BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Black man in Vancouver feels ‘racially profiled’ by some group
An African-Canadian who lives in Vancouver's West End feels echoes of the prejudice that killed Trayvon Martin in this city. But only from certain groups.
In light of the racial profiling that led to the killing of black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, a Vancouver man has brought to my attention the fear he feels from some cohorts of Metro Vancouver residents.
Luma Toumany is an African-Canadian who lives in the West End, where he is raising his daughter. He speaks four languages and works for a major company. He is a Muslim married to a Christian woman.
Here is how Toumany describes his recent experiences in Stanley Park and other areas of the city:
I am writing you this email hoping to start a discussion about the topic of racial profiling, which unfortunately occurs daily in Vancouver.When I decided to move from Japan to Canada two years ago, I was drawn to this country because of its multicultural diversity, tolerance and the values that make it known around the world. After many discussions, my wife and I decided to start our Canadian life in Vancouver.Highly educated, with decent jobs, Vancouver seemed the best place to be to raise our daughter so that she could experience life with others, learn from them and be part of a promising generation.Unfortunately, after taking a few walks around the city and visiting a couple of stores, I quickly realized that the population here can be classified into two groups.One group believes dearly in the values of this country, treats everyone else with respect and dignity.And another group consists of those who pretend to be Canadian but do not believe for one second in the values of this country.This latter group seem to choose to take advantage of what the fathers of this nation stood for. But they live by the same values as their ancestors; values that are prone to division, disrespect and evil toward anyone who looks different from them.
George Zimmerman, an Hispanic American, was acquitted in the murder of the black teenager Trayvor Martin. The case has again raised racial tensions in the U.S. But what about Canada?Since I have been here in Vancouver, I have been treated with great respect by most white Canadians, but with suspicion by many (NOT ALL) others — especially Asians, eastern Europeans (including Russians) and Arabs.Whether running on the Stanley Park seawall or walking back home from work along Robson St, I often realize that most women from the latter groups observe extra care and grab their hand bags tightly when they see me coming.My biggest shock came one day while walking back after a run on the Stanley Park Seawall. An Asian girl, about 14, quickly separated from her three white friends and went closer to protect their bags when she saw me coming. The message was clear.Many in this city tend to think that a dark-skinned person or black walking in Vancouver can only be a potential thief.Some children of immigrants are sent to schools where tolerance and respect are taught. But they choose to live and treat others by a hateful manner that does not belong to this country. It’s very disappointing.When it comes to visiting an Asian store like K-mart or TNT, I stopped doing that more than a year ago, for the simple reason that as soon as I enter those stores their security become focused on me all the way.I am very sure that there are many others subjected to the same treatment. My only hope is that this kind of behaviour will not drive someone over the edge and result in what happened in the US – the Trayvon Martin case.The case of Trayvon is a perfect example of how things can quickly go wrong with devastating consequences.In my case, I choose to ignore racially demeaning attitudes because I am an adult with a family and understand the pain that my reaction to an offensive gesture, even rightly, can cause to my family. But I am very sure that someone someday won’t take it
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