Yes, I am.
And I never really thought about it until it was pointed out to me by a friend at work. She’s Filipina but born and raised in Canada so she’s got that perfect knowledge of both the Filipino quirks and the Canadian culture.
I was pointing at another Canadian co-worker from afar and was telling my friend that this co-worker only comes to work once every week to tidy up the brand name displays. And I kept saying another person’s name. My friend corrected me and said that I was talking about another person. I insisted that I was right until I eventually realized that I was indeed talking about another co-worker and pointing at a different lady.
She said, “You think all white people look the same, don’t you? You’re racist!” in a faux mocking tone.
And just as quick as a snap of a finger, I knew it is true. Some Caucasian people do look the same to me. Just as some Asian people look quite the same to Caucasian people too, I guess.
I’d say that maybe it’s because I have only been here in Canada for a few months which is why I am still trying to get used to working in an environment where your co-workers are of different ethnicities, races, and backgrounds.
Canada, as I learned, is what multi-culturalism is all about. It encourages individuality as well as respecting each other for and in spite of their differences. I know this for a fact because everyday, I take the bus to commute to and from work, and more often than not, there would be at least an Asian, a Caucasian, an Aboriginal, a mid-Easterner, and an African in that bus. Indeed, it is a microcosm, a good representation of the Canadian society.
But I digress. Maybe it is really just what it is. Some people, white, brown, black, do have a tendency of looking the same. But it’s not like we consciously keep them indistinguishable from each other. Like the hundred shades and hues of blue can be hard to tell apart when placed side by side, unless you place them beside a red or a yellow, then all of them becomes just “blue.”
Racism is a touchy subject, in general and, except for the extremists who commit hate crimes against specific races, for some, what they would call “racism” could very well be just a personal preference with little or no relation to biases or prejudices.
I know a guy who prefers to queue his grocery cart in a counter with a Filipino cashier just because he has a hard time expressing himself in English and would feel much more comfortable dealing with a countryman so that he can be understood. Comparing this with another guy who would rather have his purchases rung up by a Caucasian just because by experience, some Asians he said, especially new immigrants, would often make mistakes in check-out counters, like accidentally double scanning items. Between the two, who’s worse than the other? Either acting based on necessity or experience, can both even be faulted for their preferences?
Everyone has surely told a joke or two about the amusing inherent traits of various races but that can only mean that we acknowledge the fact that every race, just as every person is different. We may find the quirks and differences of every individual funny but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are judging them as less of a person, or in this case, a lesser race. Besides, it is not just by their race, but a lot of other factors like family, environment and education, define a person.
Racism is a serious and tricky thing. The United Nations doesn’t even provide a definition for the word but would rather acknowledge “Racial Discrimination” as the bigger concern. Dictionary.com, however, provides the following definition:
“a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.”
If only for the first half of this definition, I would agree. There are indeed differences among the various human races that may determine cultural or individual achievement. But injecting the idea that one’s own race is more superior is just wrong and the world only knows too well how this has caused irrational and unwarranted racial persecutions. After all, regardless of skin color and accent, don’t we all shed blood, sweat and tears to survive and make meaning of our lives? We are all human, after all.
So yes, I’m a racist. I believe that we all have undeniable similarities and differences. I am a racist because I believe that there is one superior race that has the ability to think, reason, speak, and act better than any other creatures. And that is the human race.
