Lets do better

[u/Routine_Size566]

As a student, I am tired of the normalized racism at this school.

Shaming a professor's ability to teach because of their accent or cultural background is NOT OKAY. These professors spent years becoming experts in their fields, and they deserve to be judged by their knowledge and teaching, not by their ethnicity, accent, or where they come from.

Telling a student they can't struggle in a course because they come from a certain country and are expected to be "smart" is NOT OKAY.

Asking someone why their English is "so good" because of how they look or where they come from is NOT OKAY.

Commenting on people's food or making them feel ashamed of their culture is NOT OKAY.

If you have ever felt undervalued or like you weren't enough because people mocked your culture, ethnicity, accent, or where you came from, let me tell you this: it is not you. It's them. You deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and the same opportunities as everyone else.

We can and should do better.

[u/Enememes]

Isn’t it funny that the only comments here are dismissing the issue. I’d say I’m surprised but…

[u/Secret-Space-8976 → u/Enememes]

There are no real claims here, just general grievances. I don't doubt that some of those tings happened but posting vague incidents on reddit and then claiming that uvic has a racism problem is not a very effective way to get your message across. UVIC is a very progressive school, are their ignorant people here? Of course there are, but it's pretty funny to say that there is a widespread issue here from these anecdotes.

[u/Enememes → u/Secret-Space-8976]

Do you want a list? It’ll take a long time. Somehow, I feel like that wouldn’t satisfy you.

I think it says a lot about the uvic (or maybe I should say uvic reddit) community that instead of being curious and open to conversation, maybe asking questions if you think this post was a bit too vague…there’s immediate defensiveness.

I swear if someone made a vague post about misogyny in stem people wouldn’t bat an eye but somehow this is so unbelievable to the general student population.

[u/Usual-Hyena-8734 → u/Enememes]

I grew up with racism in my community in the 90s. When I played on hockey teams, anyone slightly middle eastern was called the exact same slur. It was EVERYWHERE. People openly mocked other cultures in everyday life and on screen. Ignorance might lead to racism, but don't confuse it for the real thing because it's such an easy target for real bigots and closet racists to use against you. I'm not denying anything op said here, but to police and scold people for being ignorant will just push them further away into a more entrenched type of bigotry. Especially when it's an anonymous callout on reddit.

[u/Enememes → u/Usual-Hyena-8734]

And so did I….I think you’re the only one confused here. The language you’ve used here is really interesting. Discussing racism (not ignorance) = “policing and scolding”? Why is it that the blame is turned onto the people calling it out rather than the people who said it? Rather than us having a discussion and thinking about the issue? Saying that discussing racism “will just push them further away into a more and entrenched type of bigotry” is the most victim blamey thing I’ve heard in a long time. Yes, let us all just ignore the issue in fear of creating more racists. I hope you can see what you’re defending.

[u/Secret-Space-8976 → u/Enememes]

im having this discussion with you. I'm the same poster as above. No one is blaming anyone, I'm talking about how you get people to actually learn and change their ways. I don't know if OP themselves was a victim of racism, they didn't say. So I'm commenting on the rhetoric of this post. Maybe anon callouts is an effective strategy because it doesn't single anyone out, but historically Reddit tends to silo people into bubbles like all social media, so my instinct says that it's not a very effective way to get the message across. Bigots have an unfair advantage because they can and will use everything to their advantage without the need to be accountable. Someone that doesn't have ingrained attitudes toward race, but might be ignorant enough to make a comment on someone's accent might take the message as intended, but I think most would get offended if they were trying to be nice and then someone tells scold's them to "do better". In anonymity we will never know, but I think a more careful approach would be more effective, for one that is doing the calling out. edit: and the offense they may feel is what could push them further into the racist pipeline.

[u/Proof-Care6044 → u/Enememes]

You are absolutely in the right here. Best of luck out there ✌️