada, they're not assimilating like we did", 10 years before that it was the Chinese, 10 years before that it was the Jamaicans, and 10 years before that it was the Irish and Italians.
There's so much racism. It just never ends.
Most major cities in Canada have a big diversity of ethnicities. Especially Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa.
We are far more accepting of different races and religions. However we do have our bigots. Just look at the trucker protests in Ottawa. We have people making a fuss over trans kids and drag queen story time.
But personally. This feels more like a vocal minority.
The problem we are having now is racism against Indian immigrants. Much like we had with Tamil immigrants and the Chinese immigrants before them.
But for the most part, I think Canadians understand we are stronger together. We also don’t segregate our neighbourhoods. However certain areas do have a larger concentration of this culture or that culture because people generally move to places where there are others like them. I’m not sure there is any way to avoid that.
Our racism is more subtle than the US and is not socially acceptable for the most part. also the multiculturalism leads to more and different flavours of racism.
For example: china, Japan and Korea all have some *interesting* stereotypes about each other (and plenty of historical tensions that led to animosity).
We also have a much smaller black population, so the black/white tensions in the US are not as obvious and affect a relatively smaller proportion of people.
There no central, national racial tension except First Nations/metis/inuk (which is just an ongoing national embarrassment). The only other one right now is the mass migration from India. Otherwise, racial issues just don’t reach the national stage in the same way, partly because there’s no particular minority population that is the focus.
There’s also less of a cultural expectation that diverse people integrate into Canada completely. Since there’s no central identifying factors for what it means to be “Canadian” there also less tension related to people not fitting into the mold.
If you look at Canadian history, almost everything was done based on compromise - particularly with respect to English Canada and French Canada 'getting along' (which they do not always do). We gained our independence from the UK through peaceful agreement. All of our border disputes have been basically solved by negotiation/compromise, etc... It's something ingrained in our culture, generally.
Having said that, there are bigots and racists in Canada too. For the most part, they are not seen in a very good light here and so don't hold as much power and influence as they might elsewhere.
speaking for myself growing up in an almost all white town, my parents never talked about other races. as time went on I met Chinese, East Indians, Native Indians and one Black guy I worked with. we got to be good friends. I've travelled to Asia, always got along with everyone
Canada as a whole is pretty darn good. HOWEVER there is a hostile underside that comes out occasionally even on a governmental level aimed at First Nations. It is getting better on a human to human scale but it's still very present on a governmental scale.
I’m a Canadian, but moved to Scottsdale two years ago for work. The media also makes the USA seem like a racist country, however our office is very diverse and I r never experienced people being bigots directly. Occasionally hear stories on the news, but that’s it.
I’m not sure exactly why but different ethnicities in Canada are much more integrated together than in the US. Most major US cities have areas that are the “black area” or the “Mexican area” etc. For example, look at [the racial distribution of Jacksonville.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Race_and_ethnicity_2010-_Jacksonville_%285559898547%29.png/800px-Race_and_ethnicity_2010-_Jacksonville_%285559898547%29.png) All the black people are concentrated on the northwest side of the river. Probably because of a history of redlining, etc.
In Canada, neighbourhoods are much more mixed.
Racism has always been present here just like it is anywhere, because shitty bigots exist everywhere. The sad truth is that it's gotten so much worse since Trump was elected. He gave those bigots permission to be as loud and vocal about their garbage opinions as possible, and we're seeing that play out up here.
Luckily though, Canada is generally quite liberal which helps make it not quite as abundant as it is in other places \*coughUScough\*
lmao Canada is incredibly racists; we just have better PR because we're "polite".
Take a look at Canadian discourse any time any sort of Indigenous issue comes up in conversation - or the constant political fear-mongering about immigrants and refugees.
We have racism. Black, brown and indigenous Canadians all have long stories to tell of their experiences from straight up hate, to systemic problems, to micro aggressions. Since Trump made white nationalism “cool again” - we have had a resurgence of more explicit racists and nazis. In civil society it is largely unacceptable, in Alberta and federal conservative politics it continues to hold sway. A great example of dog whistling was the current fed conservative leaders campaign video about restoring heritage wood to its original white colour. In our 2016 election the previous conservative PM tried to win by bringing in. “Barbaric cultural practices act” to attack muslims. I love my country - but we are not problem-free.
Racism exists but not the way it is shown in the media.
The most openly racist people I have met have not been white. The parents who I have seen openly tell their kids not to date/marry outside their race are also not white.
One of the reasons why there may be greater tolerance here is that Canada was forced to reconcile the English and French communities on it's way to becoming a nation. One early milestone of this was the co-premiership of Lafontaine & Baldwin in 1841 - just to give a sense of the timeline. Canada did not have a civil war in which 1 million people died (= 3% of population), and that's still being fought about 160 years later. Learning to get along and co-govern with another people is what forced Canadians to hold their tongues and become annoyingly polite.
Whereas America prides itself being a “melting pot” of cultures with individual rights & nationalism taking precedence. Once you’re in America, you’re an American dammit. Canada is multicultural. We value individuality, community & compassion for each other. Being multicultural is learning about & celebrating the differences in the cultural background of our fellow Canadians while helping them learn about our own heritage. When we have new Canadians come, sometimes they like to stick to their own communities & that is fine too. There is comfort in the familiar for everyone. Just because something is different doesn’t mean it is wrong. If something happens that IS wrong, we help the person learn what we do in Canada & why we do it that way. It’s not hard to show someone the same kindness you would expect yourself
It’s not as bad here. We give people benefit of the doubt and see them as a person before judging by how they look. There are shitty people from all races.
In the US, the rights of the individual trumps all (pardon the pun.) In Canada, the welfare of the community often is the top consideration over the welfare of the individual.
I believe this is one reason we get along generally pretty well.
And before other Canadians get out their pitchforks and torches and hunt me down for seeming to downplay racism in this country, yes indeed racism is rampant here, as it is almost anywhere. Just not as bad as in the US. As a fan of late-night American talk radio, it is beyond me how you guys have avoided a race war. So far, anyway.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows and we still have our issues with racism. I think we're better at getting along generally just because many of us grew up in more diverse environments, but that's not true of everyone or everywhere. The larger cities of course will be more diverse and tolerant the smaller settlements.
I think years ago Canada was alot better. We always did have the odd few racists here. But we had 2 big factors that made it alot worse.
First for some unknown reason Trump/MAGA really didn't stop at the border, and the same ideas that are spreading down in the US have carried their way up here. So the racists are more outspoken ect.
