Anti-
There is a lot of talk these days about anti-semitism and anti-Muslim feelings as a result of the current Israeli-Hamas “war” (as Israel refers to it). There are also strong feelings among those that are anti-Black, anti-indigenous, anti-Asian or anti-everything. I wonder if there isn’t an anti-white movement.
A couple of years ago I wrote a short story about discrimination that I would like to share with you here. It might be a bit of a lesson on where we might be.
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I’m Not Prejudiced
Sam Turnbull was not prejudiced. If you asked him, he would have said, “I am not prejudiced against any colour or religious group.” And Sam believed it. But nonetheless Sam was very proud of his own heritage.
Samuel Josiah Turnbull, to give him his full name was proud of the fact that his ancestry in Canada went back to the pioneering days. The first Josiah Turnbull had immigrated to Canada as a young man in 1820 and had worked for Colonel John By as a surveyor during the building of the Rideau Canal. He married the daughter of one of the canal builders and had a family of seven children, one of whom formed the family line of Sam Turnbull. Sam took his ancestry quite seriously and had traced his lineage right back to Josiah Turnbull’s parents. Sam’s wife, Karen, said she sometimes felt like an unwelcome newcomer since her family had only immigrated to Canada in 1921 in the aftermath of World War One. Sam made sure that his two children knew of their heritage in every detail. He also frequently admonished them to avoid prejudice of any type.
A couple of years earlier, a new neighbour, a recent immigrant from Britain had move into the house across the street from Sam. Their names were Charles and Penelope Beckwith. Sam was ecstatic about the new neighbours both because the couple seemed to be real English gentlepeople and because they brought wonderful stories of Britain. Sam and the new neighbour became very good friends.
Sam worked for the federal government as a middle manager. He hoped one day get into the executive SX category. But the going was slow. One day a new person came into the same department as Sam. Bobby Hall seemed a very nice and hard-working man of about mid-thirties, but Sam found it hard to tell the age of Afro-Canadians, which Bobby and his wife were. Sam had barely spoken to Bobby, but one day he came up to Bobby and asked, “Are you one of those Somali’s that have been flooding the city recently?” Bobby was taken aback and wasn’t sure how to answer this. Finally, he collected his thoughts and answered, “My parents are Canadian as am I. In fact, my family came to Canada in the late 1700s as slaves in Nova Scotia. When they were freed, they stayed in Nova Scotia. In fact, my great-great-great grandfather was one of the first Canadian born winners of the Victoria Cross when he was a gunner in the Royal Navy[1]. I came to Ottawa to go to Ottawa University and stayed after I got my master’s degree.” Sam was somewhat taken aback himself, particularly the fact that Bobby Hall’s family had been in Canada longer than his.
The house next door to Sam’s went up for sale. Sam and Karen paid very close attention to people who came to view the house. A couple from the Indian sub-continent seemed to be very interested in the house. They had a number of children. Sam could envision a strong smell of curry and spices permeating the neighbourhood. Charles seemed excited at the thought of Indian cooking saying it was a favourite in England where you could always find good food in Indian restaurants. Sam wasn’t too sure. As it transpired the couple did not buy the house and Sam was relieved. But he reminded himself, he was not prejudiced.
The couple who did buy the house next door turned out to be full-blooded Algonquin aboriginals, Vic, and Tina Proudfoot. Vic had lived off the reserve since he was a child. Tina had spent most of her life on a reserve in northern Ontario until she came south to go to Carleton University where she met Vic. They were married right after they both graduated. Sam was uncomfortable because all the stories he had heard about conditions on these reserves: run down houses; a large number of big dogs; guns and drugs; and dirty water. He wondered if this was the way aboriginal people lived in the city. He wasn’t prejudiced, he told himself, just concerned about his property value. Vic and Tina turned out to be model neighbours. Vic did a lot to fix up his house and garden and Tina kept her house spotless. Sam had nothing to worry about. Vic and Tina turned out to be very sociable and soon a significant friendship grew up between the two couples.
Sam wasn’t prejudiced but he was starting to think that there were a lot of new immigrants showing up everywhere. He didn’t know how the country was going to be able to handles them all. Were there enough jobs and were these people qualified for them? Where would they live? These immigrants were also different. They weren’t from Europe anymore. There was a new political party being talked about and Sam became interested. He liked the things the party was saying about the dangers of too many immigrants. But Sam found out the leader of the party was a French-Canadian and Sam couldn’t put up with that.
The culmination came for Sam when a family of Syrian refugees bought the house two doors down the street from Sam’s house. These were strangers who didn’t seem to know a word of English although they spoke a bit of French. Sam didn’t know a thing about them, but he was upset at their arrival in his neighbourhood. On the Saturday that the new folks were moving in, Sam was standing outside watching them. Just then, Vic came up behind Sam and asked what was going on. Sam used the occasion to launch into a tirade about these new neighbours and all of these immigrants that were pouring into the country. Vic listened patiently until Sam had finished. Vic then turned to Sam and said, “Now you know how my ancestors felt.”
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As you can see, prejudice comes in many forms and at one point or another, we may all be guilty of it. It isn’t always about terrorism and hatred.
[1] William Hall, VC. A Canadian gunner with the Royal Navy who fought in the Crimean War and the Indian Uprisings.
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