Things they don't tell you about Bidesh: Part 3

A lot of us wonder before going abroad whether we will face racism; I thought that too before coming to Canada. The thought itself is a sign that we consider our race somewhat eligible for discrimination, but that discussion is for another time.
If you ask anybody in the land of happier dreams, they would tell you that racism is dead. They will convincingly make this statement with an expression of disgust on their faces. Racism is a disgusting medieval concept; it is about time we throw it out the window. But the catch here is that by racism, most people just refer to the black-white debacle. And under veiled prejudices, the brown-skinned get discriminated.
I personally have not faced extreme racism but you can always tell that subconsciously, foreigners treat you as if you are inferior to them. I know this because once, a drunk in the bus actually asked my Bangladeshi friend to leave this “goddamn country”. Another time at a circus, a woman became so uncomfortable because we sat next to her that she actually got up and walked away, that too while pinching her nose because she couldn't stand our stench.
Things like that happen now and then, especially in the suburbs where the residential areas are usually segregated. All the Jews stay in one area and all the Muslims stay in another and so on. One racial group feeling uncomfortable with other racial groups -- it is just like in the stone-age when one tribe would not mix with other tribes. You have to understand that Caucasians are not used to the smell of masala or “curry” as they call it, which we apparently smell like to them. Similarly, we Bangladeshis are racist too; we hold stereotypes that Jews are always too clever and Caucasians are generally unhygienic because they don't use water after going to toilet and of course, “Paki der theke durey theko”.

Who really make me angry are people who fail to see that humans are victims of bias and tread on earth as if they are archangels of purity. These people are the ones who pump the life into the heart of downtown, who are too educated to be racists at all. Their eyes glisten with egalitarian hope but when standing next to a brown person in a restaurant washroom, they will clutch their purses tightly so that the brown person does not run away with it. In fact, they probably think that these brown people should not be in the washroom in the first place because how can they even afford breakfast at this restaurant? Still, they probably will order tap water instead of mineral water. These are not really things I just assume they think. I actually overheard some Caucasians say these while we were waiting in line in front of a breakfast place. But if you ask them if they think they are racists, they will deny it to your face.

An Indian guy once wrote on my university's confession page that he got rejected by girls at least 10 times because of his skin colour. I laughed a lot seeing this, but it's kind of a tragic truth. If you look brown, not only will you have a tough time in the dating world, nobody will even look at you twice when walking down the street. Interestingly, people don't usually see this as racism. There were so many women commenting on the confession page post that the girls who rejected the Indian guy must be so shallow and what not but you know what? If this Indian dude goes up to the women who commented on the post, they too will reject the poor guy. Because let's face it, the average South Asian is not considered “attractive” to the Western eye.
Talks of a utopian world without racism are all pretty unrealistic. People are always weird about things that are unfamiliar. If there is anything we should start doing right away, we should start embracing our differences. I would rather have a white person admit that they are a little biased and make an effort to understand my culture rather than claiming to be not racist at all and yet treating me like an alien with odd cultural habits.