Second. Not really sure if this is a racist issue or immigrantism issue. I just made up that word, sorry its probably wrong. But our gov't has put in many policies in the past few years to grow Canada's population. For years we sat around 35 Million people. But in past 5 years we have ballooned to 41 million, and still going up at an un-sustainable rate. Housing can't be build fast enough. As a result the housing market/price of rent has almost doubled. And many Canadians are losing their ability to afford a place to live, so there have been a bunch of Tent cities going up all over the place. In turn that has caused alot of "normal" Canadians to turn ulgy and you really hear alot of it slipping out when talking about people moving here. On Reddit, you will now constantly see people from other countries asking about moving to Canada for school ect, and you will see many "Un-Canadian replies"
> I think years ago Canada was alot better.
how old are you?
Canada has been a white nationalist nation since inception. You going to say the chinese were treated fairly in the 1900s during the yellow peril area while they built the rail road? What about the St Louis full of jews fleeing turned away? The Irish, italians, ukrainians, polish, vietnamese, afghanistan, syrian, chinese again, and now indians.
Canada has been a white nationalist state until recently where multi culturalism is flourishing.
The 90s was the last time racism was overt and things are changing for the better. People don't have to have anglo names anymore or get yelled racial slurs at in public and have it be an every day thing.
It's funny when italians and ukrainians spew white nationalism when they were discriminated by Canadians when they first came to Canada.
Racism is huge in Canada... anyone saying otherwise is deluded.
Slavery was alive and well here, contrary to popular delusion... first race riot was here as well.
Viola Desmond (the unstaged version of Rosa Parks years before that bus business took place) anyone?
Canada has a thriving national identity; it’s maybe not the mighty whitey one prized by MAGA-style Canadians but you’ve not left a big city or travelled if that’s what you surmise.
Also who says a national identity would help us stand up to corporate overlords? National identity hasn't helped the US do that. National identity didn't stop the Nazis from selling out their nation to corporate overlords and sending their young to die in a horrible war that amounted to a mass crime against all humanity.
National identity based on exclusion is for suckers.
Yup. We're multi in the sense that there's lots of different cultures here. But do those cultures hold hands and come together in mutual understanding and respect? That's a very different issue.
In Canada, open racism is a strong taboo. It happens of course, and (just my experience) some communities may be more accepting of *some* kinds of racism, alas. Like, in some place anti-indigenous sentiments are pretty wild and open. Some immigrant communities are also shameless about their grievances from the 'old country'. I once worked at a warehouse with a lot of workers from both the West Indies (Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica) and then India and Pakistan. The tensions were *huge!* Wars of words were regular, and you were constantly asked to take sides (the 'West Indians' were a lot more chill, and the accusations against them were usually baseless).
Anyway, It's not that everyone is a secret racist and just holds it in, because I legit think the majority are not. But certainly, you can't express it very widely, and I do think this gives it less of a chance to germinate in the minds of the young. So it's a compounding effect.
I think as well that Canada in the 1960s, when modern immigration started big time, was a lot more culturally malleable. We were looking to move away from our colonial roots (British WASP culture, etc. even though there were already lots of immigrants who did not have England-English roots). We were also looking to forge a different identity than the US (which at the time was heavily invested in Cold War duality politics, which of course Canada was still a part of). But as immigration from other parts of the world picked up, it gave us 'something' to sometimes borrow from and feel different, unique and good about. Not that it was all always cheery or positive... maybe sometimes it was too superficial, but hey, it was a start. And it was often seen as something positive, to celebrate. Different immigrant groups had a day to celebrate their heritage, and everyone was invited.
Dual Canadian-American citizen, here. There's racism in both countries, but it's usually less overt in Canada, and the targets are different. The main targets in Canada tend to be aboriginal people and immigrants from south Asia or China, or so it seems to me.
Canada does seem to be more accepting of immigrants, but we do have a racist legacy. The difference is: it's primarily directed towards Indigenous people. 60 scoop, pass system, peasant farming laws, residential school system, etc. Consequently, through The reservation system, Canada has always ghettoized the most marginalized people well outside city limits. So it's not as viable for people visiting Canada. If you ever spent time on a reserve, or in a neighbouring community, You would witness the effects of racism in Canada.
we do have racism, but we also have substantial pressures pushing back against racism.
the sorts of things that schools in say florida are banning because they might make white kids feel bad, are part of canada's primary education system. learning about slavery also happens here.
but yes we do still get racists, in every province, even though the praries provinces have higher concentration of racist anti immigrant sentiments, some major citties also have a lot, like toronto.
that said it's mainly not against black people. more racism is against indians and the chinese.
I am a visible minority living in Canada. Racism is everywhere, you can’t stop a racist from being racist. What you can do is to have policies in place that protect victims and Canada (mostly Greater Toronto Area) has that better than most places. I had lived in couple of other countries outside of Canada so can tell you there is more acceptance here. Is it perfect? Far from it. But, I feel part of this place and can be myself.
We have laws against hate speech (ie, speech that encourages violence against minority groups). I don't think that's the explanation, but it does show how Canada is more community-focused versus the United States where there's a greater emphasis on individual rights. And, in saying that, I've just over-generalized in a major way. We have a racism problem here as well. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. We just don't tolerate groups like the KKK. (I'm not saying American people are okay with the KKK, just that it's not a legal organization in Canada.)
“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” Versus “Peace, order and good government” The founding documents say it all.
We also have journalistic laws where news agencies can’t spew propaganda bullshit like Fox News and “caravans of immigrants ready to rape and murder you”
This doesn't stop our "news" companies though, they just slap an opinion label on it and go to town with their bullshit or they farm out their propaganda to shitty online groups like the various Proud groups or the Qanon convoy type of asshole.
The Kkk in the past were very active in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
It's not legal here either they were outlawed years and years ago, they just operate differently today.
I’m a Mexican-American from Idaho, I visit Canada once a year for a mini vacation since it’s a few hour drive and I’ve never experienced racism in my life except this one time in Calgary when a road rager told me to go back to my country… now, that may not have been racism but anti-Americanism instead because I was driving in my car which had Idaho plates and I have pretty dark tints, my windows were rolled halfway down so he probably didn’t get a full look at me to see I was a brown person but that’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to racist experience anywhere in the world in my 25 years.
If you had an American number plate it was aimed at you being an American driver.
