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A new mixed-raced generation is transforming the city: Will Toronto be the world’s first post-racial metropolis?

A new mixed-raced generation is transforming the city: Will Toronto be the world’s first post-racial metropolis?

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I used to be the only biracial kid in the room. Now, my exponentially expanding cohort promises a future where everyone is mixed.
By Nicholas Hune-Brown | Photography by Kourosh Keshiri | Interviews by Jasmine Budak

Mixe Me | By Nicholas Hune-Brown
Click on the image for 10 interviews with mixed-race Toronto children

Last fall, I was in Amsterdam with my parents and sister on a family trip, our first in more than a decade. Because travelling with your family as an adult can be taxing on everyone involved, we had agreed we would split up in galleries, culturally enrich ourselves independently, and then reconvene later to resume fighting about how to read the map. I was in a dimly lit hall looking at a painting of yet another apple-cheeked peasant when my younger sister, Julia, tugged at my sleeve. “Mixie,” she whispered, gesturing down the hall.

“Mixie” is a sibling word, a term my sister and I adopted to describe people like ourselves—those indeterminately ethnic people whom, if you have an expert eye and a particular interest in these things, you can spot from across a crowded room. We used the word because as kids we didn’t know another one. By high school, it was a badge of honour, a term we would insist on when asked the unavoidable “Where are you from?” question that every mixed-race person is subjected to the moment a conversation with a new acquaintance reaches the very minimum level of familiarity. For the record, my current answer, at 30 years old, is: “My mom’s Chinese, but born in Canada, and my dad’s a white guy from England.” If I’m peeved for some reason—if the question comes too early or with too much “I have to ask” eagerness—the answer is “Toronto” followed by a dull stare.

At some point, spotting mixies became a kind of sport for us. “Mixie baby,” Julia would hiss, chin-nodding toward some racially ambiguous kid in a stroller at Christie Pits Park. “Mixie,” I’d say, the moment Kristin Kreuk—the super-attractive but heartbreakingly boring Canadian star of Smallville—appeared on the television.

We pointed out others because…well, it’s hard to say why, exactly. Because we secretly longed to make a silent connection with people with vaguely comparable racial experiences? Because of some ingrained tribalism that made us seek out the genetically similar? Or maybe because, back in early-1990s Toronto, mixed-race people were rare enough that they were worth pointing out, the same way you might point out a cardinal flickering through the trees or an original Volkswagen Beetle.

My sister and I have mostly stopped whispering “mixie” at one another in crowded areas. It’s dawned on us that pointing out the race of passersby might be offensive. And in 2013, mixed-race Torontonians have become almost commonplace. At Lord Lansdowne, my elementary school at College and Spadina, I was the only mixed-race kid in my grade. Today, the school is thick with mixies bearing features from all over the map.

According to the 2006 census, 7.1 per cent of GTA marriages were interracial. In a city of immigrants, that number will rise exponentially over the coming years. In less than two decades, Statistics Canada predicts that 63 per cent of Torontonians will belong to racialized minorities, the current term for those of us who are a shade other than white. More than half of second-generation visible minority immigrants who are married have partners outside their race; by the third generation, it’s 69 per cent. Those couples are having kids and those kids will one day have kids of their own, marrying across racial lines and producing a myriad of mixie babies.

In the gallery in Amsterdam, I followed my sister across the room to a painting of some 17th-century merchant and his family. I looked closely at the wife. Dark hair, pursed lips, and something unmistakable around the eyes. The plaque explained it: Pieter Cnoll with his Eurasian wife, Cornelia van Nieuwenrode, the daughter of a Dutch merchant and his Japanese concubine. A mixie. Perhaps the earliest one I’d ever seen.

If you’re a certain type of mixed-race person, you don’t look for your tribe in the faces of people over a certain age—after all, how much mixing really went on in Toronto bedrooms in the 1940s? I’d never spotted my arrangement of features in a senior citizen on the streets of Toronto, let alone in an oil painting in a national museum. For a moment, though, I took a little pleasure in imagining a future in which art galleries and magazines and television shows were filled with mixies. It’s a future that, if it happens anywhere, will start in Toronto.

Historically, mixing the races was a sin and then a crime and then, after years of slow progress, merely a terrible thing to do to an innocent child who would be forever torn between two worlds.

This last period was surprisingly long-lived. In the 1860s, a French anthropologist argued that mixed-race people, like mules, would forever be sterile and miserable. Theories by people such as Charles Davenport, a leading, early-20th-century advocate of eugenics in America, posited that multi­racials suffered from emotional and mental problems. There were studies by sociologists and psychologists well into the 1980s claiming that biracial individuals were inevitably confused, anxious and poorly adjusted. Multi­racialism was seen as a pathology.

Crossing racial boundaries could result in awful consequences, in Canada as much as other places. In 1930, 75 hooded members of the Klu Klux Klan caravanned from Hamilton to Oakville to prevent a young white woman from marrying her black fiancé, burning crosses with the indulgence of local law enforcement. In 1939, 18-year-old Velma Demerson was deemed “incorrigible” and jailed after taking a Chinese lover.

The first big Canadian examination of what it meant to be mixed was the book Black Berry, Sweet Juice by Lawrence Hill, the journalist and novelist best known for The Book of Negroes. Published in 2001, Black Berry, Sweet Juice is part memoir about growing up the son of a black father and a white mother in Don Mills in the 1960s, and part survey of other biracial Canadians.

