My Story Of Racism- It Truly Hurt Me

[slowmode]

Hello everyone

Let me begin by asking the mods to change this topic to a different board if its not the correct one. Thank You

  Racism is a topic i'm sure everyone here knows about. Its a topic that has affected a lot of people in this country, canada. Personally I have never been affected by it nor even thought about it until today. Let me start off by saying I was born and raised here and i've served a year with the military. My parents are from Lebanon and moved here in the 70's to give my family a better life. My dad has worked hard in this country to provide my family with a living, and I can proudly call my self canadian.

  Today at around 6pm I went to subway to get dinner, its a quick method of getting food. Upon arrival I open the door and stand in the line, I see a man in his 50's infront of me. He does not seem to be in line and I ask him "sir are you in line." The man turns around looks at me and goes "Shut the F**k up you dirty allah loving monkey, I hope you go blow up a bomb." Once he said that I had a second of disbelief, I was thinking...did he really say that? I responded by going "excuse me sir but i'm sorry to have caused you any trouble".

  Once I said that he said to me "I will kill you if you ever talk to me you d**k sucking hezbollah fighter." Again i'm thinking the same thing...what did I do to this man. I respond to him and indicate that if he does not stop the harrasment and racism I will be forced to call the cops on him. When I told him that he said he would hurt me and kill me if I go near my phone. So I turn around and ask the guys at subway to call the cops. The customer waiting behind me, an amazing citizen, comes to help me. He tells the man he has to leave the store. The man continues with the racist and disgusting comments...which are just hurting me inside. So the customer behind me grabs this man and drags him out of the store and tells him to not cause trouble.

  Once the crazy man left the store he went to the window and stared at me and started to do Nazi salutes towards me. Once I ordered my sub I thought i'd wait out until he left...just incase he had any weapons or anything..the last thing I want is to have trouble. I want 5 minuites and hes still not gone. So I decided to just rush to my car and leave. So I left the store and rushed to my car, he went near my car and tried to open my door...but luckly i locked it in time. I quickly drove off and that was the end of that.

  I must say this man is lucky i'm a very tolerant guy who can take a lot. I'm sure if he said this to another man of any race this old man would have gotten hurt. I cant believe this type of racism still exists in canada. Like before this I never really thought of racism a problem here but after this I can truly say it hurt me. I'm just thankfull to be such a tolerant guy and not get angered quickly but....I must say I was shocked when this happened. This man was not drunk because he did not have any smell of alcohol in his breath..and you can generally tell when someones drunk or not. He did not seem to be on any substances and was able to speak quite well. .

  I just thought i'd share this story with the army.ca community...I needed to let it out and talk about it anyway. anyone else experience a similar problem like this? 

Huss
Slowmode

 

[Mike Baker]

Huss, like I told you, you are better then this puke.

You are more Canadian then him, an he does not deserve to convey with such a great Canadian like yourself.

At least you held your temper, I would have laid him out if I were in your shoes.


Cheers bro,
Mike

 

[FascistLibertarian]

Sorry you had to go through that man. There are sadly morons and racists everywhere. Good on you for not losing it.
Not that it excuses his actions but he could be schizophrenic or have another mental disease.
As a white person I dont thinka bout this much, but some of the stories I have heard from my non-white friends really give me pause and make me think.

 

[Yrys]

No.

I'm a French Canadian women who is and look caucasian. I was called "frog" and other sweet names by anglophones, but they never
insist the point very long, they get distract to other things. I was also jacked by a francophone for some times, years ago, because I greeted him
in English before French. He said that I shouldn't greated people in English, etc  :tsktsk:. I was working in a store near Mc Gill University, in the
first week of their new automn session, having serve 80% of students of Mc Gill that day ...

Ethical Experiment

I think he was racist AND probaly  crazy, by the way he act.

 

[kratz]

There was a TV series run by NBC on this type of active racisim. Ophra  was showing clips of this today and the reactions were jaw dropping. It is amazing to hear these statements still.

Sorry to hear you had to put up with his garbage. You stayed safe though and handled things well. +1

Edit: To add that Yrys beat me to the link above. 

 

[Celticgirl]

Racism is everywhere. A--holes are everywhere. Tis unfortunate, but true. I was on the receiving end of racism for the first time in my life when I went to South Korea to teach just before the economic crash. What a rude awakening that was!

Slowmode, I am sorry you had that bad experience. However, your demeanor when faced with such a difficult situation was impressive and really shows that you have character, even if some folks have none. Good on you.

I can't help but wonder if that jerk would have said what he did had you been in uniform.

