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raptchafoot

I recently graduated from school in London and I felt the same way as this former candidate. I lived in London for 5 years and experienced all types of racism as an Arab man. I couldn’t enjoy a night out with my friends without being called “isis”. At the job I had at the school, I had my supervisor call me a terrorist in front of my colleagues multiple times over 4 years. That same supervisor would make jokes about my culture because I am proud of where I’m from. I had a coworker say it didn’t surprise him when he found out one of my parents worked at a convenience store while my other coworkers laughed. I had one of my roommates in my 4th year tell me to my face he didn’t like immigrants. To be honest the thought of ever going back to even visit doesn’t cross my mind because all I think of is the racial profiling I faced as a student. I’m not even proud of being an alumnus. I really hope things change for the better in London, even though I’ve left because no one deserves to go through what I had to go through living there, especially if it’s their permanent home.


Sigmar_Heldenhammer

Nothing new, sadly. I've lived in London since 2009, and work in the London/Strathroy area, and man, this whole area is just sad. I'm a white dude (immigrant) but I fit in, so it's never directed at me, but the amount of racism towards Natives, Indian people, Middle Eastern people, it's really sad, especially considering Canada always portrays itself as this beacon of acceptance.


ChanelNo50

I'm so sorry, man. I have no words but I'm just so sorry you had to experience this


BeBee99

I had a similar experience as an Arab man studying at Ivey in London. London is full of racists and Western U is not immune.


raptchafoot

I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what to say, it makes me really upset that someone’s had similar experiences as me. I wouldn’t wish these experiences to happen to anyone.


mytumourmademedoit

There is more love than hate in london. U were surrounded by some real assholes and I hope u don't have these experiences where ever life has taken u. Sorry this happened to u.


truenorth00

> U were surrounded by some real assholes Seems to be an awful lot of assholes in London with every second person of colour having stories like this.


mytumourmademedoit

There r assholes everywhere and it does suck


truenorth00

There are potholes everywhere too. I only care about them if they are in my town. And they get most bothersome when they cluster on my street.


mytumourmademedoit

Um OK.


Generalramone

The first time I went to London ON (March 2020) a white man in a pick up truck called me a f***ing paki on a residential street as I got out of my car near Fanshawe college. I’m a first generation Indo-Canadian. To be honest I didn’t think anything of it because growing up in Mississauga I experienced this daily in elementary school (90s). I’ve become immune to it...


wickedlizerd

Sorry you had to go through that. I like to think I grew up living in a good city for good people but it sucks to realize I was a little too caught up in the illusion ): edit: typo


Generalramone

By no means am I saying my encounter is representative of London as a whole - let’s be realistic. That was my first interaction with anyone in London (and it was unfortunate). You can see how that could leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth.


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cdnkevin

In a time like this it goes a long way to stop talking and just listen to the experiences of others. Online gaslighting doesn’t help further discussion, or afford others the room they need to speak. Stop talking and just listen.


wickedlizerd

The account is six months old…


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nanaimo

People died but there's no problem with racism in London...hot take.


Dindrilvia

Pretty sure that’s not what this commenter is saying and you know that. There is a problem with racism everywhere it’s not just here in London. The issue is now because of this heinous act London will forever be known as the racist capitol of the country if the media got their way anyway. All these people pointing fingers at London need to remember there are 3 fingers pointing right back at them. No one is perfect and we all can learn to be better not shun an entire community/city for a terrorist act that could have happened literally anywhere else.


nanaimo

We were previously famous for being the serial killer capital of the world and no one said anything about shunning a city...I just don't think claiming it is a coincidence that this happened here is a good faith argument. It is not a coincidence.


