Alright, correct me if I'm wrong, but I am pretty sure the screaming would have been heard from here to Hong Kong, had the shoe been on the other foot.
A little background info first. I am a teacher, and I am looking for a couple of new students to tutor. I called a Korean community newspaper a while ago and placed an ad in their paper. The young man who took my call struggled with his English, but I spelled out the words he needed me to and we did just fine. He quoted me the price first. Then I asked him if he would translate the ad to Korean so I could reach more of his readers, and said I would pay for the service. He said no, he would do it as a courtesy and that the same price still stood. A Korean-speaking acquaintance told me the next day she had seen my ad. I include that tidbit so you all know everything was indeed according to Hoyle, in that paper.
Now, here's the part of the story that has me grinding my molars. I called a big-name, Chinese community newspaper last week to place the same ad. The woman who took my call has never even looked up the meaning of the word "polite"; not in Chinese, not in English, not in any language! She was unfriendly, from the get-go. There was an accent to her english that said she was indeed from Asia, but her english was clear and capable. Nonetheless, she refused to take the ad over the phone. "English is too hard", said she. She insisted I had to fax the content to her and added that I should put my Visa # on the fax. She quoted me the price of $69.82 for three days and then told me it would be extra to have the ad translated. When I expressed unwillingness to do as she asked with my Visa info, her next idea was that I should go down there in person to pace the ad. I took another route. Enlisting the aid of a friend, who happens to be chinese, I gave him a copy of the ad and asked him to phone. Whole different world? Well, the price was suddenly $52.70 for three weeks, and there was no trouble taking the ad over the phone.
Now, you tell me. How do we explain what transpired there? Is that racism at work? Intolerance? A supremacist attitude? Tell me, if the tables were turned, don't you think the screaming about some westerner doing that to her would be filled with phrases like 'systemic discrimination'? I was born and raised here. This is my country, my place of origin. I have always been open to all and accepting of everyone. To me, a person is a man or woman I have just met, and might get to know, BEFORE they are anything else - before they are white or black, before they are eastern or western. Don't try to tell me that Toronto is filled with white supremacists, until you have looked around and counted the number of supremacists in your own community.
Yes, I was born and raised here. I am white. I am western. I make no apologies to anyone for that. Canada is my country. If it is yours, too, then let's be friendly, and share it. Be just as fair with me, as you demand I be with you.
A little background info first. I am a teacher, and I am looking for a couple of new students to tutor. I called a Korean community newspaper a while ago and placed an ad in their paper. The young man who took my call struggled with his English, but I spelled out the words he needed me to and we did just fine. He quoted me the price first. Then I asked him if he would translate the ad to Korean so I could reach more of his readers, and said I would pay for the service. He said no, he would do it as a courtesy and that the same price still stood. A Korean-speaking acquaintance told me the next day she had seen my ad. I include that tidbit so you all know everything was indeed according to Hoyle, in that paper.
Now, here's the part of the story that has me grinding my molars. I called a big-name, Chinese community newspaper last week to place the same ad. The woman who took my call has never even looked up the meaning of the word "polite"; not in Chinese, not in English, not in any language! She was unfriendly, from the get-go. There was an accent to her english that said she was indeed from Asia, but her english was clear and capable. Nonetheless, she refused to take the ad over the phone. "English is too hard", said she. She insisted I had to fax the content to her and added that I should put my Visa # on the fax. She quoted me the price of $69.82 for three days and then told me it would be extra to have the ad translated. When I expressed unwillingness to do as she asked with my Visa info, her next idea was that I should go down there in person to pace the ad. I took another route. Enlisting the aid of a friend, who happens to be chinese, I gave him a copy of the ad and asked him to phone. Whole different world? Well, the price was suddenly $52.70 for three weeks, and there was no trouble taking the ad over the phone.
Now, you tell me. How do we explain what transpired there? Is that racism at work? Intolerance? A supremacist attitude? Tell me, if the tables were turned, don't you think the screaming about some westerner doing that to her would be filled with phrases like 'systemic discrimination'? I was born and raised here. This is my country, my place of origin. I have always been open to all and accepting of everyone. To me, a person is a man or woman I have just met, and might get to know, BEFORE they are anything else - before they are white or black, before they are eastern or western. Don't try to tell me that Toronto is filled with white supremacists, until you have looked around and counted the number of supremacists in your own community.
Yes, I was born and raised here. I am white. I am western. I make no apologies to anyone for that. Canada is my country. If it is yours, too, then let's be friendly, and share it. Be just as fair with me, as you demand I be with you.
1 Comments:
Well said.
It's expected that intolerance would come from whites, while the down trodden should be the non-whites. Well, I'm one of the visible minorities, and I've seen it from both sides. The greens, blues and purples are just as racist, intolerant, pig-headed and stupid as their white-ilk are. And I'll share an unpopular opinion here -- their form of intolerance is far more dangerous. Why? Because it isn't expected -- society tolerates it, turns a blind eye to it and ignores it. Those on the left even justify it to right the wrongs of the past. If the hate doesn't end, our wonderful multicultural society will end up being rich, and diverse and separated.
World Racism site.
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