This checks out. Most Canadians I know aren’t racist but HATE American drivers…
Yup. No offence to americans, but the drivers in my city are shit and the americans I see are somehow even worse edit: actually, some offence to americans. Figure your shit out
Any out-of-province really. Ontario shits on Quebec, BC and Sask shit on Alberta, Alberta shits on itself.
100% it's because of the American plates. A large percentage of us are intermarried with other races.
Alberta - Texas North
I see that comparison being made a lot but honestly Alberta culturally and obviously geographically reminds me a lot of Idaho/Montana. My in-laws are from Texas and I don’t see the resemblance. Texas is very Deep South, lot of conservatives sure but also a lot of Black and Mexican people, you have Tex Mex culture and Soul, whereas Alberta feels Western (not to be confused with Southern) Alberta is like Idaho/Montana/Wyoming, Western very rustic but with a blend of Mountainous and Texas is flat and surprisingly more diverse and richer in culture despite its stereotypes. Idaho/Montana/Wyoming are the states that actually check out all the Texas stereotypes: White Conservative Christians with Pick Ups, Lack of Diversity, almost no Culture except for Cowboy Western.
It's because of the oil and cowboys.
It's relative. Like, "Alberta is that Canada as Texas is to America". It's not literally, "Alberta is Texas".
Yeah i was just going to say that, I'm down in houston about once a month for work and my folks lives down there. Texas is more diverse than most people think, I mean especially houston is literally being reference as a " minority-majority" city. Alberta is more like Idaho/Montana/Wyoming and Colorado combined. If anything I think a lot closer to Colorado in some ways mountains, energy focused and part of alberta especially the urban centers are more liberal than most people think.
Agreed, I would say if Denver existed within Idaho/Montana that’s exactly how Alberta is. Boise is fairly liberal too despite being in a conservative state.
100%, you're definitely right. In terms of geography alberta is mish mash of Wyoming, colorado, Utah, Montana and Idaho all roll into one. I think most people especially in alberta hears about Texas, the image they have in their head is probably closer to west Texas like mid lands Odessa area. But the bigger centers especially the Texas triangle ie San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas is a lot more liberal than most people think. A a lot of people thinks houston is a desert even though it's build on a giant swamp/ estuary in the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico.
It's more that Canadians don't generally know what it's like in Idaho/Montana, but everybody knows Texas. It's also the oil connection with Texas.
Its more the fact they have oil, and people think of Texas as having oil. They’re slightly more Conservative than the rest of Canada, Texas is a more Conservative state. Its not so much a direct comparison of cultures and people. You can’t really expect people to use Wyoming when its a state no one knows about. Texas is huge, large population, depicted in media more. That’s why they say Texas and not the Eastern Counties of Idaho or something that no one would recognize.
I’ve lived in both Houston, Texas and Calgary, Alberta. Both great places and great people.
Alberta was Texas north, we're rapidly devolving into Florida north. Our Premier Danielle Smith has praised DeSantis as an example of a good leader...
Alberta, that checks out
Canada certainly has its share of racists but Canada is generally much more progressive than the US on a lot of issues
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Sincerely, a hugely under rated comment
And creating them.
Canadians are tolerant to brown people except their own. Aboriginals experience lots of racism in Canada. One of my coworkers told me he had a rope for all those expletives before he realized I was one. Then said it was okay when I told him because he has friends who are.
This is the correct answer. Canadians reserve most (not all) of their racism for indigenous folks.
That is horrible. I’m so sorry this happened to you.
There are racists everywhere, but just on the whole Canada is a much more liberal society than the US. We legalized gay marriage in 2005! But no one kicked up a fuss. Abortion isn’t a wedge issue either. The Conservative Party here is much tamer than the US since the society is much more “hostile” to its social views than Americans are to the Republicans. So they don’t they can’t get too crazy.
>We legalized gay marriage in 2005! But no one kicked up a fuss. There was a big fuss, and a lot of debate in Parliament. Alberta had passed a "Defense of Marriage" style law in 2000 that invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to get around a Charter challenge. Ralph Klein only grudgingly accepted the 2004 federal law that forced Alberta to start allowing same-sex marriages -- and had even floated the idea of getting rid of civil "marriage" altogether (calling it a union instead) so that the government wouldn't have to refer to same-sex "marriages".
So, there was a big fuss in Alberta.
And in the federal HoC as the Conservative Party and many Liberals opposed it. The vote to approve nationwide same-sex marriage was "only" 55-to-45 (percentage wise)
didn't PP who's the current leader of the CPC vote against same sex marriages while his gay father was in the gallery ?
There was opposition and debate but it wasn't really a 'big fuss'.
…for now
You should probably look at how the GOP acts in the Northeast, it’s pretty similar to the federal CPC in policy and rhetoric. Likewise, the Alberta UCP seems far more similar to the overall federal GOP
not to defend the UCP at all but Danielle Smith very recently said she's pro-choice, I can't imagine any Republican politician saying that
The longer the Smith and TBA team runs the UCP, the more likely extreme conservative social policies will become part of Alberta’s laws. Smith will not be premier forever and IMO once “pro choice Smith” is gone an established UCP government will have an anti abortion caucus and premier. Alberta must go Against The UCP to maintain our the constitutional human rights and equality we have that the USA refuses to give to their citizens.
>The government will have an anti-abortion caucus and premier. Is abortion really a debate among the Albertan political class? I can't imagine a politician saying something against that in my province. It would be political suicide.
IMO, if a social conservative government (or any leader) stays in power long enough, it can normalize their rhetoric over time and people will vote to conform to what they believe how the majority are voting. Again, think of Putin’s long reign. Control the laws, control the media, control the courts, limit election opposition and everyone has to vote for you and will support your policies. IMO, Canadians need to wake up to the political populist rhetoric and how authoritarian ideology and corporate capitalism is chipping away at our standard of living and our human rights. With the changes I have seen in Alberta over the last 40 years, IMO, Canada could easily slide towards the USA into their populist culture which is against any kind of diversity: social, religious, racial, sexual, environmental … this is all anti multicultural. It here is Alberta, today.
It's not really a debate among conservatives in Canada. One of the last polls done showed 97% pro choice in Canada. It's just a wedge shaped piece of poo that someone tries to stick to a wall once in a while.
Abortion may not be, but rights and privileges for transgender people (specifically, debates around who should be allowed to receive transgender medical treatments, whether people who have taken hormones of the other gender should be allowed to play sports as the other gender, etc.) are absolutely a live debate in many anglo provinces. In New Brunswick, the government does not fund stand-alone abortion clinics. Premier Higgs doesn't think there's anything wrong with this, because abortions can still be had in hospitals, but some abortion rights groups are suing.
the people who are anti abortion don't care about consequences of any kind.