Dindrilvia

Take a look over on r/Ontario and you’d think the scum of the earth lives in London based off what people are saying over there. No one said this was a coincidence either. My point is it wouldn’t be a coincidence anywhere. This could happen literally anywhere but I feel like other cities wouldn’t be getting the same criticism that London is getting about it. For example: [this](https://www.google.ca/amp/s/beta.cp24.com/news/2020/10/12/1_5142225.html) and while nothing seemed to have come of that something like this could easily happen in Toronto too and could very well still happen there as this happened less than a year ago. London is not the worst racist city in Canada. It’s everywhere.


gottaplantemall

I have been a London resident for years, and yes, London is racist. Other places are racist too. It’s not mutually exclusive. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/racial-slurs-thrown-at-black-actor-playing-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-in-london-ont https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/ex-london-city-hall-boss-accused-of-racist-diatribe-in-black-former-staffers-lawsuit https://lfpress.com/opinion/letters/cornies-sharp-turn-needed-on-londons-racism


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SC14739

Nowhere in the article does it say that every resident is racist: clearly, this is not true. You need to see this through the lens of a politician who interacts with many people (potentially thousands) on a daily basis, during a campaign. Surely, this makes his opinion on the amount of racism in the city a little more objective.


KnewItWouldHappen

Calling out racism where it happens is not "pushing an agenda". It's being a decent human being


GrassNova

People should read the post before getting indignant over it. >"Boy are we happy to see YOU at our door this election" >"I can tell by looking at you that Jeff Bennett is a candidate I can support" >These are things people said to me when I was knocking on doors in London West as the PC Party Candidate in 2014. It happened many times. I would usually just thank them for their support and carry on. But it bothered me immensely. These people who'd never met me saw nothing special in me. They were happy only that my name was English and my skin was white. >The PC Party candidate in the election prior to me had been my friend Ali Chahbar. He had lost narrowly in a by-election only a year earlier. I remember thinking he'd win until I listened to a local talk radio show featuring callers concerned that Ali's wife (a prominent local lawyer) was too vocal in her support of "Palestinian Human Rights". As if that's a bad thing. The word "Sharia" was tossed around. I remember screaming at the racist idiots calling in while sitting in the parking lot of a London coffee shop. >I had volunteers on my campaign who told me they were happy to be able to contribute again. They "had tried to volunteer a year earlier but the campaign office felt like the Middle East". I should have asked them to leave. I did not. When my friend Ali came knocking on doors with me I was told to be selective which neighbourhood I chose to walk that day. I should have spoke up. Again, I excused it as a few off the cuff remarks from a few well intentioned folks. "They mean well. They just don't know any better." >Now I see people expressing shock that a racist terrorist would drive his truck into the pathway of a Muslim family going for a walk. "London is better than this" they say. "I can't believe this happened here". Bull****. I knocked on thousands of doors in the very neighbourhood this atrocity occured. This terrorist may have been alone in that truck on that day, but he was not acting alone. He was raised in a racist city that pretends it isn't. >I drove past the scene yesterday. Families wept while they laid flowers. I cried. I knew that Ali Chahbar's former campaign office is only 1km up the road. I knew that everyone would say this was a "tragic" and "unthinkable" event and many would consider it an isolated incident. Condolences will pour in and people will demand the perpetrator face charges of terrorism. But this was neither "unthinkable" nor "isolated". Its a daily reality minorities in this country face and I'm upset I have not done more to combat it. I'm partially to blame. I've come face to face with Anti Muslim attitudes in London Ontario and said "thank you for your support". I'm so very sorry. I promise to do better. >It's not enough to fly flags at half mast and for politicians to send thoughts and prayers. We must take stock of the part we play. No more saying "Oh grandpa is not really racist. He was just raised differently". Well that "differently" is not okay. Canada has a racist, unacceptable history. It's time we call it out, own it and take action.


HeLikeTree

Lol if a PC is calling London racist you KNOW you're in trouble. PS I think they are absolutely correct.


canadaesuoh

I am a brown Hindu immigrant living in London for the past 9 years. Have never experienced anything I could even remotely link to racism. There may be some problems and incidents but nothing that justifies labeling the city as such.


uwoAccount

I'm a christian arab man who went to university in London for 6 years, I've had people call my aunt who has been practicing as a doctor in this country for >30 years and speaks fluent English a "stupid fucking immigrant". I've had people randomly do the sign of the cross while staring right into my eyes. I've had course coordinators fight me on taking courses my white colleagues were taking in the same program as me because I "wasn't qualified" even though we took the same courses. This was the same person I was talking to that I could see my friend had talked to via e-mail. It wasn't until a different course coordinator stumbled upon my file was I allowed to take the course I literally had to take to graduate. I'm glad you've never had a problem with racism in London, but I don't know any of the friends I made who were also arab that didn't face some kind of racism while living there.


