Let’s celebrate our City’s racial racist diversity.
The UGLY Chinese Canadian loves honesty.
Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight wrote an interesting article yesterday, “Racism is alive and well in Vancouver municipal politics“. I agree with Charlie. I’ll post my thoughts later…
Here’ a portion of Charlie’s article:
Racism is alive and well in Vancouver municipal politics
November 16, 2008
Why is it that a candidate of South Asian descent always attracts fewer votes in Vancouver municipal elections than other members of his or her party?
The only possible explanation is racism when it happens again and again and again.
Yesterday, Vision Vancouver’s only council candidate of South Asian descent, Kashmir Dhaliwal, came 15th.
The next worst performance by a Vision candidate was Geoff Meggs’s ninth-place showing, almost 5,000 votes higher than Dhaliwal, the well-regarded president of the Khalsa Diwan Society.
Vision’s only park-board candidate of South Asian descent, Raj Hundal, was elected, but he came more than 6,000 votes behind the next lowest Vision candidate, Sarah Blyth.
Hundal is extremely well-educated and worked as a political aide to former NDP MP Penny Priddy. In other words, he’s no slouch at politics.
COPE’s only school-board candidate of South Asian descent, Alvin Singh, came 2,227 votes behind the next lowest COPE school-board candidate, Bill Bargeman.
Singh, a brilliant young politician, has been referred to as the “South Asian Spencer Herbert” inside the Straight newsroom because he’s such an articulate dynamo. But apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the voters.
What I’m trying to say is that Dhaliwal, Hundal, and Singh were all very credible candidates, and they all came last on their respective slates.
The only explanation is that thousands of voters who otherwise voted for the Vision slate chose not to include one or all of them because their last names didn’t correspond with their “vision” of who should be serving on council, the park board, and school board.
It doesn’t stop there. The NPA’s only council candidate of South Asian descent, Daljit Singh Sidhu, was last among NPA candidates, 4,516 votes behind the next lowest NPA council candidate, Sean Bickerton.
For Sidhu, long-time president of the Punjabi Market Association, it was a case of deja vu. He came last on the NPA slate in 1993. Like Dhaliwal this year, he was the only member of his team not to get elected to council that year.
This year, the NPA’s only park-board candidate of South Asian descent, Naresh Shukla, came last among NPA candidates—5,779 votes behind the next-lowest NPA park commissioner, Sharon Urton.
Face it: Urton and Shukla are not well-known, so the only explanation for such a large discrepancy is racism, particularly when people look at the broader pattern.
There was a similar story at the school-board level. The NPA’s only candidate of South Asian descent, Lakhbir Singh, trailed the next-lowest ranking NPA candidate, Margit Nance, by 1,355 votes.
In 2004, I wrote a cover story about the debate over wards called “Shred the System“. I researched the history of candidates with South Asian descent in recent Vancouver municipal elections.
[...]
Here is one of those chain emails I received the other day. I find it disturbing and much of it was baseless yet it being spread like wildfire. I have replied to the person who sent it to me with some choice words. We will see what kind of so called friend he is if he responds.
“Our National Anthem – at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
Please read and forward to as many people you can think of – thank you
WE ARE CANADIANS
Bruce Allen is on the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Committee and new Canadians (specifically Hindi’s/Indian’s) want him fired for his recent comments outlined below:
I am sorry, but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Hindi – enough is enough.
Nowhere or at no other time in our Nation’s history, did they sing it in Italian, Japanese, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German, Portuguese, Greek, or any other language because of immigration.
It was written in English, adapted into French, and should be sung word for word the way it was written.
The news broadcasts even gave the Hindi version translation which was not even close to our
National Anthem.
I am not sorry if this offends anyone, this is MY COUNTRY – IF IT IS YOUR COUNTRY, SPEAK UP – please pass this along.
I am not against immigration – just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a
place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past – and LONG LIVE CANADA!’
It’s time we all get behind Bruce Allen, and scrap this Political Correctness crap. His comments were anything but racist, but there are far too many overly sensitive ‘New Canadians’ that are trying to change everything we hold dear.
ARE WE PART OF THE PROBLEM ??? Think about this: If you don’t want to forward this for fear of offending someone, will we still be the Country of Choice and still be CANADA if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries who have come to live in CANADA because it is the Country of Choice??????
Think about it!
IMMIGRANTS, NOT CANADIANS, MUST ADAPT.
It is Time for CANADA to speak up. If you agree? pass this along; If you don’t agree? delete it and reap the ill wind because of your complacency!”
This is called Democratic Racism…a new term in the english language.
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I don’t where the information comes from but I don’t recall Bruce Allen talking about anyone demanding to have the anthem sung in Hindi. I don’t totally disagree with Allen’s comments but he sure is using a big brush to paint all immigrants (new and past).
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Charlie Smith’s article is very well research and a good read.
Not many voters are well informed, and some fall back on their own experience to guide them along their decision making process. The BC Rail scandal, the UD’s “I do not speak French” comedy, are a few memory joggers.
Still on the subject of well educated, articulate people and ‘racism’, I wonder if anyone remember a Victor Wong, who seems to have evaporated in to thin air. Surprisingly, Jenny Kwan now has a successful career in provincial politics. Hehe, I thought VW is more intelligent.
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Actually, I am having trouble understanding Charlie Smith’s conclusions that “racism is alive and well in Vancouver municipal politics”. Who are the racists who, if, I have understood Charlie correctly, were responsible for candidates of “South Asian descent” not winning many votes? I understand that over half the population of Vancouver are “visible minorities”, with a full 30% being of Chinese descent. So is this a case of South Asians being singled out for exclusion by all non-South Asians? In the privacy of the voting booth, people usually vote FOR a candidate, not AGAINST someone. What is Charlie Smith’s remedy for racism as he perceives it? Some kind of affirmative action voting rules?
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