Bright Colours
While reading up on the day's posts at torontoist.com, I came across this link to an article about jazz great Oscar Peterson. He's been the target of racial slurs in Mississauga, where he calls home. Coming from a suburban town whiter than bread, I can relate. Usually, however, the racially-tinged comments came from ignorant little kids in the neighbourhood or even out of touch friends in highschool. Since moving to Toronto six years ago, I have appreciated the diversity in cultures, and was relieved that I no longer had to act more white for fear of appearing less white, while not being white at all.
Not long ago, I was riding my bike down a side street off Brock and Queen. Out of the blue, two kids around ten or twelve years old biked past with the larger one yelling "Chinatown!" at me. First of all- what decade is it? Second, where am I? And third, the kid wasn't exactly Caucasian himself. I'm always shocked when this happens, as it confirms my naivety and that of those around me.
Getting back to Oscar Peterson, do people (and by this, I mean the general public) understand how influential black culture is? Pop music as we know it today is based on blues and jazz, and pop culture continues to be molded by this continuing history. Without people like Oscar, there would be no Elvis, Beatles or Led Zeppelin - all white performers whose music is derived heavily from the old tradition of Robert Johnson and his descendents. Where would we be? The world would be a quieter place.
Really though, I shouldn't be surprised. Looking around the world, it's clear that we haven't progressed beyond our differences. We just have created a false veneer of what appears to be tolerance.
Not long ago, I was riding my bike down a side street off Brock and Queen. Out of the blue, two kids around ten or twelve years old biked past with the larger one yelling "Chinatown!" at me. First of all- what decade is it? Second, where am I? And third, the kid wasn't exactly Caucasian himself. I'm always shocked when this happens, as it confirms my naivety and that of those around me.
Getting back to Oscar Peterson, do people (and by this, I mean the general public) understand how influential black culture is? Pop music as we know it today is based on blues and jazz, and pop culture continues to be molded by this continuing history. Without people like Oscar, there would be no Elvis, Beatles or Led Zeppelin - all white performers whose music is derived heavily from the old tradition of Robert Johnson and his descendents. Where would we be? The world would be a quieter place.
Really though, I shouldn't be surprised. Looking around the world, it's clear that we haven't progressed beyond our differences. We just have created a false veneer of what appears to be tolerance.
1 Comments:
One thing I've discovered in Toronto, growing up here, is that there will always be dicks in a city this big. 'Dicks' means racists, assholes, inconsiderate people, whatever. And I've realized that there's little I can do about it. Unless, of course, I'm right there when it happens.
Quick story: I was on the bus a long time ago, and there was a (probably) drunk guy going on about jews, black people, gay people, and so on. Most people on the bus were just ignoring it - like I was - until the guy started picking out individual people on the bus and insulting this nice indian couple. Now, I'm a white, anglo-saxon male, about 6 feet tall, with brown hair. Not particularly ethnic-looking, let's say. Not really thinking, I told him to shut up. Something like "Listen, man, shut up; nobody wants to hear that." I didn't tell him he was wrong. I didn't say I disagreed. (He was, and I did). But he shut up. I was expecting a fight, to be honest, and absolutely nothing happened.
After that night, I just felt really, really sorry for people who think like that. It's pathetic. This guy was an old, embarassing drunk on a TTC bus. We were going home to our girlfriends, our parents, our friends, whatever. He was going home to nothing.
If there's any hope, it's that those kids who insulted you - and kids like them - are still kids, and they'll probably grow out of it. I sure as hell grew out of calling everyone a "fag" when I was in grade 4. And then maybe their kids will never be like that. It always gets better.
I dig the post, by the way. If you ever see something on Torontoist that you want to comment on, you're more than welcome to do it on the site (as well as here, if you want). We need more great readers like you.
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