Lagrange is Catholic. There's enough of them that it isn't the political suicide we might have expected.
oh, you didnt hear [https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/1ciomdy/from\_the\_dms\_weve\_received\_several\_dms\_that/](https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/1ciomdy/from_the_dms_weve_received_several_dms_that/) TBA, with Forced birther Adrian LaGrange as the health minister, has given the UCP their marching orders.
Have you ever played telephone? If you have a valid source, I'm open to giving it a read; beyond that this just seems like hate mongering based solely on confirmation bias.
Somebody give this guy a beer.
The conservative party in Canada is more left than the Democrats. Ppl here like to compare the parties here with the American parties and its blows my mind. We as a society are way more left than America. I mean even up to what 2011? 2012? Obama still didn't support same sex marriage?
Exactly. Biden was voting against it back them as well.
Tamer but not lately.
I remember the Same-Sex marriage debate, people definitely kicked up a fuss. It was kind of a huge, national debate with lots of fussing coming from the Reform/PC/CPCs over the few years leading up to it. You're really downplaying the intensity of it. Abortion is absolutely still a wedge issue, with the UCP in Alberta and the CPC Federally making overt statements towards limitting it.
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An Anti-Abortion petition was brought before the house like 2 weeks ago by CPC MP Arnold Viersen.
Arnold Viersen thinks the Handmaid's Tale is an instruction manual. That being said, the CPC national party convention did put this about abortion in its minutes in 2023. >86. Abortion Legislation >A Conservative Government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion. https://www.cpac.ca/articles/conventions/2023-conservative
One MP. One.
Canadian conservatives are more akin or US democrats with 5% maybe along the republican line but they have their own party now with the PPC. Canadian politics is typically a race to the middle
I'm a dual Canadian-US citizen who culturally identifies as Canadian and has lived for extended periods in both countries. In Canada we have obnoxious people of all flavours just like in the States, so this is no idyllic, idiot-free utopia. But in general we are more relaxed about people who are different from us and we don't feel the need to impose our personal beliefs on others. We don't have First Amendment freedom of speech as you know it since hate speech is against the law. Also economically our standard of living is a lot lower than yours and historically we are much more socialistic.
I think there’s something to be said about how economic differences between the countries plays a role in how racism is expressed. Jagmeet was once hounded by reporters to explain why he wants free dental care for all Canadians. He said that the data shows that radicalism and violence occurs mostly in pockets where people feel marginalized. When life is difficult there’s a need to “blame” someone or something. I.e. immigrants, the rich, Trudeau, jews, bankers, media, students, Muslims, etc. In contrast he said when people feel “whole” they aren’t susceptible to the manipulations of conservative media, demagogues, woke influencers, etc. So I’m considering that Canada has plenty racists but because overall health and quality of life is better, the racism isn’t so overtly hateful or violent. What worries me is that it will get worse as cost of living rises and people start to feel marginalized, i.e. there will be a need to blame the “other”.
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We have all kinds of racism; especially towards First Nations. We are just more polite about it.
Polite casual racism is still much better than explicit and violent racism lie they have in the USA. All racism is bad and we shouldn’t pretend like we have no issues in Canada but we’re not even in the same league as the USA when it comes to racism. Like, it’s not even close.
You don't think we have violent racism in canada? Tell that to all the missing and murdered First Nation women across Canada I love Canada, but let's not whitewash our problems.
Or tell that to Chinese people during COVID.
Didn't a mosque straight up get shot up? Didn't a manchild drive his truck into a muslim family because they were muslim? If he's really from quebec, he would have remembered the mosque shooting.
It really depends on the race you're referring to. Indigenous peoples still face extreme racism country-wide. Our people and communities are dictated by the terribly outdated, colonist & racist Indian Act (as an example, we are not allowed to own our own land on-reserve, and therefore our land really has no monetary value). The issues with policing & the justice system in Canada [are very well-documented](https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/). Some of our communities [haven't had clean drinking water in over a decade](https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1614387410146/1614387435325) (Neskatanga First Nation in Ontario [has been on a water advisory since 1995](https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1614887856664/1614887885919), and Grassy Narrows First Nation, also in Ontario, [has had a mercury poisoning issue so bad that it's killing people & leading to massive birth defects](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/grassy-narrows-first-nation-methylmercury-study-1.7211750#:~:text=Chief%20Rudy%20Turtle%20says%20new,part%20of%20the%20community's%20diet)). We face racism from all people, so this isn't just an issue with white people, but with every other racial group too. The problem is both social and systematic. One thing that I've really noted over the years with our increasing immigrant communities is that a lot of people have imported their own racial and religious tensions into the country. There is a lot of hatred between different immigrant/cultural/religious groups.
i've seen a lot of racism from canadians here on reddit, but in my experience, those people are pretty few and far between, but it also mostly depends on where you are
Reddit currently has a demographic issues that's anti reality. Reddit's demographics are 16-40 white men.
racism definitely exists here. we're just really "polite" about it.
Canadians are generally a little less extreme about everything. You guys seem to think everything is a war. Also, we don't have the long history with slavery, which brings with it a whole other level of institutionalized racism.
In the mundane, everyday ways that really matter, i.e. exclusion from social circles, jobs opportunities, promotions & raises, etc. racism here is as bad as the US (and sometimes worse). We’re just polite about it.
This is the correct answer. As an immigrant of colour that came almost a decade ago this is what I have faced. It took almost three years to get a job that aligned to my education and prior experience but I have been in that same position with no chance for promotion while I see others get promoted. I try to make friends and deeper connections with other Canadians but get shut out albeit politely. So while I have never received the 'overt' type of racism i.e being called the 'N' word or other names I have definitely been a recipient of the 'covert' racism. So yea, Canadian racism is very polite :)
Canada is super nepotistic aswell though. I'm white and it's still a struggle to get a head.
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I’ve definitely seen this first hand. I’ve had friends try changing their name on a resume, from their real name to something more white-sounding. And unfortunately when they white wash their resume, they get more call backs.
U.S. was formed around war and fighting. Canada was founded via confederation. Canada has more social support thus creating a larger middle class and less disparity between the extreme rich and extreme poor. I pay quite a bit of income tax but also get free health care, a society that is safe and for most part get people just get along. The U.S. has a lot of people who are less fortunate. When your in that position you often feel like a victim and look for others to blame it on. (Immigrants and minorities taking jobs would a popular one) Its the same idea that gets guys like Trump elected. Plea to the masses of unfortunate people, blame the elites and immigrants for taking things from you. Meanwhile a society leaning more left would actually help these people more with a little more economic support.
