Learning about racism and white privilege
Last night we had planned to go to the local seafood place on the river, but when we got there the servers wouldn't make eye contact. Someone recently told me a story about a black person who was travelling and he always knew who was racist because they couldn't look him in the eye. I can't remember who told me, but it stuck with me.
We walked to the back of the restaurant to where the cash was and the waitress said "No, no too busy" and kept walking. Then a second server came out and said "No, no, no. Full - too busy" As we turned to go another family of four who were Vietnamese were given a table. There were probably about 8-10 empty tables.
As we left I mentioned to the kids that this was a good lesson, and we should appreciate how it feels to be excluded because of the colour of our skin, and how no one should ever feel this way. The kids responded by saying how multicultural Toronto is though, and it's not the same.
We had a great talk about this, because for us being white it is much better in Toronto, but it's not the case for everyone. There are still many people who are treated differently and badly because of their skin colour, religion, or where they are from. Mark made a good point about a group of black youth who were asked to pay up front in a restaurant in Toronto before they would be served recently. They sued the establishment and won before it even went to court. I hadn't heard about that one.
We also spoke about Brian Sinclair who I had just learned about at a conference last week. He was an Indigenous man who needed medical treatment in Winnipeg, and the hospital staff had assumed he was a drunk "sleeping it off" in the waiting room instead of helping him. He waited 34 hours and died in the emergency waiting room. Crazy. We just can't make assumptions based on race.
We felt pretty sad not being able to be seated or served at this restaurant but some people deal with this constantly. Microaggressions, I also learned a lot about last week. Here's a funny video example of one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crAv5ttax2I
This is an amazing trip, and I love that my white sons are learning what it's like to be a minority. I think everyone should try it, and really feel what it's like so that we can treat each other better.
We ended up eating a few doors down at a fancier looking place. It was okay - I had those yummy Cau Lau noodles again. Though not as good as the night before.
When we walked by the Seafood place later that night on our way home, all the empty tables were full and not one person looked like a tourist. We are all learning on this trip, and somethings you can't teach in school.
We walked to the back of the restaurant to where the cash was and the waitress said "No, no too busy" and kept walking. Then a second server came out and said "No, no, no. Full - too busy" As we turned to go another family of four who were Vietnamese were given a table. There were probably about 8-10 empty tables.
As we left I mentioned to the kids that this was a good lesson, and we should appreciate how it feels to be excluded because of the colour of our skin, and how no one should ever feel this way. The kids responded by saying how multicultural Toronto is though, and it's not the same.
We had a great talk about this, because for us being white it is much better in Toronto, but it's not the case for everyone. There are still many people who are treated differently and badly because of their skin colour, religion, or where they are from. Mark made a good point about a group of black youth who were asked to pay up front in a restaurant in Toronto before they would be served recently. They sued the establishment and won before it even went to court. I hadn't heard about that one.
We also spoke about Brian Sinclair who I had just learned about at a conference last week. He was an Indigenous man who needed medical treatment in Winnipeg, and the hospital staff had assumed he was a drunk "sleeping it off" in the waiting room instead of helping him. He waited 34 hours and died in the emergency waiting room. Crazy. We just can't make assumptions based on race.
We felt pretty sad not being able to be seated or served at this restaurant but some people deal with this constantly. Microaggressions, I also learned a lot about last week. Here's a funny video example of one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crAv5ttax2I
This is an amazing trip, and I love that my white sons are learning what it's like to be a minority. I think everyone should try it, and really feel what it's like so that we can treat each other better.
We ended up eating a few doors down at a fancier looking place. It was okay - I had those yummy Cau Lau noodles again. Though not as good as the night before.
When we walked by the Seafood place later that night on our way home, all the empty tables were full and not one person looked like a tourist. We are all learning on this trip, and somethings you can't teach in school.
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