For Hill, growing up black and white was a puzzling and painful process, trying to sort out an identity at a time when the options available to a brown-skinned man in lily-white Don Mills were limited. Hill says he’s always thought of himself as black, though he’s not sure he had much choice. “When I was a boy, I suppose I could have walked around telling people, ‘I’m not black. I’ve got one black parent and one white parent, and I consider myself biracial,’ ” he writes, “although any person who felt negatively disposed toward black people would hardly have been kinder to me as a result of this self-definition.”

Well into the 1980s, psychologists claimed that biracial individuals were inevitably confused, anxious and poorly adjusted. Multiracialism was seen as a pathology

Little more than a decade later, Black Berry, Sweet Juice feels like a relic of another time. This isn’t to say that the difficulties and anxiety Lawrence Hill wrote about have disappeared, particularly if you’re part black, which remains fraught with a specific set of complications. But many things have changed, and drastically. The Toronto that Hill and his generation grew up in was overwhelmingly white. The Hills were the only black family in their suburban neighbourhood, just a bus ride away from my mother and the rest of the Hunes, as far as they knew the only Chinese family in theirs. My mother casually says things that sound like hyperbole but are literal truth, like: “I was the only Chinese hippie and your aunt was the only Chinese divorcee.” For a mixed-race person in 1960s Toronto, there was little chance of blending into the background.

For today’s mixies, growing up multiracial has meant inner debates about which parent to identify with, how to explain one’s back­ground, and coping with the urge to blend in. Rema Tavares, a half-Jamaican 30-year-old with curly hair and light brown skin, says her looks have provoked strange responses in people. “I’ve had someone say to me, ‘Don’t say you’re black because you don’t have to be. You can get away with it!’ ” She was raised in a small town outside Ottawa and gradually moved to bigger and bigger cities. “I hated being the only person of colour on the bus in my hometown,” she told me. Another mixed-race woman, Alia Ziesman, grew up in Oakville and was so ashamed of her mother, an ethnically Indian woman from Trinidad, that she refused to walk on the same side of the street as her. Ziesman and Tavares and everyone else I spoke to agree that it is a pleasure to be in a city like Toronto today—a place where you’re guaranteed not to be the only coloured face on a city bus.

I feel my mixie-ness most acutely when I leave the city. When travelling through Latin America, I am constantly referred to as Jackie Chan, who is apparently the world’s most famous Asian. For a few years, I played in an indie rock band that toured across the country. A rock show anywhere is a conspicuously white event, but a rock show in Lethbridge or Fredericton is perhaps the purest white experience you can have without joining some CSIS-monitored fringe group. In these places, it feels like there’s little opportunity for you to explain the subtle intricacies of your background. Against such a white backdrop, I am pretty obviously Chinese, but when my sister travelled in China she was branded a gweilo westerner.

Returning to Toronto always comes with a palpable sense of relief. There are relatively few places in the world where a mixed-race person can walk around and be treated with such welcome indifference.

In recent years, mixed-race people have gone from a minor curiosity to the subject of a humming academic discipline. Ethnic studies departments have opened for the first time, driven in part by the ever-increasing number of mixed-race students on campus.

Minelle Mahtani, a U of T associate professor, is one of the pre-eminent Canadian authorities in the field, and has just written a book on multiraciality in Canada. Mahtani has long, dark hair, a toothy smile and a collection of features that are impossible to place on a map. When she was growing up in Thornhill, people would guess at her background without ever hitting on the actual mix, Iranian and Indian. “As a kid, I was one of the few minorities in my neighbourhood, and there was pressure to acclimatize to whiteness” she says. When I met her in a café near U of T in December, she had recently come back from the second Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference at DePaul University in Chicago, a four-day exploration of race and racial boundaries that also acts as a place for mixed-race academics from across North America to hang out and share nerdy in-jokes about the successful 1967 challenge to Virginia’s anti-miscegenation laws.

The Chicago conference included panels on mixed-race children’s literature and multiracial representation in museums. Academics with geographically specific interests could learn about the historical mixed-race populations of the Carolinas, Virginia and Appalachia, or sit in on a panel called “Historical and Media Representations of Mixed Race in Japan.”

Mahtani led a round-table discussion about the future of mixed-race theory in Canada, which addressed such subjects as mixed characters in African-Canadian literature and the continuing impact of Canada’s history of colonization.

Instead of being seen as tragic individuals, the mixies of today are being talked about in a far more romantic light. Mixed-race people are portrayed as the harbingers of a utopian future in which “race,” that petty construct, ceases to exist and we all live in harmony—beautiful and content in our exotic, beige-ish glory. Some studies have made the dubious claim that mixed-race people are biologically more attractive, turning those old eugenics-based theories on their head: the same “hybrid vigour” that creates a good sorghum crop apparently also produces healthy, symmetrical beauties like Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves.

There’s a basis for some of this optimism: the 2006 Canadian census showed that interracial pairings are on their way up, growing at a much faster rate than same-race marriages. As a group, mixed-race couples were young and urban and tended to be more highly educated: one in three people in mixed-race relationships had a university degree, versus just one in five people in non-mixed unions.

In the U.S., the Pew Research Center published a study on intermarriage based on the 2010 census that showed similar trends. Marriage across racial lines had doubled in 30 years, and the numbers around “acceptance” were striking. In 1986, only a third of Americans thought intermarriage was acceptable for everyone. Today, 63 per cent of Americans say it “would be fine” with them if a member of their family married someone outside their race. The study also showed that Asian-white newlywed couples tended to have higher earnings than any other pairing, including white-white or Asian-Asian pairs.

