why can't we all just get along?

one of the more difficult aspects of our life in montreal has been that many people here seem to think, talk, and act differently about race than what we're used to. given the ethnic mix of our family, ethnic relations and racism are always relevant topics, as discussed in a previous post. it remains an on-going issue for the girls in a number of the settings in which they find themselves, and it always seems to be in the news — to wit:

• two orthodox jewish schools have been firebombed in the past couple of years.

• a muslim girls' school in montreal was vandalized.

• one provincial-level politician recently called asians "slant eyes." though there have been numerous complaints about the remark (notably from asians), he continues to defend it and refuses to apologize. one of his rivals recently said that quebec should quit bending over backwards to accommodate minorities.

• in a story that was reported internationally, a montreal elementary school had to hire guards after a filipino woman claimed that her son was rebuked by a lunch monitor for the way he ate. the school's excuse: "it had nothing to do with the traditional filipino manner of eating, but bad manners."

• a small town in quebec published a new code of conduct for immigrants, stereotyping a number of immigrant people groups. it banned kirpans and head scarves except on halloween, and asserted that women can drive and write cheques but cannot be stoned to death (!).
  

• a bar in longueuil had a policy of refusing service to black people because they "hurt business." recently, the quebec courts ordered them to pay damages to two would-be-customers who were turned away. the owner's response? "that's a lot of money for what i did; i didn't kill anyone."

some quebecers claim that immigrants and other minorities cry racism even when it's not the case; they're probably right, at least some of the time. but one has to wonder, with all of this smoke, if there isn't a fire somewhere…