"Racism" alive and well in Toronto ?

So, at 7:42 I pull up to the Sunoco in Toronto(will not mention where). Get out of the car, and the lady beside me (not white) says I have to go in and pay first. I say really ? I hit the button 94 octane pumping into the thirsty V8. Im thinking hmmm, she looks over and says "you getting gas" I say "yes". She start flipping how she is going to call head office.

So Im standing there and notice out of 6 cars and vans now that I am the only white male/person. The gentleman in front pulls the lever and out comes buddy from the speaker phone..."you need to pay for gas first". I fill up my 62L and my $64 dollar tab, go inside, grab a bag of milk and some juicey fruit and bingo $71.21. Hand over the $100, and doesn't even check it gives me my change.

I look behind me, 4 people with money on hand, open the wrapper to my first juicey fruit, and the guy starts inspecting the $20. I wait, next person the $20 he inspects, next person the $10 he inspects. I throw my wrapper in the container, grab my 1% milk and off to the car I go. As I walk to the car I cant but help think.........I sure am starting to miss the way things were.
Godspeed everyone !

 

Rick your eyes have just been open to the way things really are. As you know my wife is black, and several times we have/are treated differently when we are together. At one gas station (in the US) they told us there was no gas left for "our kind". I'd rather know who is racist up front then wonder about what they are really thinking. BTW not long ago Italians were treated the same way, in fact some of the first public lynchings by the KKK were on Italian immigrants (although it was happening to blacks longer). This is something that is very close to my heart, there is no excuse for racism of any kind.

 

Its now 9pm and it is still very unsettling to me.

I have not experienced something like this before....though people think it,

and talk about it to actually see it taking place as the norm it actually

bothers me.

 

Jay, that is insane. I thought these things only happened in the old days, but I guess racism is still very prevelant around the world. I just can't believe that these kind of things are still happening.

 

Believe it guys. Now think of the black guy that has worked hard, paid his taxes and kisses his grandmother but hw just so happens to drive a BMW. Guess who the cops pull over? You guessed it. I have hundreds of stories about this happening to me and my friends...

Rick, it shows you have a conscience.

 

I know, it is brutal. I was driving with my friend a few weeks ago (who is black) and he had just purchased a Black 456 and has black rims and black window tint. We were driving along and out of nowhere, not speeding or anything, we get pulled over. And get this, he told us that he pulled us over because the car was too loud! Now that is BS! Also, I don't remember the exact story, but a lawyer in Toronto was recently dealing with racism, I forgot about what though. At the football games in Manchester, there is a lot of racism going on in the stands, and it sickens me.

 

Yeah, the lawyer was black and a civil rights lawyer who was taken down at gun point because he matched the description of a murder suspect. I wonder what that description was?

 

Jeez, both Rick's and Jay's account are pretty absurd.... Thankfully I have yet to run into a real racist situation.

 

I'm a most average white guy, so I have never suffered from racism and have always thought only a small minority of *******s were racists, but a buddy of mine from Tunisia says it happens all the time. Cops/customs, but at bars, even when picking up girls ... weird world, some times.

 

The prepay portion of your saga happens all of the time. During the wee hours of the day the convenience store is usually locked and you need to deal through a small side window. Other times of the day now seem to be adiscretionary call. If they don't know you or are wary, no chances are to be taken. Welcome to the new world.

As to the race issue, it is absolutely unsettling watching something like that occur around you. The lesson I learned was not to ever feel that I was better than anyone else . Irrespective of race or social status.

What really surprises me is the acceptance of the $100.00 bill. Coming back from Chicago late one night I need gas desparately. I stopped at an Arco near Seattle and although I probably put in $60.00 or so plus the c store purchase the fellow absolutely shrieked at me for pulling out a large bill. Same thing up here, I don't even ask for larger bills at the bank anymore. Nobody wants to crack a $100.00 bill around here either.

Steve

 

You've got to be kidding me!!!!! Geez!!! I wonder if in that part of the US, they still make blacks sit in the back of the bus.

 

My grandfather says the most shockingly racist stuff - it is a shame, but I think there are probably many old white men in Canada who say the same things.

 

Of course, Jay is absolutely correct...however, the reality is that racism has always been around. I'm afraid that will not change within our lifetimes....

I've always felt that in comparison to other countries with multi-racial communities, Canada/Toronto has been much better than most. By better, I mean more accepting of other cultures and promoting a higher level of multi-racial harmony. That does not mean that we are exempt from sad displays as the one Rick mentioned above, or as others have related....just that they are less common than what one would expect to see in a city of similar size in the United states or other countries. The few weeks of racial riots in France/Paris show that this is a global problem, its not just in the "history books".

It's hard for any of us that are not a visible minority to fully appreciate the extent of the problem...but the fact that we can still see it should be warning enough. All we can do is stand up against it whenever it rears its ugly head...silence only serves to feed the beast. Hopefully, as we progress and evolve as a social species, this will eventually be seen as a historical embarrassment that we can try to make sense of. The key is education and tolerance, both in the schools but more importantly, in the homes and family. We are responsible to educate our kids in this area.
After all, it's human nature to fear or mistrust the unknown or different..., only through making an effort to understand and combat racism at its root do we stand a chance of ridding ourselves of this sad mental disease which has been passed down through the ages.