Both studies—along with the election of U.S. president Barack Obama, the world’s most famous mixie—prompted a flurry of media reports and articles hypothesizing that the increase in mixed-race couplings would usher in a new era of equality. The fact that Asian-white pairings were so successful was touted as the beginning of a “post-racial elite.”

The increase in mixed marriages, the Globe and Mail hypothesized, was evidence that “multiculturalism is working in Canada because mixed unions—and biracial children—break down barriers on perhaps the most personal of levels.” It’s tempting to dub the many new mixies, say, the Drake Generation—an idealized cohort of Torontonians who move fluidly through different identities and cultures. If you believe the hype, mixies promise a utopian post-racial future—the city’s motto, “Diversity Our Strength,” in human form.

The reality of being mixed is far more complicated. The Pew study didn’t reveal a world where skin colour is irrelevant: a newlywed Hispanic-white couple will earn more than the average Hispanic couple, yes, but less than the average white couple. The same is true of black-white pairings. What’s also clear is that mixing doesn’t happen evenly. The success of Asian-white couples like my parents can be attributed to a number of things, but the fact that immigration laws often hand-pick the wealthiest, most educated, most outward-looking Asians is surely part of it. It’s easy to imagine a future in which upwardly mobile Asians and whites mix more frequently, while other minorities are left out of a trendy mixed-race future. Marriage across racial lines is increasingly possible, but mixing across class has always been tricky. And class, it goes without saying, remains stubbornly tied to skin colour.

In 2000, Americans were allowed for the first time to mark themselves as more than one race on the official census. The new option came after years of lobbying by organizations such as Project RACE (Reclassify All Children Equally), a group led by the white mother of a mixed-race child. It was a victory of sorts, the kind of change that at last allows a young multiracial person to recognize all sides of his or her identity without being forced to choose camps. Some critics, however, saw it as an effort by white mothers to avoid having their child identified as “black” on the census. The celebration of a fashionable new mixed-race generation can threaten to leave other people behind. Proclaiming your “mixed-race” identity can be a way to opt out of being black or First Nations or Chinese and lay claim to a slightly higher status—“mixed race,” an exotic, desirable new identity unencumbered by generations of racial baggage.

Today, when I think clearly and honestly about my childhood mixie pride, it wasn’t just about celebrating my snowflake-unique cultural identity. There was something ugly there. To insist on being seen as mixed race allowed me to avoid being categorized as Asian. The unfair stereotype of the Chinese guy—some geeky, sexless striver who probably spent his spare time learning rote math at the Kumon on Bathurst Street—was so distasteful that I backpedalled away from it as fast as possible, never mind that none of my Chinese friends were anything like that. Back then, my answer to the “Where are you from?” question was a flurry of rhetorical attempts to distance myself from the heritage that read so obviously on my features: “I was born in Toronto and I’m fourth-generation Chinese on my mom’s side,” I would say. “She actually grew up in Don Mills and hardly even speaks Chinese. My British dad, now he’s the one who’s an immigrant.”

Kids don’t do this because they’re innately racist. They do it because there are real social advantages that come when you edge yourself a little closer to whiteness—advantages we don’t like to think about too much as adults but that are blindingly obvious to a 12-year-old.

Last September, my sister’s college friend Amanda Brewer started her first year teaching at a school in Regent Park. Brewer is the daughter of a black father and a white mother and has loose curly hair and copper skin. About once a month, an older man will casually start speaking to her in Portuguese, assuming she’s Brazilian.

The Grade 7 and 8 kids she teaches are from all over the place, many of them multiracial. Today’s 12-year-olds are keenly aware of racial subtleties that would likely be invisible to people of my mom’s generation—different shades, parental influences, subtle mixes. Living in an era of mixed races doesn’t mean the obliteration of race—it means the creation of whole new complex categories. But it also means, one hopes, that these categories cease to hold so much significance.

The second week of school, one of the girls asked Brewer a variation of the “Where are you from” question.

“Who’s white, your mom?” the student asked. “I bet it’s your mom.”

“You’re right,” Brewer told her. “My mom’s white.”

“I knew it,” the girl said, not aggressively, just matter-of-factly.

To this girl, it was clear that Brewer was culturally white. That meant her dominant parent, which to this 12-year-old meant her mother, must be white, too.

“I was amazed that she picked up on that,” says Brewer. “My students know way more about different cultures than anyone I knew growing up.” They see differences in their classmates, clock them, then take them in stride. Race isn’t invisible, but hopefully it’s just one of a litany of characteristics that inform how kids choose their friends, their dates and—who knows?—the people with whom they’ll one day have kids of their own.

Living in an era of mixed race doesn’t mean the obliteration of race—it means the creation of whole new complex categories

Is it too late to say I don’t like talking about race? It makes me uncomfortable, as it does so many other Canadians. There’s a distinctly Canadian feeling that, if we all act halfway decent and just ignore it, the race thing will more or less sort itself out. There’s also a sense, even in conscientiously liberal circles, that those who natter on about racism or “identity politics” are, if not whiners, exactly, then definitely a little tiresome. I feel it, believe me. Of all the many privileges that come with whiteness, being able to ignore race entirely is one of the most precious.