 

[Celticgirl]

There was a TV series run by NBC on this type of active racisim. Ophra  was showing clips of this today and the reactions were jaw dropping. It is amazing to hear these statements still.

Did you see the movie Borat? He was playing a character, but the other folks were real people. If you haven't seen it, watch it and listen to all the racist, homophobic, and sexist BS people are spouting. It's amazing what some people will say when they think it's a private conversation.  :-X  (I heard that some of them tried to sue the actor later for making them look bad.)

 

[Yrys]

(I heard that some of them tried to sue the actor later for making them look bad.)

They didn't try, they did sue, and all of them lost.

businessman :Very Nice, "Borat" Lawsuit Tossed

more about the businessman :Wait A Second!

driving instructor : Another unwitting "Borat" cast member files lawsuit

dinner party : Alabamans claim foul over "racially intolerant" depiction in movie

and : Lawsuit sues 'Borat' makers on behalf of Romanian villagers

 

[benny88]

Slowmode, buddy, you got thicker skin than I. Should have asked that expletive whether he has taken up arms to defend his country. Good on you for keeping your cool.

 

[Celticgirl]

They didn't try, they did sue, and all of them lost.

businessman :Very Nice, "Borat" Lawsuit Tossed

more about the businessman :Wait A Second!

driving instructor : Another unwitting "Borat" cast member files lawsuit

dinner party : Alabamans claim foul over "racially intolerant" depiction in movie

and : Lawsuit sues 'Borat' makers on behalf of Romanian villagers

Don't forget these two clowns: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2006/11/10/borat-lawsuit.html

 

[40below]

He sounds more of an ambulatory schizophrenic than a racist, although the lines between the two can sometimes blur.

 

[FascistLibertarian]

Guys what does Borat have to do with this? Really.....

When someone directs a slur at you or attacks you for something like that it can piss you off.
Last month these college kids asked me mocking if I was gay "hey, are you a homosexual?" and I just about fliped out.
Iv also seen a huge homeless guy at young and bloor subway stalking around screaming "Mohamad was a faggot" and other stuff and watched myself and 50 other people do nothing but wtach him nervously out of the corner of his eyes. Im the type that would be STUPID and go up to him and be all "what you got against faggots buddy".... (which could have been really dangrous)

That shit (which is what it is, pardon my language) hurts no matter what. Slurs and words like that suck, but truely suck in situations like this where a person is verbally and nearly physically attacked for the stupid reason that they are middle eastern looking.



Stuff like this doesnt make me proud of my country.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Not to downplay or dismiss what happened, but there's a good possibilty, from the symptoms you describe, that the guy was bi-polar and off his meds.

 

[slowmode]

Not to downplay or dismiss what happened, but there's a good possibilty, from the symptoms you describe, that the guy was bi-polar and off his meds.

  I have no doubt about that, main reason why I kept my cool, I do not know the full situation at hand, why act when you dont know all the information. Bad intelligence can lead to a big disaster.

Thanks a lot guys for the replies, very intelligent responses. Unfortuently theres still people that think this way in this world.

 

[Yrys]

  I have no doubt about that, main reason why I kept my cool, I do not know the full situation at hand, why act when you dont know all the information. Bad intelligence can lead to a big disaster.

Crash (the recent one) is a movie that put that into light...

 

[the 48th regulator]

Guys what does Borat have to do with this? Really.....

When someone directs a slur at you or attacks you for something like that it can piss you off.
Last month these college kids asked me mocking if I was gay "hey, are you a homosexual?" and I just about fliped out.
Iv also seen a huge homeless guy at young and bloor subway stalking around screaming "Mohamad was a faggot" and other stuff and watched myself and 50 other people do nothing but wtach him nervously out of the corner of his eyes. Im the type that would be STUPID and go up to him and be all "what you got against faggots buddy".... (which could have been really dangrous)

That crap (which is what it is, pardon my language) hurts no matter what. Slurs and words like that suck, but truely suck in situations like this where a person is verbally and nearly physically attacked for the stupid reason that they are middle eastern looking.



Stuff like this doesnt make me proud of my country.

Are you bloody way kidding me??

Don't take this moron for being the average Canadian!

Slowmode did not succumb to some wack job, who is in need of medical help.  He exemplified the example of all Canadians, and soldiers.

slowmode made me proud to be a Canadian!

He did not retaliate, he did not act like the crazed lunatic, and did not lower himself to the douche's level.

The average Canadian does not act like that jagov, as he is mentaly disturbed.

Good on you slowmode.

As for a racist story, well I will offer one.  I don't really want to totally deride the lady I am going to talk about, as I can in a way see where she was coming from....

