The Daily Poo-phet: where you read about the latest ta-poos!

Ms. Veekid La Maa has always been against racism.  Being Asian herself, she has had her share of being labelled as “cheap” and “always on a hunt for a bargain” just because she was Filipino or worse, an “idiot” because she was somebody who wasn’t born or raised in Canada. 

Prior to immigrating in Canada, she has never experienced racism before. It never actually occurred to her that racism still existed, especially in the city where she lives where the majority of the population is from Asia, South America, etc. and the minority of the population is, surprisingly, caucasian.  Most of the people that live here claim to be proud that their city is multi-cultural and diverse. Are they really? 

One time, while riding the skytrain, Ms. La Maa overheard some women from her native country talking in hush tones in her native language about a person of another race sitting two seats away from them.  Apparently, that particular person was dressed inappropriately for someone of their age.  One of the women blurted out, “It’s just because she’s (insert race here) that she dresses like that.”

 Or, when Ms. La Maa and her husband got in to an accident, one of her friends asked her “Were they (insert race here)?”  With an eyebrow raised, Ms. La Maa told her friend that they weren’t.  Her friend was surprised and said, “Well, everyone knows (insert race here) are bad drivers.”

Excuse me?!  So, if you’re (insert race here), you’re immediately a bad driver or if you’re (insert race here), you’re immediately…well, pick an adjective.

Why is it that people need to label other people just because they come from a culture different than that of theirs? Why are we caught up with stereotypes or generalizations? To feel superior? We laugh at other people because they pronounce words differently than we do, or if they have a funny accent. We roll our eyes or make faces when we see people from other cultures eat food that we normally wouldn’t eat. Does it matter? Does it affect you directly? If not, then leave it alone.

Having different cultures make us unique. If everybody had the same values, the same traditions, wouldn’t it be monotonous?  There would be nothing more to discover, nothing more to learn about.

Moreover, do you not care that you’re hurting other people’s feelings? Yeah, they may not understand it because they don’t speak your language, or that you’re talking in hush tones so that they won’t hear but what about the people that can understand it? The people that can hear it? They’re affected by it too.  

So, think…the next time you want to blurt out something bad about someone of a different race, think about how you would feel when you hear someone say something bad about you.