The promise of mixed-race people like my sister and me, successful enough and unencumbered by too many racial hang-ups, is an end to all that nattering. We are post-racial in the superficial sense that my friends and I—sons and daughters of Iranians and Malagasies and Russians and even Windsorites—can go out to eat dim sum or jerk chicken and make jokes about race that are actually jokes about racists. This is a lovely part of Toronto, one of the things I miss most when I’m away.

I love, too, that I have two worlds to draw on instead of one; I know what to order at dim sum restaurants and also how to make mince pies; I get Christmas and Chinese New Year’s. At times, I even like the “Where are you from?” question and the places it can lead—to conversations about my grandmother the Chinese opera singer escaping down the Yangtze, or my father’s defence of the cuisine of the British Isles. “My mother was the only Chinese hippie,” I say proudly. “This isn’t hyperbole, it’s the literal truth!”

In the future, Torontonians will produce babies in combinations the world has never seen—Yoruba-Polish-Malaysians and Estonian-Filipino-Crees popping out of hospitals across the GTA, toddling around messing with people’s neat conceptions of what race means.

A mixed-race city isn’t the same as a post-racial city, but it’s an improvement. It wasn’t so long ago, after all, that a mixed-race baby was a pariah, not cause for smug back patting. The future of Toronto is mixie.

Topics: Americans Barack Obama Canada Canadian Chinese country culture Dutch family Features Filipino First Nations Halle Berry high school immigrants Immigration Indian Jamaican Japanese Keanu Reeves Long Reads marriage Media Memoir multiculturalism parents Portuguese Russian Statistics Canada Toronto

298 thoughts on “A new mixed-raced generation is transforming the city: Will Toronto be the world’s first post-racial metropolis?”

  1. In SouthAmerica, everybody is mixed: white with native aboriginal, white with black, native and black, white and black…etc, etc, ..In the end, everybody is mixed, come on!

    I met a Japanese lady married to an Egyptian man: the result: kids looked like native SouthAmericans.
    We’re all just humans. Forget the “mixie” thing…

  2. I have to add another perspective to the conversation. I am a Canadian born Chinese in my late twenties and feel that I have had grown up in 2 worlds…the Canadian one where I feel patriotically and fiercely proud to be Canadian, but as I get older I feel increasingly connected to and interested in my heritage and proud of my family history. If we become a racial melting pot then we need to ask how do we preserve our cultural heritage. I’m not saying we should only promote same race unions but need to look at both sides of the coin. My husband is a Canadian born Korean. We are both Asian but speak to each other in English. And I can’t help but wonder about our children. They will look completely Asian. But will they be as we are? Will they care about their heritage? Or will they become ambiguously “Canadian”? I think regardless we need to hold onto our heritage in some way. We may make it our own but I think in some ways that’s what Canada has always celebrated.

  3. I like the idea that the most important factor about race with young people, mixed or not, is what kind of food maybe found by visiting so-and-so’s house.

  5. Canada and the northern hemisphere in general is 30 years late to this. Try Lima… try Sao Paulo… try Brisbane… those were post-racial cities a generation ago.

  6. DO not present anywhere on this planet as a happy cornucopia of pples. Racism is a human problem that exists among all pple of different backgrounds and Canada is no exception! I am an ethnic person and i can tell you that i have met pple who have proudly declared that they hang only with those from their backgrounds or those who carry a superiority complex because they are of certain backgrounds or are not of certain backgrounds, those pple I’d like to issue a reminder that they too had to immigrate to Countries enriched by pple who were not ethnic and to seek a better life elsewhere! To those who speak of places like Brazil like they are racial paradises, spare me the delusions, I have heard of the hostilities shown to blacks in Brazil by those of fairer complexions, etc. And this is all across South/Central America.

  7. as a half-east indian, half-british 33 year old, i really identified with this article. true there may be places on earth that are more open and accepting to mixed-race people, i think toronto is one of the (if not THE) the most culturally diverse and tolerant cities on the planet. the mixes of cultures we see in canada are like nowhere else- middle eastern, east asian, south asian, iranian, african, south american, first nations, metis etc. etc.
    i married an egyptian and our daughter is a beautiful mix of all of our cultures :)

  8. I found it somewhat odd that of all the kids with an East Asian background featured in the image gallery, not one had an East Asian father (this was obvious by the last names). I’m sure the ratio of mixed East Asian kids with Asian mothers as compared to Asian fathers is not 1:0 in Toronto.

  9. I found it somewhat odd that of all the kids with an East Asian background featured in the image gallery, not one had an East Asian father.

  10. Being a Chinese Canadian male, I do understand there is a stigma associated with Asian men in general. Studies have proven Asian males to be the least desirable during interracial dating. This has a lot to do with how Asian men are perceived in the West; usually either nerdy bookworms or punky gang members. If marriage was based purely on social economical factors, Asian men would be near the top of the list, but this isn’t the case. Look up C.N. Le’s study on this topic. Asian men do not get a fair shake when it comes to interracial dating.

  11. This could have simply been just a photo gallery of the kids and the interviews and it would have made its point so much more effectively than the pointless, boring, overly-long soliloquay. TL is really reaching its breaking point when it comes to absolutely useless first-person features that tell us nothing (and this issue has yet another, even worse, example by the worst offender of the genre, good old Leah M!). Should have cancelled subscription ages ago — thanks for the reminder.

