A few days ago, I read in the newspaper that Rosa Parks had passed away on Monday. And I thought, she only recently passed away?
It came a bit of a shock to realize that racial segregation in the US is still recent history, only about 50 years or so, within living memory. I mean, I guess I knew it in my head, but still felt it was a thing long past; but actually, there are people living today who remember those days. Wow.
I know racism is far from gone - it disturbs me when I become aware of how not gone it is - but let's hope things will continue to get better. What will the world be like 50 years later?
Speaking of racism, I read an article about the 'head tax' on Chinese immigrants to Canada, between 1885 to 1923 in response to anti-Chinese sentiment. I hadn't known about this (perhaps it was mentioned in passing in grade 7/8 Canadian history class, when we learned about how Chinese immigrants worked on the Canadian Pacific railway). Anyway, I didn't really feel its nastiness until I read that this Chinese man had kept the head tax certificate in his wallet for 50 years until his death in 1970. Just imagine with what thoughts he must have kept it.
Another thing that struck me was my own reaction to the article. An organization is seeking redress for the family of the men who had to pay the head tax, and for a moment I thought, "What for?" Then I blinked, thinking, isn't this the attitude taken by the Japanese toward Koreans to whom wrongs have been done in the past (what an awkward sentence!), like the comfort women and so on. So I hung my head in shame.
On the other hand, if compensation was sought by a First Nations organization, I don't think I would have wondered why. Perhaps I just think that a country owes little to immigrants? Hrm.
Anyway, the moral of the story is 'apathy with ignorance, sympathy with identification' (silly, but tired of writing full sentences). Must try to be informed.
2 comments:
Yeah, the Chinese head tax has been a hidden shame of the Canadian government for quite a while. And how they forbid the workers from bringing over their families, etc. Really, multicultural tolerance is a very recent thing, if you think about it. If you go outside of North America, there is still a very strong "us vs them" mindset. It's a big problem in Europe now, because their birth rate isn't enough to keep the population level without immigration!
My measurement of unconscious stereotyping is if I walk out of a room, and someone asks me how many ppl of a certain race there were in that room, whether or not I'd give a certain answer. Obviously works better in certain settings than others. Or could just be an indication of how my level of self-absorption :D
How about as an indication of poor memory?
There's this song (from the musical 'Avenue Q') titled "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" which I think is totally true, although the degree may vary.
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