 

Rick you look like rapper so you should be happy that they let you pump gas.

 

I dont ever come to this section, but it was the thread heading that caught me. So i hope you dont mind me joining in this thread But as a black guy me self i had to read it.
Any way,i dont quite know why no one has asked this question but, how were things and when were they?

 

Glad you can make it here....as to my comment as to how things were?, and when were they? I am reflecting on my own experience of 37 yrs living in Toronto. Being born and raised here I have never experienced such a blatant form of racism, discrimination in MY CITY. As mentioned in my initial post, you hear about in the newspaper, people talk about it, but I have not experienced this until yesterday. For me....this is a first. I never noticed that I was the only (white) person at this gas station unitl the cae infront of me was trying to pump after me and the speaker guy told him to pay first.
Its just such a shame.....after thinking about it now, I feel like a dumba$$ fo rnot saying anything to the (eastern block) gas attendent. I assure you, I wont stay quiet next time around.


PS: BTW: RAISIN, I love rap/and soul music as you know. Its menaingful music thats written and sung with emotion. Unlike that Frank Sinatra stuff you listen too.

Im not slamming Frank Sinatra, just dont like his music or voice...its all good if others like it.

 

Thanks for taking the time to explain that Rick You of course can understand why i asked the question
All racisum is vey sad indeed

 

thats quite the unsettling event....

 

Could it be, Rick, that it is only in the past decades that Toronto has become so colorful (there were always different cultures - my small Southern Ontario city growing up had a disproportionately large # of Italian and East Euro immigrants... but they're all white/olive) - and now that there are more visibly different people the racism becomes obvious?

Just my thought, like Chaa hinted, that there was no time without racism in Canada - but just a time when the odds of running into people of different colors were far less likely.

 

1. That does indeed suck.
2. The main thing that brought me to this thread sadly was" Is Ryalex canadian?" But one of his posts answered that.


Now I'm gonna be just a bit less happy as I write this stupid 15 page paper. Thanks Ryalex.

 

You have a Problem with Canadians?

 

LOL, don't worry, I blend in well: I even say "howwse" and "abowwt"

I can't believe we roomed together for a whole weekend in Vegas and you didn't figure out I was Canadian!

 

i totally agree with this....years ago, and i'm not talking hundreds i'm talking like 50 or so years ago...racisim was VERY evident...there were so many small towns and villages with one dominant race and anyone else was subject to racisim....

I myself had a few encounters of racisim, i'm brown, i am muslim and i am in the eyes of many people the cause of a lot of hatred in the world...for what is happening in the middle east and with all these "Terroist Attacks" a lot of it gets reflected on me and any other brown person in and around the city....as soon as something happens, the first thing is assumed is it was a terroist attack and it will be until proven it has nothing to do with terrorism, prime example of this, when we had the power outage here in southern ontario and northeast US, the first thing assumed was terroist attack and that was actually assumed until we found out it was an american company who had the problem....then it turned into a national crises...as oppose to an international threat...

When sept 11 happened, every brown person, afgan, persion, indian, or anyone that resembled a "terroist" was assumed to be the a threat or when the sars outbreak was happening here in toronto, every chinese person automatically had the disease, no matter who it was, no matter what ur background is, u had it...you just can't generalize a certain situation with the entire race of people

the truth of the matter is, theres always gonna be racisim, sexism, discrimination or watever happening nowadays its really pathetic to see, especially in the day and age we live in now, i mean people have lost their lives over mesely $h*t that someone makes out of nothing but theres always a way to counter it, if u just educate urself the right way, u'd know how to handle these situations

If people just understood the way the other cultures work then they wont have such clashes, like with us and fasting, or jews and hannuka, and believe it or not christmas....a lot of the other cultures dont understand the meaning of christmas or anything about it....theres no reason to critisize each persons own diversity, if u just take the time to learn it, we wont be able to completely rule out racisim, but we'd all be able to manage it in a much more appropiate way....

And thats all i can think of at 1:20 am..lol

Later,

 

Rick, it's absurdly ridiculous what you experienced, but I believe what you saw is still a rare occurrence here in Toronto. I've lived here all my life, and as a visible minority, I vividly remember several racist incidents that our family was subjected to when I was much younger. Over the years however, Toronto has become MUCH better place, and I haven't experienced anything like this in years (well other than the uh.. random searches -- every single time .. at the airport )

I think we're really fortunate here in Canada, particularly in Toronto. Venture further south in the US and racism is so blatantly in your face, it's sickening. Incidents like you describe are the norm rather than the exception.

 

Arshad, I'd rather know up front what someone thinks about me or my friends. Toronto is undercover in its racism.

Unfortunatley because Toronto is so diverse and we have so many different communities it helps re-enforce racist views. Example: You've got Woodbridge which is majority Italian, Markham which has a lot of Chinese, Brampton...Indian, Scarborough...Shi Lankan, ect. These communities stick together and never intigrate with other races. In effect they have their own small country within a city. The key to ending racism is mixing socially with other races. I'm so glad I grew up in Scarborough during the 80's, my friends were from all over the world, and I experienced cultures and customs that have enriched my life. Sadly, as the tide of immigrants has changed from European to Asian/middle eastern many have moved out of these neighbourhoods and miss out on the cultural diversity.