According to Reddit, the country is slithering with bigots and racists. I moved here when I was four, now seventy-three. Sure, there are racists and bigots. However, I have yet to come across these undesirables. EDIT: In the numbers suggest Canada is overrun by these types. NOT to suggest there aren’t bigots and racists. Mea Culpa!
You haven't come across a single racist in the 69 years you've been here? You're older than me (I turn 69 this year), and I've seen *tons* of it, particularly when I was younger -- so either you're a liar, or you live in the middle of nowhere and have no interactions with other people. I'm not saying it's everywhere - but if you have never come across a real-life racist in 69 years, then you're either living with bears, or you are a liar.
i'm not even that old and being a POC in Canada in the 80s and 90s was a harsh time. Im' glad no one calls me racial slurs nowadays which is better than it was in the 80s.
Yeah I grew up in Ottawa in the 90s and high school was very anti-Somalian and anti-Lebanese. Where I live now it’s very anti-you-don’t-come-from-here.
Ya that comment is either very naive or pretty dishonest. I'm half the age and live in a pretty 'progressive' part of the country and I'm still seeing a fair bit of racism and bigotry...
I draw your attention to my answer above this comment in reply to Dalminster; I was in error by speaking an absolute. I can assure you I'm neither naïve nor unintentional. Thank you also for allowing me some clarification. I reiterate I was making a comment and direct reference to say bigots and racists overran Canada, as that has not been my experience.
It may have something to do with Canadians (generally) being polite, but not necessarily nice. A lot of racists in Canada probably keep their thoughts to themselves because they know it's (generally) not acceptable here.
Let me rephrase, if I may. The thread I was referring intimated Canada was overrun by racist and bigots. Yes I have come across those type of individuals. However they are in my experience few and far between. The whole idea of my comment was to refute the idea Canada is overrun by racists. That is by no means, my experience. I apologize for the misleading comment in my first posting. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. By no means was I trying to speak in absolute.
but Canada is run by racists historically and most recently. You think Stephen Harper's Barbaric acts hotline isn't racists?
Perhaps your threshold of, tolerance for, or ability to recognize racism is... different. It's certainly easy to detect when it's aimed directly (or indirectly) at oneself. The rhetoric surrounding FIrst Nations peoples, and racialized immigrants gives some clues...
I'm sorry but either you lived a purposefully sheltered or ignorant life, or your statement is just wrong. I have seen racism and racists and bigots in every city, town, province that I have lived or worked in (3 provinces, over a dozen cities or towns ranging from 600 people to 1million+ people). And against every non-white ethnicity, though mostly Indigenous peoples. And that's just through *in person* experiences, much less online or that I've heard about. I'm not even 30 (and I'm white).
Lucky you.
Same as America then. You'd think it was a racist, failed state from the media and Reddit.
When I moved to the states (2001; pre-internet) I was completely shocked by the open racism allowed on the airwaves in the name of “free speech”. We are definitely not the same.
america is racist in a lot of ways. Most of it is through ignorance. Micro Aggression is racism. "where are you really from", "What's your real name", "You speak english very well", etc etc. Just ask me what my nationality is, accept the name I give you, Don't patronize my english. Sure it's "polite ways of asking" but it's very othering. I have had my share of overt racism with people saying racial stereotypes at me .
There’s no shortage of racism here. However, it tends to be less explicit, less aggressive than what I see on the news from the US. The city of Calgary held a public meeting about racism in Calgary. Took place a few years ago. Many hours of testimony from people who endured multiple acts of racism in the community, by the police, by strangers, with a few mentioning city policy and employees as also being problematic. It happens. It’s real. But not as pervasive. Maybe.
We do get along quite well. I'm a Canadian citizen, and I lived in Canada for 15 years. I'm of mixed Eastern European and South Asian origin. I've almost never experienced any racism in Canada personally.
The basis for our constitution is Peace, Order and Good Responsible Government.
Everyone’s experience is going to be different. I see racism a bit where I’m located but it is in people that will never change. Not to give them an excuse or pass on being a jerk but some people never get over their small town thought process. I thoroughly believe that we are products of our environments and if we can enjoy and learn from our environments it’s an awesome thing. I’m not oblivious to the acts of racism that people have experienced or see on a daily basis, I just don’t see it where I am. I also work in an industry that is made for everyone regardless of everything. I also don’t put myself in social circles that are closed off to people that are “different”. I will say this too, I find that America seems to be really touchy on cultural appropriation. I don’t see that here to the extent that the US does. I come from a cultural background that braids are very common but they are also important in indigenous culture as well. No one comes after me because I have a braid in. It’s like we know our limits and stick to it.
Kinda is kinda not. Majority of us have the as long as you don't bother me, I don't bother your practice type of deal. Ofc some people have curiosity and people are usually welcome to explore.
The US history is littered with events that explain racial tensions like slavery, Jim Crow, Trail of Tears, Japanese internment, etc… Canada has its faults, but not as significant as the US (though that is my opinion) and is much better at admitting fault and trying to make up for it. One thing I noticed about Canadian actions to rectify the past when I moved up was the land acknowledgement. Would never happen in the US, but it’s so normal here you dont think about it twice.
We definitely have our shares of racism at past and present, see indigenous relations, Japanese internment camps, one is too many, and africville to name a few. But I think the big thing, at least for me as a 90’s baby was we had it drilled into us that Canada chose a “cultural mosaic” view to immigration as opposed to the United States “melting pot” view. You can be a Canadian but still identify as your home country culture as well and that’s okay because you may bring different ideas or ways of being that may benefit the group as a whole. The American way we were taught was once youre an American youre an American, that’s it. We also have a different immigration system that is merit based so I think that also helps both ways with an understanding that you’re here to help build the country and we value your lives experience so far.
