Growing up an Asian in Alberta, I certainly experienced my share of racism - people called me names, pulled their eyebrows up when they saw me, etc.

Yet, I find myself often not the victim, but also the propogator of over-generalizations and racism. 

If I get cut off on the road, why do I naturally assume it's a female from HK?  Why do I assume certain ethnic groups are more frugal with their money?  or more hard working? or .... whatever.

It's easy to play the victim, but if we really want to stop racism... if we really want the Tapestry to be a truly inclusive and diverse church, it starts with us.

Wow, Toby, you want to tackle racism and the separation of church and state in one blog entry! You are brave!

I won't touch the church/state one, but the racism in Richmond one is really interesting. I am not sure what the report is referring to when it talks about "the kind of life and community that Richmond residents' value." Isn't the whole issue that older and newer residents don't seem to share much in terms of values for life and community? And that older and newer residents tend to split along racial lines? And that language is tied to race, and language is the major, but not only, barrier between these two groups of residents?

I think that the issue in Richmond is less about individual cases of racism and more about the divisions in community.

I am not educated enough on the broader issues, but on a personal level, I find life in my particular neighbourhood fairly alienating because of the language barrier as well as the cultural one. I can also take some responsibility for that, because I have concluded, based on racial generalizations, that I would not share much in terms of everyday values with most of my neighbours (mostly in terms of how to raise children, which is my major concern at this point in my life). For instance, why are there no kids playing outside?

In terms of what the Tap as a church should do, I think we are limited in our ability to bridge any gaps in community and values because we only operate in English and also because we have such a definite "style" that attracts people who have more "western values," if I may describe it that way? On an individual level, there is likely a lot more that each of us could do to bridge the gaps with our neighbours.

Hope I haven't treaded on any sensitive ground here!

I don't think we can accurately label Richmond as being very multicultural. Bicultural, perhaps, but Richmond lacks the presence of other cultures to compete with Toronto, Montreal and, heck, Vancouver, to be considered "one of the most multicultural cities in Canada".

I know that racism goes both ways when I consider my own preference for teaching in Vancouver schools over others. When the classrooms have more Asian students, I anticipate meeting students who are generally more interested in the lessons. I expect them to have parents who raised them this way. This expectation has crippled my assumptions of non-Asian classrooms. I hope I will be more open-minded before someone notices this in me. -JL