  12. I liked this, I’m a melting pot myself, but my daughter looks Asian and I recall her in Costco with her Dad and I swear the 2 old ladies thought she must’ve been kidnapped (the horror!!). I arrived in time to hear the trailing end of my hubby saying..and yes the Mom is the Asian looking one.(and I’m mixed myself) .big sigh of relief on those old ladies faces LOL, but really being mixed is so last century :), it’s not a big deal.

  13. This is ridiculous. Yes, South America has a large mixed population. It also has a large caste system (that was enforced by the law instead of culture for most of the continent’s colonial history, and that stuff lingers) based on one’s proximity to whiteness.

  14. maybe it also has to do with the intense fetishization of east asian women. Which doesn’t bode well for young mixed asian women – burdened with all the fetishes of being asian, female and mixed-race

  15. ‘Ambiguously “Canadian”‘? Oh, the horror. What does that even mean? If they’re born to two Canadian-born parents, what else would they be? You can certainly teach them about their family history, but after a certain number of generations people will naturally feel more connected to where they’re born and where their parents were born than a distant ancestry that has no relation to their lives other than genetics. It’s natural and has been happening for thousands of years.

  19. I love being mixed! I was born and raised in Trinidad and all my life my parents insisted were Indian. Yah I look very Indian… but not quite..there’s something else there…and I’d argue with my parents. Before he passed away my Grandpa revealed the mix on his side..so altogether I am mixed with: Indian & maybe Bangladeshi through my Mum + Nepalese, Indian, Native Caribbean (ie Carib/Arawak/other), African & Spanish through my Dad. I was elated to discover the truth, and proud to self-identify as being mixed. I love it when people can see the black showing though I do not have definitive African features. Yay I’m a mixie! My Dad’s side has further mixed and my cousins and 2nd cousins are/will be mixed with: Portuguese; Guyanese Indian; Phillipino; Croatian; Peruvian; White American.

  20. While I agree that there certainly appears to be an East Asian female fetish going on with some non-asian males. However, I don’t know, but highly doubt, if that fetish will translate into a long term commitment such as marriage, or even longer term with offspring. I definitely think Asia male stigma is more at play. Even some of my East Asian female friends refuse to date Asian guys. This definitely is coming from the stigma, and they might also be afraid how some of the old school Asian males treat their spouses in a domestic relationship at home, having seen it first hand.

  21. I can understand why it would be discussed, but I don’t understand why it even matters… Just as the action of your parents do not define you, neither should their heritage… I’m not so much mixed compared to some people here, but the fact remains that although I identify myself as a 100% Iranian, I do not act, think or live like one… I do not speak like one, I’ve even been told I do not look like one because I do not “dress” like an Iranian…

    So my point is, regardless of where you’re from and what you look like, you are a person, a human being, and that is all that should matter. It’s who you ARE that matters, what YOU believe and like to be…

    People need to stop labelling, whether that label is social, racial or any other form there of… There are good and bad people from all over the world, so at the end of the day, it really does not matter where you’re from or what you look like! :) Know someone first, then decide who they are. Asking someone where they’re from simply means you are looking to dump a whole bunch of pre-assumptions about someone in order to make you think you know them better! To which I say : “pppffffffffff”!

  22. Hey Craptor, interesting perspective. I’m black and totally open to dating anyone, but I’ve found Asian guys to be the least likely to approach me. I’ve heard other friends say that as well. Maybe there’s some miscommunication going on?

  23. Just because a city has a large mxed-race population, doesn’t mean that city is post-racial. The fact that we still break these people down into the ‘parts’ that constitute them is evidence of that. Race is still an extremely important signifier in our everyday lives, and racism is still very much alive and well. We have a very long way to go.

  25. Really… Could this writer not find anything more interesting to write about. So what if these kids are mixed. Im mixed. Super boring story and all your doing is reminding people to talk about someones race or skin colour. Please folks do you job, write about interesting ideas, motivating, sad, compelling…. But colour again. it’s been done to death.

  28. I have quite a mixed background myself, but this was because of historic colonization in the country of my parents, so my mixture is a formula of one of types of people there – a type of homogeneity. However, I’m not even Anglo-saxon, but this Anglo factor of Canada, of Toronto, is very important and we must protect it as well, otherwise it wouldn’t be Canada anymore. My family has seen drastic changes in Toronto, make that Southern Ontario, in less than 40 years. We have to be careful here, because for years, the American media have been making race stories like this as well. This is proof that there is an agenda by the 1% to create modern mixing to get rid of anglos and caucasians/European descents, and to create more divisions and confusions (see the UK, Germany, EU countries and mass migration problem there), especially in places like Canada where ethnicity is a big part of a person and is highlighted. If there was mass modern migration to Asian countries, that would be seen as unfair and racist. Why can they be their own countries?
    It’s too bad for the 1% and big business, because when all those tiring years where they pushed for “diversity”, “equality” and “tolerance”, having Anglos and Europeans and European culture around IS a part of that, because they are people too, our people. The roots of western countries and their systems come from Europeans, in our case Anglo-Saxons, with French in Quebec and some of the Maritimes. Fair is fair, and we must allow Canada to just be Canada. A part of Canada and being a true Canadian today is to know the issues, the problems and injustices, and to stand up for Canada.