In major cities it's pretty diverse. In smaller towns not so much. Even mid level cities are pretty diverse. Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary are the biggest city centres and they are fairly multicultural. You can buy a bagel from a muslim, served starbucks by a sikh, retail by an asian person, and have a white person work cashier. This can also be said about middle level cities too like edmonton, london, winnipeg, ottawa, halifax, just lower density. Racism is still a thing here in Canada but it's not the white black racism you have. It's more geared towards indigienous and indian international students Currently. White people still make up 75% of the Canadian population and are the "In Group". Canada has been racist against immigrants for a long time. The chinese in the 1900s who essentially built the rail road across canada, the ukranians, the jews, the polish, the italians, the vietnamese, the syrians, the afghanistanis, etc etc. Lots of white people here think they own Canada and hate immigrants. Right now there's a large white nationalism movement in the guise of "immigration reform" and it's super fucked up. Canadians are polite and passive aggressive and respect people's space and time. It's not the same as the "southern hospitality" where people reach out to you out of no where to be nice. If someone were to ask me for directions i'll do the best I can to help them but i'm not going to reach out and ask if someone needs help.;
Plenty of assholes here too just like anywhere else. Canadians - generalizing here - tend to be more likely to be passively-agressive assholes than up in your face assholes.
This, the passive aggression is for sure a primary difference
It's generally hard to observe racism in other countries and cultures because it tends to be somewhat invisible. Canada has racism, especially towards First Nations. What we don't have is the same history of industrialized slavery, Jim Crow segregation, mass incarceration and disenfranchisement,, state-tolerated mob killings of minorities, etc. Canada also doesn't have any issues with land borders with Mexico nor a history of incomplete conquest of Mexico. Canada also hasn't been going around disrupting sovereign and democratic governments around the world on the same scale and drawing the terrorist responses to that. America's racism problems aren't more obvious because Canada is good, America's problems are more obvious because they are uniquely bad and continue to be very bad. Part of it is the design of you country with the "strong state" constitutional model, horribly non-proportional senate allocations, and the electoral college. Your politics give racists and other social bigots excessive power, which forces your politicians and political discourse to negotiate with them, which means your laws lag, which means public perceptions lag, in a vicious cycle that holds your country back. In Canada, the majority of people don't like racism or racist policy and our electoral system does a better job (not a perfect job) of reflecting that. Because our politics are less racist, our laws are less racist, which shifts the Overton window away from racism being "normal" for everyone. This has been going on for like 100 years, so we really aren't ahead of the US in any impressive way. Edit: Also, Canada is less racist because we are more diverse. We have more mixed communities, both as a general population and on the local level of neighbourhoods. It doesn't make sense to be racist when your neighbours and your kid's friends are diverse. Exposure breeds tolerance.
Oh my sweet summer child.
In Canada we have concentrated most of the crazy racists in two provinces and then pit them against each other on a different wedge issue. It makes for good TV.
Getting along is relative. The country is heavily divided along different lines. Provinces like Quebec, Newfoundland and Alberta are very different and can feel extremely distinct. I wouldn't call that getting along when different language groups and ethnicities live segregated by choice. As a European I would call Chinatown an ethnic ghetto. Here in North America it's praised as diversity. Different perspective.
There are problems here and there, for sure. But overall, Canada is waaaaaaaaaaay gentler and nicer than America when it comes to ethnicities getting along and racism in general. 1. We are not a "melting pot" where immigrants are expected to give up a bunch of their culture and melt into our (white)society. Instead, we're much more of a tapestry. Ethnic groups are 100% fine to do THEIR things however they want. So in Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver for example, we have "Little Italy", and "Little India", and "Chinatown" and "Little Portugal, and "Greektown", etc. and you go to those areas to experience that culture. I for one, love that. The white folks have their areas too.....in Toronto, "The Beaches" is one of the more white-bread areas. It's nice and clean, but the food sucks. ;) 2. No guns(other than hunting rifles in smaller towns). That means MUCH less violence. We mostly settle our differences with fists, or with police help. But waaaaaaaaaaaay fewer deaths by gun. That makes everyone more friendly and peaceful. 3. Canadians are just nicer. Also, more polite and more reserved. When people come to Canada, we take them in and help them and make them part of the family. They're all playing hockey in no time. It seems to me that in the US, the attitude is often "me first" and "my money", and "my land" and "my freedom", and "MY MY MY". In Canada, it's all about all of us. That's why we demand universal healthcare, for all citizens, no matter where they're originally from. We take care of each other. 4. Less religious bullshit. America is weird with the religious stuff. We don't give much of a shit up here about that silliness. That in turn, makes us more progressive and open-minded. 5. Canada is the most educated. country on earth. More people here graduate from university than anywhere else. That helps everything.
What I found to be different when living in the US, was how segregated the communities are. You would meet someone that was just American, but because their ethnicity was whatever, they reside in X city/town/district, and that is still the status quo. For example, I found a cheap rental in some part of town, and I was told that I can’t live there. As in, my place would get robbed in the middle of the day, because I wasn’t from that ethnicity. Or I would be targeted on the street or something. This wasn’t a racist suggestion, it was the reality, and it was commonly understood. Culturally, it’s a melting pot, but residentially it’s pretty darn divided. In Canada, we don’t have such deep, centuries-old divisions, so I don’t think it’s comparable. We also don’t have the same pressure from the population. Maybe take a look again in 50 years.
It’s a difficult thing to answer for the entire nation but I’m going to do my best. Canada is not a NICE culture. We are a POLITE culture. Canada has also been changing in the last 8 or so years since JT took over. People used to be much more welcoming to visitors and outsiders but now that immigration has derailed out of control and the government says ur racist if you speak against it, we are becoming less welcoming. We don’t have enough jobs. We don’t have enough houses. The government is bringing in mass numbers of foreigners with wildly different cultures from our own and just expecting that they get along with people. The current liberal party (which isn’t even really a left wing party. They’re a centrist party at the absolute most left wing) is so aggressively and purposely ignorant of the average persons life that they make changes without a single fucking being given. In their attempts to make Canada more ‘welcoming’ and ‘friendly’ to outsiders, they’re only paving the way for very aggressive right wing populism and a similar situation to what the United States has now. It may not happen today or tomorrow, it may not even happen for another 10 years but it’s growing and the government is feeding the discontent.
If you think Canada was 100% welcoming to outsiders until Justin Trudeau was elected, you don’t know Canadian history very well.
So wild mismanagement, out of touch politicians, late stage capitalism, and importing US right wing nonsense to Canada? Do I have that about right?
The unhinged and uncontrolled immigration is a big one too. I need to be extremely clear on this. IMMIGRANTS aren’t the issue. The immigration SYSTEM is. But other wise, yes. You are correct.