Around '95 or '96 there was a massed bands show at Massey hall playing. Through out the day, all the regiments were invited to have displays so that the patrons can walk around and get a feel for the history of each regiment, whose bands were playing on stage.

I was working the 48th stand, and the senior NCO.  There was a Captain there, a fella who joined the same day as I, so we were good friends.

I am in my combats, and Balmoral, sleeves rolled up doing the LCF poses.  This group of around four Blue hairs shows up marvelling a the the display and looking at the captain, and the cpl who were in kilts.  They came over to me and i began my shpeal about the modern regiment and the tours and duties we have been doing.  The leader of the pack lollies up to me, takes her glasses puts them on and goes right to my name tag;

"How do you pronounce that?"

"Tescione tess-ee-oh-nee"

"What type of a name is that?"

"I am of Italian background Ma'am, but I was born and raised here"

"And what are you doing in a Highland Regiment?  My brother Fought in the war against your People, did you know that?"

"I sure do Ma'am, but didn't you hear?  We actually won, and had the privilege to take over the Highlanders.....OW"

At this point the Captain grabs me by the neck, and steps in to take over.  My message to go for a smoke....

Take it all in stride slowmode, you did well.

PS there is a reason I am called tess, no one could spell my name!

dileas

tess

 

[Fishbone Jones]

   I have no doubt about that, main reason why I kept my cool, I do not know the full situation at hand, why act when you dont know all the information. Bad intelligence can lead to a big disaster.

Thanks a lot guys for the replies, very intelligent responses. Unfortuently theres still people that think this way in this world.

and people that call people fat, or ugly, or short, or stupid, or lazy, or skinny, or............well you get the idea. Slurs and stupidity aren't locked in on race, religion or heritage alone. And no one slur is worse than another, as one comment is too many. Shit happens, people are ignorant. Most people have more important things to do than worry what the dregs of society are up to, or what they think. Ignore them and move along, nothing to see here. Personally, I think they should be pitied.........or laughed at, depending how much I've had to drink.

 

[Greymatters]

"I sure do Ma'am, but didn't you hear?  We actually won, and had the privilege to take over the Highlanders.....OW"

Haha, nice one...

Regarding this original post, definately not someone who should be taken as a typical Canadian, and although several good guesses have been offered as to the guy's actual problem, we will certainly never know what his actual problem is/was.  What is important is that you dont succumb to such provocation, as nowadays such people are highly likely to try and sue you for any damages, despite their obviously being at fault.  If you do succumb to tempation, remember, minimum force!

 

[TCBF]

..."And what are you doing in a Highland Regiment? ...

Answer: "Well ma'am, all of the Italian-Canadian Regiments are full, and most of the Canadian Highland and Scottish Regiments  need non-Scots to keep their numbers up, as modern Canadians of Scots descent seem to be lacking in the fecundity* department, if you get my meaning.   Saaaaaaayyyy....  did you know that Idi Amin wore a kilt?  I guess you might say he was in the really Black Watch."

*  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecundity

 

[leroi]

Slowmode,

You behaved admirably and rose above the conflict with grace. Retaliating with like behaviour may have escalated the incident to violence. You are wise.

I'm glad another witness stepped in to help out. It's truly more deplorable when witnesses stand (curiously) by and do nothing.

I'm lucky and have never personally experienced anything like this but I recently bore witness to an incident of racism that occurred at my workplace, a university campus:

A young undergraduate student of Asian descent was engaged, quietly in a conversation in his mother tongue with a person who shared the same culture.  A much older graduate student of

middle-Eastern descent interrupted the two of them bellowing, "speak  f**cking English or go back to your own country." A steady stream of filth poured form this racist's mouth

against this younger student's mother, father, country of origin--indeed against this indivual's entire young being!

On the upside,  five individuals came forward as witnesses and bore testimony against the racist and an academic judiciary hearing was (later) held.

All of the witnesses were strangers to both the victim and the perpetrator of hatred.

I called the police (campus police). But, similar to your situation was the shock felt by the victim. After the incident, I sat with him for hours.

He could not believe this had happened to him, he could not believe he was living in Canada. Repeatedly, he told me this was the worst thing that had happened to him in his entire (young) life.

Words can do just as much violence as ____________ (fill in the blanks with your weapon of choice).  It tore at my heart strings and still does.

These types of experiences are soul-destroyers ; you're hurt is legitimate and valid.

Thank you for sharing.  Many indivuals would neither acknowledge nor accept the hurt they felt.

You are an amazing human being to have risen above this act of hatred.

You are a credit to the uniform you wear.

As a civilian, I possess the utmost respect for you.

Believe me when I tell you that, in the fullness of time, this wound will heal ...