Editor:
Racism is alive and well in Tsawwassen.
Recently I was waiting at the light on Highway 17 to turn into our wonderful town. Beside me, on their way to the ferries, were two bikers in full regalia. At first glance, I thought they were your typical Harley bikers with their chapter vests on, but then I realized they were Sikhs with turbans, their vests declaring they were from the Sikh Motorcycle Club.
It made me smile - another embracing icon of our multicultural society. It didn't even occur to me they might be breaking helmet laws.
The man behind me was also smiling, or rather, he was chuckling to himself. I wouldn't have thought twice about that either, except that as we began to move, this silver-haired hotshot driving an expensive black BMW or Audi got the attention of the driver behind the Sikh men, pointed at the bikers, laughed and shook his head with contempt.
Obviously, Mr. Hotshot was not embracing multiculturalism like I was. Can you imagine if us "white" folks were mocked in an Indian restaurant by the "regulars" because we can enjoy a spicy curry like the best of them?
It saddens me when people in our community make sweeping statements about South Asians. Have we not got beyond all of this?
I have an Afro-American friend from Texas who once told me he prefers the racism in the U.S. because it is visible. It can be confronted, whereas in Canada, racists are cowards, making these statements behind the backs of our brethren or under their hate-filled breaths.
I hope Mr. Hotshot and all the other smug bigots (whether Caucasian or from any other ethnic group) out there read this letter and feel some shame, because in case you have forgotten, this country was built on immigrants.
Sikhs, Chinese and all kinds of nationalities have been settling in Canada since its conception and it's well overdue that we get past the idea this is a "white man's country."
Perhaps the next time you see an ethnic group embracing North America's culture, you'll smile, not out of disdain, but out of delight and pride that we live in a country that all kinds of people like to call their own.
Michel Mey