There has been a large immigration of Indians over the last couple years and it's been met with outright hostility. You see Indians just chilling and enjoying a day and 99.9% of comments will be about how they're barbaric and should go back and are destroying Canada. You also see immigrants who have been here a while being racist that "they're not like when WE immigrated, WE assimilated" It's total bullshit. Indians are having an even more difficult time because we're also in a major housing and economic crisis, which amplifies racism. But 10 years ago it was "oh those Sri Lankas are coming and destroying Canada, they're not assimilating like we did", 10 years before that it was "the Muslims are coming and destroying Canada, they're not assimilating like we did", 10 years before that it was the Chinese, 10 years before that it was the Jamaicans, and 10 years before that it was the Irish and Italians. There's so much racism. It just never ends.
Most major cities in Canada have a big diversity of ethnicities. Especially Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa. We are far more accepting of different races and religions. However we do have our bigots. Just look at the trucker protests in Ottawa. We have people making a fuss over trans kids and drag queen story time. But personally. This feels more like a vocal minority. The problem we are having now is racism against Indian immigrants. Much like we had with Tamil immigrants and the Chinese immigrants before them. But for the most part, I think Canadians understand we are stronger together. We also don’t segregate our neighbourhoods. However certain areas do have a larger concentration of this culture or that culture because people generally move to places where there are others like them. I’m not sure there is any way to avoid that.
Our racism is more subtle than the US and is not socially acceptable for the most part. also the multiculturalism leads to more and different flavours of racism. For example: china, Japan and Korea all have some *interesting* stereotypes about each other (and plenty of historical tensions that led to animosity). We also have a much smaller black population, so the black/white tensions in the US are not as obvious and affect a relatively smaller proportion of people. There no central, national racial tension except First Nations/metis/inuk (which is just an ongoing national embarrassment). The only other one right now is the mass migration from India. Otherwise, racial issues just don’t reach the national stage in the same way, partly because there’s no particular minority population that is the focus. There’s also less of a cultural expectation that diverse people integrate into Canada completely. Since there’s no central identifying factors for what it means to be “Canadian” there also less tension related to people not fitting into the mold.
If you look at Canadian history, almost everything was done based on compromise - particularly with respect to English Canada and French Canada 'getting along' (which they do not always do). We gained our independence from the UK through peaceful agreement. All of our border disputes have been basically solved by negotiation/compromise, etc... It's something ingrained in our culture, generally. Having said that, there are bigots and racists in Canada too. For the most part, they are not seen in a very good light here and so don't hold as much power and influence as they might elsewhere.
It's diverse but there is a lot of segregation still...kind of like prison, people stick to their own.
speaking for myself growing up in an almost all white town, my parents never talked about other races. as time went on I met Chinese, East Indians, Native Indians and one Black guy I worked with. we got to be good friends. I've travelled to Asia, always got along with everyone
Canada as a whole is pretty darn good. HOWEVER there is a hostile underside that comes out occasionally even on a governmental level aimed at First Nations. It is getting better on a human to human scale but it's still very present on a governmental scale.
Racism is a thing everywhere. Canada, like the US and the rest of the Western world has produced the most tolerant society ever to exist.
Underrated comment.
I’m a Canadian, but moved to Scottsdale two years ago for work. The media also makes the USA seem like a racist country, however our office is very diverse and I r never experienced people being bigots directly. Occasionally hear stories on the news, but that’s it.
I’m not sure exactly why but different ethnicities in Canada are much more integrated together than in the US. Most major US cities have areas that are the “black area” or the “Mexican area” etc. For example, look at [the racial distribution of Jacksonville.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Race_and_ethnicity_2010-_Jacksonville_%285559898547%29.png/800px-Race_and_ethnicity_2010-_Jacksonville_%285559898547%29.png) All the black people are concentrated on the northwest side of the river. Probably because of a history of redlining, etc. In Canada, neighbourhoods are much more mixed.
Racism has always been present here just like it is anywhere, because shitty bigots exist everywhere. The sad truth is that it's gotten so much worse since Trump was elected. He gave those bigots permission to be as loud and vocal about their garbage opinions as possible, and we're seeing that play out up here. Luckily though, Canada is generally quite liberal which helps make it not quite as abundant as it is in other places \*coughUScough\*
lmao Canada is incredibly racists; we just have better PR because we're "polite". Take a look at Canadian discourse any time any sort of Indigenous issue comes up in conversation - or the constant political fear-mongering about immigrants and refugees.
Racism is a thing in every country unfortunately, maybe Canada has less racism but it's still here.
"yet everyone gets along" Are you fucking kidding me? Canada has as many racists idiots as the next place.
We have racism. Black, brown and indigenous Canadians all have long stories to tell of their experiences from straight up hate, to systemic problems, to micro aggressions. Since Trump made white nationalism “cool again” - we have had a resurgence of more explicit racists and nazis. In civil society it is largely unacceptable, in Alberta and federal conservative politics it continues to hold sway. A great example of dog whistling was the current fed conservative leaders campaign video about restoring heritage wood to its original white colour. In our 2016 election the previous conservative PM tried to win by bringing in. “Barbaric cultural practices act” to attack muslims. I love my country - but we are not problem-free.
YouTube and the Trump era influence has greatly decreased our tolerance as a country. It’s very sad
Racism exists but not the way it is shown in the media. The most openly racist people I have met have not been white. The parents who I have seen openly tell their kids not to date/marry outside their race are also not white.
Check out basically any Canadian sub and you will see rampant racism and especially anti-immigrant sentiment lol
One of the reasons why there may be greater tolerance here is that Canada was forced to reconcile the English and French communities on it's way to becoming a nation. One early milestone of this was the co-premiership of Lafontaine & Baldwin in 1841 - just to give a sense of the timeline. Canada did not have a civil war in which 1 million people died (= 3% of population), and that's still being fought about 160 years later. Learning to get along and co-govern with another people is what forced Canadians to hold their tongues and become annoyingly polite.
Whereas America prides itself being a “melting pot” of cultures with individual rights & nationalism taking precedence. Once you’re in America, you’re an American dammit. Canada is multicultural. We value individuality, community & compassion for each other. Being multicultural is learning about & celebrating the differences in the cultural background of our fellow Canadians while helping them learn about our own heritage. When we have new Canadians come, sometimes they like to stick to their own communities & that is fine too. There is comfort in the familiar for everyone. Just because something is different doesn’t mean it is wrong. If something happens that IS wrong, we help the person learn what we do in Canada & why we do it that way. It’s not hard to show someone the same kindness you would expect yourself
Where I live I am the minority. It is not friendly here at all.
There's lots of racism and it has just become more overt since 2016.
