Racism...about that...
This week things got ugly in Charlottesville, NC, less ugly in Boston and Quebec City, and only slightly ugly in Vancouver. All 3 cities had alt-right, white supremacist rallies, allegedly spurred by the removal of confederate and/or colonialist monuments (so then why the shouts against Jews?), and immigration. These protests and counter-protests got me thinking about being white, about being an egalitarian white woman who "prides" herself on appreciating the diversity and uniqueness of each human she meets, regardless of where they were born or the colour of their skin. But is that true? Am I really that? Having been born in 1962, in a decidedly WASP neighbourhood, my first recollection of "others" were the Italian new immigrant family that moved next door. While I played with Anna-Maria and her brother Joe, I recall my step-father saying what seemed like mean things about their father, but as a 6 year old, had no grid for standing up to him or up for ot