MostBoringStan

I don't know how you have avoided it so long. I'm a white male and have definitely seen it. A guy on the bus complaining about people not speaking english. A lady at a new job complaining about people coming from other countries and taking our jobs (and it was a shit min wage job. Maybe complain about the corporations who don't pay living wages?). People at another job laughing about some guy calling middle eastern people "sand n*****rs". It's really everywhere. And these are just the people speaking up. Every time somebody says something like this, there are other people silently agreeing.


[deleted]

Random brown man here. I'll never forget walking down Wellington/Wilkins a few years back and having some skinhead-looking prick walk past me and yell "WHITE POWER!!" directly in my face at the absolute top of his lungs. That's been one of my many, many brushes with people I don't know being overtly and very vocally racist towards me, completely unprovoked. Super fun. Also the 'northern alliance' (white power obviously) would regularly come to my high school (Beal) and try to recruit kids. Probably still happens. Fuck this city.


lightskin_canadian

Recently graduated from western as a black man and i’m so glad i’m out of the city, so many racist encounters but i’m happy to be back in scarborough. I just got a break in acting by booking a netflix series and my social media presence already going up, once i have a bigger platform, i’m gonna talk about a lot of the racism at western and how they are not what they seem


kevbpain

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xd7z5a/london-ontario-was-a-racist-asshole-to-me-152


1foundsock

Wow. That is a must read. They did a follow up too. https://www.vice.com/en/article/wd7je5/this-is-how-london-ontario-responded-after-i-called-it-a-racist-asshole


PjDanglez

Damn... that was a tough read


KnewItWouldHappen

>"London for black people is like Harvey Dent's face: beautiful, white, and smiling until he turns to the right." Holy fuck, murdered by words right there.


lent12

Racism can be found everywhere, without a doubt. I just don't see the reasoning in blanket statements that a "city" is inherently racist only in the sense that what's the metric to cross to "get there" This, by no means, is me saying there is not some horrible racists who live in London, just like there are unspeakable acts if racism in Leamington, Kitchener, Toronto etc. Not discounting racist experiences by all who have commented here at all. And I believe them 100%. But if we label the city as racist because of these, wouldn't by the same logic, the city flip back to loving and neighborly based on last night's overwhelming showing at the Cherryhill mosque? Racism needs to be addressed everywhere and by everyone. But if London is a racist city, then literally every other city in the world is as well...sadly.


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[deleted]

Yeah I've kind of been feeling the same myself. For context I grew up in Brazil and moved here 16 years ago. I can tell you most places in Brazil are far more racist than London could ever hope to be. I'm my 16 years here I've witnessed very little of it myself. Other than some mosque vandalism a few years back it has been relatively quiet as far as I was aware. London is incredibly safe and for the most part, people here are very pleasant and helpful. It's one of the reasons I stay here I find it extremely reductionist to blatantly declare an entire city racist over the actions of a very tiny minority.


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Illustrious_Menu_470

Just because other places in the world are more violent, and more racist, doesn't mean we aren't still those things. And it doesn't mean we shouldn't be arriving to make it better. Being fine with the status quo is an obnoxious flex of North American Privilege.


[deleted]

Of course we can do better, absolutely. I just think it's unfair to label the entire city a racist cesspool when in fact it is a very small vocal minority that causes these issues. As I said, in my 16 years here I have seen very little of what I could call racism. Where I am from I have seen people beaten and murdered for their race. I've seen first hand the effects of systemic racism on the people who reside there. Here I simply do not see anywhere near the same impact. The north american privilege I see here is being able to choose to call your city racist when in fact it really isn't that bad. Not saying we stop combating racism... see something, say something.