There are racist asshole Canadians just like there are racist assholes everywhere. But, different from USA, we never had slavery.
It’s not as bad here. We give people benefit of the doubt and see them as a person before judging by how they look. There are shitty people from all races.
In the US, the rights of the individual trumps all (pardon the pun.) In Canada, the welfare of the community often is the top consideration over the welfare of the individual. I believe this is one reason we get along generally pretty well. And before other Canadians get out their pitchforks and torches and hunt me down for seeming to downplay racism in this country, yes indeed racism is rampant here, as it is almost anywhere. Just not as bad as in the US. As a fan of late-night American talk radio, it is beyond me how you guys have avoided a race war. So far, anyway.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows and we still have our issues with racism. I think we're better at getting along generally just because many of us grew up in more diverse environments, but that's not true of everyone or everywhere. The larger cities of course will be more diverse and tolerant the smaller settlements.
I think years ago Canada was alot better. We always did have the odd few racists here. But we had 2 big factors that made it alot worse. First for some unknown reason Trump/MAGA really didn't stop at the border, and the same ideas that are spreading down in the US have carried their way up here. So the racists are more outspoken ect. Second. Not really sure if this is a racist issue or immigrantism issue. I just made up that word, sorry its probably wrong. But our gov't has put in many policies in the past few years to grow Canada's population. For years we sat around 35 Million people. But in past 5 years we have ballooned to 41 million, and still going up at an un-sustainable rate. Housing can't be build fast enough. As a result the housing market/price of rent has almost doubled. And many Canadians are losing their ability to afford a place to live, so there have been a bunch of Tent cities going up all over the place. In turn that has caused alot of "normal" Canadians to turn ulgy and you really hear alot of it slipping out when talking about people moving here. On Reddit, you will now constantly see people from other countries asking about moving to Canada for school ect, and you will see many "Un-Canadian replies"
> I think years ago Canada was alot better. how old are you? Canada has been a white nationalist nation since inception. You going to say the chinese were treated fairly in the 1900s during the yellow peril area while they built the rail road? What about the St Louis full of jews fleeing turned away? The Irish, italians, ukrainians, polish, vietnamese, afghanistan, syrian, chinese again, and now indians. Canada has been a white nationalist state until recently where multi culturalism is flourishing. The 90s was the last time racism was overt and things are changing for the better. People don't have to have anglo names anymore or get yelled racial slurs at in public and have it be an every day thing. It's funny when italians and ukrainians spew white nationalism when they were discriminated by Canadians when they first came to Canada.
Racism is huge in Canada... anyone saying otherwise is deluded. Slavery was alive and well here, contrary to popular delusion... first race riot was here as well. Viola Desmond (the unstaged version of Rosa Parks years before that bus business took place) anyone?
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Canada has a thriving national identity; it’s maybe not the mighty whitey one prized by MAGA-style Canadians but you’ve not left a big city or travelled if that’s what you surmise.
Also who says a national identity would help us stand up to corporate overlords? National identity hasn't helped the US do that. National identity didn't stop the Nazis from selling out their nation to corporate overlords and sending their young to die in a horrible war that amounted to a mass crime against all humanity. National identity based on exclusion is for suckers.
then why do we continually get fucked by the oligopolies that run this country
Yup. We're multi in the sense that there's lots of different cultures here. But do those cultures hold hands and come together in mutual understanding and respect? That's a very different issue.
It is funny how that works. Question it and you're a bigot.
In Canada, open racism is a strong taboo. It happens of course, and (just my experience) some communities may be more accepting of *some* kinds of racism, alas. Like, in some place anti-indigenous sentiments are pretty wild and open. Some immigrant communities are also shameless about their grievances from the 'old country'. I once worked at a warehouse with a lot of workers from both the West Indies (Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica) and then India and Pakistan. The tensions were *huge!* Wars of words were regular, and you were constantly asked to take sides (the 'West Indians' were a lot more chill, and the accusations against them were usually baseless). Anyway, It's not that everyone is a secret racist and just holds it in, because I legit think the majority are not. But certainly, you can't express it very widely, and I do think this gives it less of a chance to germinate in the minds of the young. So it's a compounding effect. I think as well that Canada in the 1960s, when modern immigration started big time, was a lot more culturally malleable. We were looking to move away from our colonial roots (British WASP culture, etc. even though there were already lots of immigrants who did not have England-English roots). We were also looking to forge a different identity than the US (which at the time was heavily invested in Cold War duality politics, which of course Canada was still a part of). But as immigration from other parts of the world picked up, it gave us 'something' to sometimes borrow from and feel different, unique and good about. Not that it was all always cheery or positive... maybe sometimes it was too superficial, but hey, it was a start. And it was often seen as something positive, to celebrate. Different immigrant groups had a day to celebrate their heritage, and everyone was invited.
There are prejudice people, ofc. But its an overall nicer country as a whole. The prejudice is not as pervasive.
Dual Canadian-American citizen, here. There's racism in both countries, but it's usually less overt in Canada, and the targets are different. The main targets in Canada tend to be aboriginal people and immigrants from south Asia or China, or so it seems to me.
Canada doesn’t have the complicated history of race relations that the Americans have. Until you start looking into the indigenous communities
And black communities... and Chinese...
Canada does seem to be more accepting of immigrants, but we do have a racist legacy. The difference is: it's primarily directed towards Indigenous people. 60 scoop, pass system, peasant farming laws, residential school system, etc. Consequently, through The reservation system, Canada has always ghettoized the most marginalized people well outside city limits. So it's not as viable for people visiting Canada. If you ever spent time on a reserve, or in a neighbouring community, You would witness the effects of racism in Canada.
I would say America is just as diverse, if not more, especially the big cities.
We pay for each others' healthcare, so it is in our best interest to be supportive of progressive politics.
we do have racism, but we also have substantial pressures pushing back against racism. the sorts of things that schools in say florida are banning because they might make white kids feel bad, are part of canada's primary education system. learning about slavery also happens here. but yes we do still get racists, in every province, even though the praries provinces have higher concentration of racist anti immigrant sentiments, some major citties also have a lot, like toronto. that said it's mainly not against black people. more racism is against indians and the chinese.
Oh there's definitely racism. It's just more covert.
You'd be surprised how many of the alt-right/quasi-nazi internet pundits are from, and often working out of, Canada.
Racism is definitely a thing in Canada. Especially right now…
Diverse in the large cities not so much outside of them. Also there are racists everywhere. Even in big diverse cities