  29. Not so fast. That reason is outdated. We’ve been seeing situations, or ideas, where the later generations were actually more fiercely into their ethnic culture because of two factors: 1) the next generations find that something is missing or needed in their life, that being a farther and later generation makes them actually want to discover or preserve their ethnicity and background because they know their background is and will never be a natural people in whatever country (ie. Canada, USA); 2) the more the mass immigration or more “minorities” everywhere means there is a lack of Canadian examples or Canadian (anglo) content around, and with how Canada these days favours certain countries for immigrants (don’t be in denial here), there becomes so many of an ethnicity group(s) that it’s like being in that actual group’s country, so they naturally become associated heavily with their own ethnic group, many of them recent to Canada.

  30. A lot of this is from historic colonization, so that mixture is a type of person there, a type of homogeneity. That’s how it is in Latin American countries, ie. Spanish with native background/mixture (called Mestizo), is a normal mixture there, almost like they are an ethnicity group. And in Latin America and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies, there is a caste system where status and levels depend on the proximity to being pure European. Ie. a purer Spanish descent, would marry someone like them, a native would be with a native, this is how it is.

  31. Torap, it’s not surprising at all that you’d least likely be approached by an East Asian guy. Traditionally (sadly), Asians have discriminated/looked down on ethnicities of darker complexions. Even amongst the Asian countries, countries with lighter complexions (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese) for the most part have looked down on their South East Asian neighbours. While the Asians that are born or raised here, are much more open to idea of finding a partner of whatever colour, there can be inherent issues stemming from family objections to the idea of a darker complexion partner; a hassle some just don’t want to deal with. In my experience, Japanese here would be more open to the idea since their populations are pretty low, and already have mixed in with a lot of the local population. Chinese and Koreans have a massive populations here, making it easier to find partners of the same ethnicity.

  32. The term ” mixie” is derogatory, and any person that promotes that term perhaps has emotional conflicts of identity. The term ” mixie” leaves me wishing the author had used another approach and made it less personal. Instead of trying to coin the phrase “mixie ” people should read between this author’s lines. Sorry this article is offensive and packed with blatant innuendo.

  33. The two types of dominant mixed couples that I see are Asian women-white men (the majority now, by far) and black men-white women. The children in my daughter’s school of mixed race are largely a mix of white/asian, mostly borne by asian women and white men. I would agree, and I am not white, that whites are disappearing. The subway in the mornings is almost entireloy asian from front to back. Nary a blonde to be seen.

  34. I hear ya! I am Chinese and my female Asian friends only want to date Caucasian/Persian guys. When I asked them why, they said they want to fix their genes (as if their genes need fixing!).

  35. My jaw dropped when I discovered this cover story. Indeed, talking about race, as a Canadian, makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. And I’m a racialized Canadian! That cover photo, my first thought was, “Wow! Can they do that?!” I’m probably naive but perhaps if we refrain from talking about race in anything other than a jokey, lighthearted kind of way, the whole ugly business of it will just go away?

  36. that’s not true! all my chinese male relatives including my uncles and cousins married white women!

  37. most visibility minorities like asians and blacks
    want to mix with white
    they tend to look better
    and it lightens their skin
    from black or yellow

  39. Good article, however, if it was written by a “white” person I probably would not have read it. Only biracial people can speak to their experience. Only thing I found a little off-base was the fact that we are talking about “mixed” or “biracial” people like this is a new phenomenon when in fact “mixed” Race people have been here since the beginning of civilization. It only seems like something new or weird to uneducated, angry, paranoid White people. Race is a social construct and everyone is biologically “mixed”. Everyone has an ethnicity, multiple in fact. I racialize myself as biracial and I am 36 years old and from Toronto. My mother is Irish Canadian and my father is Caribbean from Trinidad. I am actually fourth generation Canadian and even have some Aboriginal ancestry. There is the “reality” (what our actually backgrounds are), and the “fantasy” (how others want to racialize you). I’m a proud biracial person and have been proud since day one. Thanks mom and dad. Oh, and my parents were both educated professionals. Another ignorant stereotype busted I guess. Toronto is a great city with a few racist bad apples like anywhere in the World.

  40. Simply by giving the examples that all your male relatives married white women does not disprove the Asian male stigma. For your every 10 male relatives that married white women, there are probably 100 Asian females that married non-Asians. Whatever the real ratio is, it’s heavily skewed on the side of females marrying non-Asians. As others have pointed out, they’ll hear from their Asian female friends not dating Asian guys, but rarely will you hear Asian guys refusing to date Asian females. For whatever reason, the fact remains that Asian females are more desirable than Asian males when it comes to interracial dating. http://www.asian-nation.org/interracial.shtml

  42. As an Asian man raised and lived here in Toronto all my life, from my personal
    experience, the social reality is that Asian men, either born in Canada or elsewhere, are not viewed favourably and often over-looked by women in dating. Generally speaking, the presumption that Asian men are undesirable persists in the public mind. This is based on my personal account and observation. (just wanted to contribute to the discussion that’s all.)

  45. No mention of the Metis until midway through the article, and then only in passing? I know that this is an article about T-dot, but the only times in my life that I regularly had to publicly declare my racial identity (which often included a discussion of First Nations and variations thereon) were when I lived in Ontario, so I’m surprised that the Original Canadian Mixie didn’t warrant more attention.

  46. I am a ‘mixie’ of Irish & Chippewa heritage. You would be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t) by how many part aboriginal people there are in Toronto and Canada. Once I was out for Pub night with 5 of my IT buddies and I raised the subject: as it turned out, all 4 of the native (heh) Canadians had native blood. Only our Georgian workmate wasn’t and he was born in Tbilisi.

