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EuterVanWasser · 10-20-2013, 08:15 AM

OK.. First off, I'm about as whitebread Canadian as it gets.

I love the multi-culturalism here in BC and several other parts of Vancouver; in fact, I wouldn't want it any other way. I grew up in Surrey, and even 20 years ago my group of buddies comprised of whities and brown dudes. Today, my wife is an asian immigrant from KL, and we have contributed two more mixed kids to the growing legion of halfies in Van(g)couver.

So; here is my take on the OPs query. Is Vancouver's residential segregation rooted in discrimination. It's a great question, but my answer is no.

I understand discourse occurs with frequency between ethnic groups - it has gone on since the beginning of time, and always will; the bottom line IMO; people regard any form of 'difference' with skepticism and fear. I don't see this as intentional, and without me trying to sound like I know something about the human brain, to me it's an evolutionary trait that contributed to our survival.

For me, I always imagine a reverse situation where I for some reason had to leave Canada and move to Beijing. The first thing I would do when I landed would be to seek out a cohort or similar background, value, religion, language and situate myself near that cohort to help assimilate in, ease the transition, and give me some of the comforts of my heritage.

To me, residential segregation is driven by choice, and is certainly not a trait limited to Vancouver. There must be a China Town, or a Little Italy in every major city in North America, and we should celebrate this.

10-20-2013, 08:15 AM	#16
EuterVanWasser Need my Daily Fix of RS Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Burnaby Posts: 299 Thanked 294 Times in 99 Posts Failed 11 Times in 7 Posts	OK.. First off, I'm about as whitebread Canadian as it gets. I love the multi-culturalism here in BC and several other parts of Vancouver; in fact, I wouldn't want it any other way. I grew up in Surrey, and even 20 years ago my group of buddies comprised of whities and brown dudes. Today, my wife is an asian immigrant from KL, and we have contributed two more mixed kids to the growing legion of halfies in Van(g)couver. So; here is my take on the OPs query. Is Vancouver's residential segregation rooted in discrimination. It's a great question, but my answer is no. I understand discourse occurs with frequency between ethnic groups - it has gone on since the beginning of time, and always will; the bottom line IMO; people regard any form of 'difference' with skepticism and fear. I don't see this as intentional, and without me trying to sound like I know something about the human brain, to me it's an evolutionary trait that contributed to our survival. For me, I always imagine a reverse situation where I for some reason had to leave Canada and move to Beijing. The first thing I would do when I landed would be to seek out a cohort or similar background, value, religion, language and situate myself near that cohort to help assimilate in, ease the transition, and give me some of the comforts of my heritage. To me, residential segregation is driven by choice, and is certainly not a trait limited to Vancouver. There must be a China Town, or a Little Italy in every major city in North America, and we should celebrate this.