Source: The Toronto Star.com
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Is "Canadian" the new black? Perhaps that is if you're a racist speaking in code.
Recent revelations that the term "Canadian" is being used to replace racist names for black people have got a Texas assistant district attorney into trouble and have left others wondering what exactly it means to be labelled a Canadian in the American south.
Long derogated as weak-kneed liberals with lax laws and funny monopoly money, Canadians have carried a negative connotation in certain regions of America but not as a replacement for the N-word.
Earlier this week a columnist with the Houston Chronicle uncovered an email from Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent who, in a congratulatory note to a junior prosecutor, used the word "Canadians" to describe blacks on a jury.
Trent wrote of the prosecutor in a 2003 email: "He overcame a subversively good defence by Matt Hennessey that had some Canadians on the jury feeling sorry for the defendant and forced them to do the right thing."
Trent's email remained unchallenged by colleagues who received the email, despite there being no actual Canadians on the jury.
But when Trent's office came under scrutiny this month over an unrelated incident, the email was unearthed, leaving Trent open to accusations of bigotry.
Those accusations are grounded in allegations that the use of "Canadians" was in keeping with the definition listed on an online racial slurs database that defines "Canadian" as a masked replacement for the N-word.
In his own defence, Trent said he honestly thought there had been Canadians on the jury and did not understand the negative connotation of the word.
Others, including the columnist with the Houston Chronicle initially thought the reference to Canadians may have been a misspelling of Californians, who are themselves seen to espouse many of the same liberal values as Canadians.
Despite the controversy, Henry Wells, a Texan and media relations officer with the Canadian Consulate General in Dallas, says he has never heard the term used in a racial manner
...
>=(
That's a really, really, REAAAALLLLLLYYY random word to use as a racist slur.
There does'nt seem to be a reason for using it that way. O_o
I say we ezcensor Canada to say KANEEEDAAA. Okay, seriously, WTF? Canadian as a racist term? >_< Damn, it just keeps getting weirder... and stupider.
lol America
Quote:
lol the south
fixd
Hey Canadians, waz up?
But probably only because we have three Canadians born-and-raised and they're all extremely awkward =
Quote:
lol the south
fixd
Am I the only person that finds that exchange, and its presence in this particular topic to be overflowing with ripe juicy irony?
as a future part-time canadian, i shall take offence to this! *huff* oo
Wait, you're a future, part-time black person?
Oh, wait, nevermind. Forget I said anything. <_
-Nytloc Regallus Lightkeeper
She's getting a tan!
Duuuuuhhhhhh.... 
That's some serious tanning :O.
LOL Canadian xD That makes me laugh. South FTL
Kramer: HE'S A CANADIAN! HE'S A CANADIAN! A CANADIAN! LOOK THERE'S A CANADIAN!
I just don't like Canadians in general... *fold arms* ...
...
I KID! I kid. I love Canadians... ... for me to poop on. =3
But seriously, at first I thought this was going to turn into how now America hates Canadians more than just being "normally racists" towards black people and other races. I was sure I was going to see the blame being placed on Green Day.
That's what I get for assuming, though. =3
Quote:
lol the south
fixd
Am I the only person that finds that exchange, and its presence in this particular topic to be overflowing with ripe juicy irony?
No. It is juicy!
Though I was more offended by the ridiculousness of the word than any racism.
*Ahem* Hey guys we're sorry! You can secede now. Please?
Americans can be stupid. Look, just call them black people. I don't mind being called white, so why would they mind being called black? It's what you are, durr. no more of this african american crap, because im sure that no "african american" is actually from africa. you're either american or you're not, and americans are usually anything from albino to really dark brown.
Deal with it and stop being racist, thats all. it's as bad as fighting because someone else isnt the same religion. AND LEAVE CANADA ALONE! americans are just jealous of canada, thats all.
It's nice to dream isn't it Fex?
~Tobe
DON'T WANNA BE A CANADIAN IDIOT
WON'T FIGURE OUT THE TEMPERATURE IN CELCIUS
SEE THE MAP THEY'RE HOVERIN RIGHT OVER US
TELL YOU THE TRUTH IT MAKES ME KINDA NERVOUS
I don't understand skin racism at all. But then again, I'm from Switzerland. There, the racism usually tends to go against people from other countries, like Albania and such. I bet most of you people don't understand that.
I agree that racism is a bad thing. But many people are still just afraid of people who are different, with a different cultural background. Especially if they've had some bad experiences with them.
A friend of my sister's for example: she got cut across the face with a knife for looking a Turkish fellow into the eye for too long - because she wasn't supposed to do that, since she's a woman. But there you are. In Switzerland it's more the differences between the cultures that cause the problems.
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There, the racism usually tends to go against people from other countries, like Albania and such. I bet most of you people don't understand that.
I'm English and I live in the nationalist end of Wales. It might not be blanket xenophobia or the sort of cultural tension you're describing, but I've been the minority in nothing more than language or having the wrong birthplace often enough.
Sheesh. I didn't know that Wales was so bad. And I never was at the receiving end of racism (not even when I went to South Africa - even though in certain places you get stared at a lot for being white).
I feel for you!