  47. There already is term for people of half Asian and half Caucasian descent — those of that mixture are ‘hapas’.

  48. Ethnicity is the phrenology of our time. Location : Earth, Milky way (like it matters!) Race does not exist. Go ahead, try to define it, I’ll wait. It’s a shame the author has to spend time explaining his “origins” to people…and that some people seem to attach importance to it! I also see some people in the comments fretting about their childrens’ lack of racial/ethnic identity or what have you. Why spend your time trying to create [illusory] division between you and the rest of the world? Wouldn’t it be better to try to tend towards an inclusive approach? I’m gunna go ahead and say it…. it seems small minded to need to belong to some type of group, be it ethnicity, nationality, or even gender. Can we move beyond the window dressing please?

  51. Anthropologists will tell you that “interracial” relationships go back as early as humans have been around, since national borders change, wars happen, trade happens…as long as it hasn’t been some isolated island like Papua New Guinea (and even then), you’d be very hard-pressed to find any person who could claim “pure descent” of anything. National identities don’t have the kind of history we pretend they do. Hell, follow the silk road through Asia and you’ll find the people between South and East Asia to be a nice spectrum of “mixie” between brown and Chinese going back thousands of years (and everything in between). Nobody is “pure race”, and everyone’s mixed. We just tend to like to forget that part.

  53. what a shame for as an anglo saxon white female, i always loved the minds of many asian men i met and would have considered dating some of them, but i came of age in the 80s at a time where chinese families would not have wanted their sons to date out of their culture….

  54. can’t agree fully with that for I am a, British, born in Toronto and my family has been traced as far back as the 11th century so I know at least where I am concerned, not having had children at all, my lineage is not mixed, not that I would care either way…but you can’t say that we all are mixed..

  56. Lots of comments from people from Trinidad, like moi. I think ANOTHER interesting twist is that if the author visits these islands, there are large groups of NON MIXED folks there too!! now that will be interesting!

  57. True, I am the blonde blue eyed that you speak of but now in my early 50s so when growing up here, I was a dime a dozen but now in the subway, u r right, rarely do see a blond blue eyed person……

  59. far be it for me to be a cynic, but i have met several very caucasian looking light skin and light hair female that claim to be part aboriginal if only because they don’t pay taxes and have been given other financial advantages. I was led to believe by one of them, if telling the truth, that its very easy to claim you are part aboriginal! I would hope that this is not true but it has caused me to look at very light skinned “aboriginals” and wondered if they really are, or are just taking advantage of a system by claiming so? And now you say all 4 of the “canadians” you were with also claim to be part aborginal? I have my doubts…

  60. Ah, but you can. Tracking it back further, you’re a mix of some sort of Angle, Saxon, Jute, Norman, Old French, Roman…just like many Brits.

  61. I see a lot of people referring to Toronto as very culturally diverse. I don’t see it. My understudying if correct is that a lot of immigrants that have and are still coming here, are often from the poorer end of the spectrum, looking for a better life. Being poorer, many don’t really live or celebrate fully, the customs of their homeland. Often, the ones that do are wealthier but they dont emigrate to Toronto but go to world class cities such as London, New York, Paris, etc and it is to those cities they seem to take their culture with them. One only has to sit in an airport in Europe, such as in London or Brussels, to see the very striking African upper classes that come through in exquisite head dresses of their nation, or the same can be said for many exceptionally wealthy Arabs you see in Europe, or Persians, Asians, etc; but never here in Canada, let alone Toronto. Each one of these people are dressed beautifully and are deeply immersed in their cultures. At least this is how it appears to someone on the “outside” looking in, therefore in Europe, or even in NYC, the cultures of each is much more prevalent but I don’t see their respective cultures here in Toronto. Therefore I see Toronto as a city with many immigrants from various cultures living here but I don’t consider this a city with any real culture behind it.

  62. Its the same even with the British here. Rarely do you see British Aristocrats living in Toronto. They tend to stay in England or live either in Europe or years ago emigrated to Kenya or Rhodesia. The Brits one sees here for the most part are the poorer Brits looking for a better life, and those with cockney accents, or the middle class Brits who “pretend” to have been from the aristocratic class at home. There are great differences between the aristocrats and the lower classes in the ways of their own British culture. So once again, in Toronto we see the lower to middle class Brits and the aristocrats don’t emigrate here therefore we are not privvy to their culture but see the more common british foods of the lower classes here and other “customs” of their set. Please let me state that this is not a criticism of the lower or middle classes, but just a reality of which of the British people tend to emigrate here, inn order to show that we do not get the wealthier of immigrants which unfortunately deprives us of their customs. Too often the poorer immigrants are struggling to eat and get by day to day and their customs are cast by the side when trying to stay afloat any which way they can.