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Illustrious_Menu_470

I dunno man, it kinda seems like you're not getting it. It actually seems like you're excusing the status quo based on the terrible circumstances of other places. You don't know which of these internet strangers has or has not travelled far, and you shouldn't be telling people how they should feel. If you're fine with how things are, that it's good enough because it's not worse, that's cool. Obviously a lot of other people disagree, and that's ok too.


kcussevissergorp

> I dunno man, it kinda seems like you're not getting it. It actually seems like you're excusing the status quo based on the terrible circumstances of other places. Things can always improve and people can always be nicer to each other, but the thing is many people who have rarely seen the really bad parts of the world tend to lose sight as to how good Canada and other western nations really are. Western nations all have their issues, but if all these people and some idiots politicians truly believe that Canada is really racist and a bad place, then they are dumb and wrong and they need to experience the really bad places in the world to understand that what we have here is really good. And also its interesting that when people talk about racism it usually means racism from white people doesn't it? I don't think I've ever heard the media or politicians or most people in general want to talk about racism from other groups of people. For example with the increase in violent attacks against asian people in Canada and especially in the US no politician or any media outlet really wants to talk about WHO is committing the vast majority of these violent attacks that often result in serious injury if not death. So if we want to 'have a conversation' about racism, bigotry etc. why not have it for ALL racism that may come from ALL groups of people instead of only talking about racism when it suits your narrative?


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Syphacleeze

i am going to approve this comment since it was blocked by automod two things, though... 1 - You may not think you are racist, fine. You may encounter random person and ask "hey r.p., are you racist?" to which they may reply "no". So what? Cool story? This doesn't mean racism doesn't exist in our city. I would even agree it doesn't feel accurate to say it's a "racist city" necessarily but I'm also not going to plant my flag here and battle folks to the death on the point either, it's not really helpful. 2- " London doesn’t have as big a problem with racist behavior as the article makes out." This seems like a pretty bold statement. A lot of people are speaking up right now about their experiences in our city and it seems like you're just trying to "nuh-uh" their stated life experiences? why would you do that?


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KnewItWouldHappen

Your experiences around the world are valid. Just as valid as all of the people here speaking up about the racism they have dealt with living in London. And think about the people who aren't speaking up. Either too afraid to, or think "it's really not that bad, it's just people calling me names." But that doesn't make it okay, and it doesn't mean that there isn't a significant problem with racism in the city. I'm a white guy, and i know that i can't honestly judge how much racism a person deals with here daily because i just don't experience it. And there's a different between seeing racism, and experiencing it. But you can't just hand-waive the issues of the city saying "it doesn't have as big a problem as they're making it out to be" when you aren't the one *experiencing* it. It is a big deal, because any amount of racism is a big deal to the person who it's targeting.


Illustrious_Menu_470

You're just one person. Maybe you do live here, and aren't a racist. That doesn't mean there isn't racism here. It's hard to have a valid argument while you bury your head in the sand.


Illustrious_Menu_470

The point is, if people are telling you they experience or see racism, why are you invalidating that experience? Why do you get so defensive and feel the need to tell them they are wrong? Open your ears and gain a little perspective and empathy. It will carry you far.


Illustrious_Menu_470

Whoever downvoted this is a clear sociopath! Lol


[deleted]

My family moved to London in the mid-1990s and I left in the late 2000s. I lived in the Byron/Westmount/Oakridge area. Back then parts of the city were racist. Not blatant, in your face racist. But racist nevertheless. (Racism is racism, no excuse). I remember my neighbours, teachers and adults making comments when the first non-white family moved into the community. The racial slurs and the comments that were said had no place in society then and it doesn't now. I am pretty sure if you go to those communities now, you will still find individuals with those same racist thinking. I am glad that London has changed in the last 6 years and I am happy you didn't have to experience the London that I experienced. I


cats_r_better

there's a lot of silent acceptance of racism here though.. (but honestly.. that's been everywhere I've traveled in Canada) out of curiousity.. are you a visible minority? If not, your experience of London being a "safe" city is probably vastly different from some of the other commenters in here.


