wild goose chase
Active Member
There are real differences in 'tolerance'; or better still acceptance and inclusiveness in this country than the one south of our border.
The difference is not strictly about immigration. There is clearly more 'racial' tension between 'black' and 'white' folks, the vast majority of whom, in the American context are not immigrants, in the first or second generation sense.
Lots of racial or ethnic tensions in Canada historically and now weren't related to immigrants either. Political issues involving Aboriginal people as well as the French-English divide were and are about native-born people living in Canada. Long-standing Black Canadian communities who were not composed of immigrants (eg. in Nova Scotia) also faced long-standing problems while integrating into Canadian society and still do.
Any political tensions related to immigrants (in either country or more generally) just become yet another layer of tension in addition to the pre-existing ones, to some people. If someone is going to be racist, often times they'd be that way to the native and foreign born alike, an individual saying "I was born here, I'm not an immigrant" doesn't often stop them from being targets of xenophobia.
Thus, acceptance and inclusiveness covers both acceptance of "difference" regardless of if it's different native-born groups or immigrant groups.
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