So, here is the thing. Much to the chagrin of folks who are anything but naturally brown, Brampton is know derogatorily as "BROWNTOWN", an inference to the huge South Asian community that has set up shop in this community.
It used to be called "The Flower City of Canada", but I guess by the time I got here, that had changed.
First, me: Why did I choose Brampton?
We were coming to a new country to settle down our roots, and it was without doubt a very intimidating thing. So like most people,you seek comfort in familiarity, and the family friends we stayed with initially, were supposed to be my emotional back up plan. But that story is for another day.
Despite the endless "PATEL" stores, selling every conceivable item, I found the South Asian community (fondly called Desi's), rather lacking in many aspects.
Coming from the United Arab Emirates, which is predominantly expat with the majority being from the sub continent, it's interesting to note that there are a good 810 HINDI radio FM channels, not counting the ones in regional languages (whoever listens to those).
So there I am fresh off my boat asking for the Hindi FM channels and our hosts tune into some sad ass rickety crap also known as"SENIOR CITIZEN TUNES".
WTF!
Seriously this is it? You're kidding me, no? AM? AM!
What is that? Is it like those phones you had to stick your finger in and dial. This is Canada...YES? The 21st century?
Well, yes to all above things, but horrifically that was to be the only source of indian music on the airwaves. I do not know what's worse, the quality of sound or their RJ's, who are 75, if they are a day younger.
But even more interesting is our beloved newspaper, delivered to your home, thrice a week, with all due respect seems a tad racist.
Recently an article about an immigrant goes like this 'When
Sumeet Sood emigrated from India with his young family a few years ago,
the existence of Brampton’s South Asian community factored heavily into
their decision to settle here'. Fair enough so far.
But the paragraph which really got me riled up was uttered from the horse's mouth.
Mr.Sumeet Sood, whether he was giddy from his 15 minutes of fame, or just dumb as two planks said: "I only heard about
it, and now I’ve actually seen it,” he said. “When I came here, I
thought, ‘There’s no need to speak English.’ You can survive here
without speaking English.”
I am brown, it got bees in my bonnet. Its therefore only natural that the white folks will only point at that being the stereo typical BROWN person.( i.e: smells of curry, lives off benefits, and doesn't bloody bother to learn the language or customs of the country they now call home).
I call the THE BRAMPTON GUARDIAN, racist because they knew fully well, that printing such inane statements would ruffle the feathers of the Caucasian community.
For me its equivalent to printing an article on a Muslim and portraying his narrow minded fundamentalist views. Because that's the view the world has of Muslims today, and instead of seeking out the educated, cultured Muslim, who views Islam in a totally different light, the media continues to portray Muslims as bloodthirsty savages. We are not all bloody ACHMED .
Of course the media is not to blame, because thanks to the stereotypes, the rest of the community gets a bad name.
I know of two such stereotypical families who cant speak English, yet have been in this country a good 20 years at least.
My question at this juncture is not why, but how the heck did these people get in? And I am not saying that to be mean or nasty, I am asking a genuine question.
When we applied for immigration, since the age of 18, we had to submit every document under the sun: birth certificates, health records, educational degrees, all previous employment records, police clearance reports to name just the tip of the list.
Never mind the huge sum of money that had to be coughed up, we had to disclose everything, which we did. We took the English proficiency test (IELTS), in which we had to score above 75%.
Other than being probed by an alien; we had to give blood, have x-rays taken and pee in a cup to prove that we weren't riddled with diseases.
I don't mind any of that, because it got us here, and that was our goal. To make this country home, and be a part of it.
So, it really annoys me off when I get to read this nonsense from people who just reinforce the BROWN person stereotype, or the ones who get their free "get out of jail" pass, and even get to collect $200.