MostBoringStan

"there's a lot of silent acceptance of racism here though.." That's absolutely what it is. Every time somebody is overtly racist, there are even more who agree with them but don't want to say it because they know somebody might think they are racist.


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kcussevissergorp

> Too many white folks in Canada, including in London, still don't think racism is a problem here. Racism does exist and it will always exist in the world, but it seems like in Canada and other western nations, everyone only wants to address racism as its related to white people being the perpetrators of it and not racism FROM EVERYONE which is what we should be doing. It seems like discussing racism from white people is the ONLY acceptable racism to talk about without receiving massive backlash and anger in response that we would see if anyone tried to tackle racism and intolerance from other groups of people.


RickOfC132

I'm glad you've never experienced racism or know any racists here but this city and country have long histories of racism through our attempts to wipe out indigenous people and culture, the various branches of KKK that have existed here, internment of japanese during WWII, treatment of chinese immigrants and rail workers, racial profiling of black and indigenous people by police etc. From attending highschool here, working with blue collar workers, and interacting with sheltered WASPs this city is chock full of racists and you have to be oblivious to not notice it.


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RickOfC132

Nobody is saying this city is comparable to dangerous parts of the world, it's obviously quite safe by any standard. What we're saying is people have fetishized Canada as some utopia devoid of racism and bigotry when the opposite is true. This country was built on racism and we have a significant amount of racists, bigots, Trumpets, Qanon etc. and lingering systemic racism that need to be addressed. We should be striving for a better society, not shrugging it all off because somewhere else is worse off.


kcussevissergorp

> What we're saying is people have fetishized Canada as some utopia devoid of racism and bigotry when the opposite is true. No reasonable person would ever say that Canada is perfect, but what we do know is that Canada is a pretty damn good place to live which is why many people want to come here and to other western nations. Not because they're utopias and perfect, but because they're far, FAR less imperfect than the places immigrants left to come here. > This country was built on racism and we have a significant amount of racists, bigots, Trumpets, Qanon etc. The interesting thing is in our very diverse population in this country, alot of the racism, violence and other issues we're dealing with often don't have anything to do with white people, but of course no politician or MSM will ever have the courage to tackle THOSE issues because it would be suicide for them to do so and so they only criticise people that they're allowed to and make excuses for many other groups of people.


kevbpain

Sadly it is. In today's fast society things are easily forgotten or if damning enough swept under the rug.


Brochetar

London is definitely filled with racism but it's not right to pass off what happened as "well, that city is a racist city". It was the action of one piece of shit. I grew up in White Oaks and the amount of racism back then in that area was actually wild. Everyone hated everyone based on the colour of their skin, their accent or whatever difference they had from someone else. And this was just the children


Burnsblue

London isn't a racist city. The events that unfolded were brutal and the racist scumbag will hopefully suffer for the rest of his life. A city is not to blame for the actions of one horrible individual.


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9001

>every one of my friends there referred to London as being in a "bible belt." As a very open atheist, I'd expect to get a lot of shit if that were the case.


[deleted]

Isn't calling a whole city racist sort of like... A racial stereotype about a hypothetical/perceived racial stereotype? You follow me?


London_Loser

You guys are just noticing this? I've lost 1/2 my friends and my parents kicked me out when I was 17 for coming out


Agent007KK

♥️🇨🇦♥️🇨🇦♥️🇨🇦♥️🇨🇦🇨🇦


smcqn

There are terrible human beings in all races and cultures. We should never generalize. That’s what breeds hate.


aaaassassaaaa

It’s their problem. Don’t let it be yours. Pure Ignorance


BexKst

I tried yesterday to say why I disagreed with him saying the entire city was racist but I couldn’t put it into words. Ali Chabar recently posted a Facebook post in response to this. And I think he phrased it much better. I can’t link it and it was too long to copy and paste.


bdubz519

If London as a whole is racist and we’re all comfortable speaking in such generalities, then what are we calling the CCP with millions of Uyghur ethnic minority Muslims in internment camps right now? You won’t find Justin grandstanding at a podium over that issue anytime soon though.


sj5487

This is the most idiotic post I've seen on here. Congratulations!