  63. I am an ethnic person of a very mixed background and I wanted to another comment cause i think it is important to respond to some. I agree TORAP about Asian males and their disinclination towards darker-skin females…lol….my experience is through my ex who is Asian and Morrocan but very Canadian. He prefers darker skinned women but his mother is racist and would never be happy with him dating darker women regardless of where they are from. His lame defence of her prejudice is that SHE is more comfortable with Asian females so that is the sort of female that he should bring to their home ( his brothers have ascribed to the dictator’s wishes). He may have to as well. In a way i do feel sorry for him cause this is supposed to be a democratic society but his happiness/freedom of choice are not being respected. Why do pple like her move here anyway? We have been dating on/off for 4 yrs secretly of course…lol….I need a real MAN! Not a momma’s boy who cannot live his own life and out his own happiness first! So they can have him because he will never grow a pair! Secondly, SH, u made a comment about Parents defining u, as u can see from my comment above, i do agree that parents can dangerously try to define their own kids, but IT is up to the kids themselves to make live their own lives. They will live with the consequences if they cannot. Nowadays I prefer white males anyway! I would prefer a 50-50 mix of whites and ethnic pple in this City because considering their long history here they have created and refined this city and i do worry with all the ethnic groups here that Toronto will become a third world city, and that would make me very sad. White parents tend ti teach their kids to be considerate, polite, tolerant, manners and respect for others and what i can see of many non-white kids/parents is very lacking in any of those characteristics!

  64. i think you are splitting hairs at this point because the “mixed Brits” you speak of, such as myself, have not experienced racist attitudes from the world at large and if anything are guilty of imposing our superiority over those of colour, mixed or not.

  65. White people have always been the minority. It’s the main reason why race and racism exist in the first place.

  67. Sorry, I don’t understand. Are you making the case for Toronto ( and Canada) to stay white? Why would the 1% want to get rid of whites? And what do we need to be careful of?

    We really don’t need to allow Canada to just be Canada. We need to challenge what it means to be Canadian.

  70. Feel free to leave NORTH AMERICA if u don’t want your kids to blend into another culture. No one’s forcing u to stay here, remember that!

  72. Fortunately there are plenty of other fish in the City!! Go get yourself a real man, Girlfriend! :)

  73. Yes, but those are what makes up the British or Anglo-Saxon people or ethnic groups. That has become a culture, and homogeneity. A line is drawn at a point.

  74. Read it again, it’s quite clear. And do some googling, not just reading what the media puts out there. Why challenge? That was done during colonial days to the post World Wars. We did already develop our form of identity that defined Canada! And we didn’t even have to have discussions all the time about it! The reason why people like you would need to question it or change is, is a result of the hoopla going on here for the past almost 30 years, confusing people or making things complex. That statement of yours is unnecessary and an insult to Canada.

  75. Interesting you assume I am talking about ‘light skinned “aboriginals”‘ as 2 of the 4 were afro-canadian / micmaq mix from the maritimes. I am not making any “claims” about my workmates, we just happened to all have native roots in common. And none of us had had free uni. or any other advantage from our mixed blood. In fact, we all came from an era when it was a dirty secret to have ‘indian’ blood – now, of course, it’s trendy.

  76. I still don’t understand. “That was done during colonial days to the post World Wars.” Does that mean we should give up? Was colonization a good thing? Did the 1960’s mark the start of citizens apathy? Canada is not perfect, nor will it ever be. It our responsibly as citizens to make sure we continue to strive for a more just (and equal) society.

  77. I believe you don’t know what you are talking about. Pay a visit to Brazil and you will see way more interracial couples than any other place. Caste system in South America nowadays? You probably have no idea what is going on down there…

  78. I am a white woman married to a black man (his mother is half white… it was extremely rare in her era to be mixed). When I had my first son in 1994 he was a novelty to alot of eyes. He got stared at constantly. I noticed a huge difference with my younger children, they were not seen as such a novelty to most people but I still get asked questions especially about my youngest who has blue eyes.

  79. Not true! Humans are racist towards others for all kinds of reasons, white pple did not invent racism! Idiots can say whatever they want, had whites not landed here u’d have no decent place to live. i just hope Toronto does not become a third world City!

  80. U would never dare head to American soil and be so arrogant. Canadians have developed a peaceful, very civilized society, feel free to leave if you can’t appreciate that!

  83. The society was founded on genocide , just like every other “white” nation outside of Europe. Who are you kidding?

  84. Sir – you took the words right out of my mouth. We need to stop with the Identity Politics and define who we are by our beliefs and accomplishments.

  86. As long as you’ve raised your children to not be ashamed of their ethnic origins, that’s about as much as you can ask. It’s up to them to decide to what extent it makes up their personal histories and what it means to them.

    When kids are young, they tend to want to fit in, and that may involve a certain amount of internalized racism if they are not strongly supported both by their family and a larger community which shows them that there is no shame in having different customs, eating different foods, speaking a different language, etc. than some of their classmates. It’s definitely easier for ethnic demographies in Toronto who have a much larger presence and established communities (complete with imported culture, foods, media, etc.) such as the Chinese community. Raising one’s kids around a larger community of similar ethnic origin can be helpful in counteracting the effects of internalized racism due to a severe dearth of Asian faces in mass media and popular culture in North America.

    Also, if you haven’t already, you might want to check this out:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_culture_kid

  87. Well, it’s an interesting statistic that WMAF (White Male – Asian Female) couplings are far more common versus AMWF, and it’s the cause of a lot of controversy in the Asian North American online community, with arguments ranging from ‘neo-colonialist’ attitudes and sexism right on down to the emasculated and desexualized depictions of Asian males in North American mass media.

    More information here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage_in_the_United_States#Asian_and_White

  88. Idle No More is proof positive that Canadian identity is constantly evolving, as it should, and it need not be stuck in colonial era depictions.

    I’m not saying we should reject Canadian history or minimize the contributions of the Anglo- and Francophone Canadians of the past, but there does need to be a balance with bringing up the many valuable contributions to Canada made by non-white Canadians, First Nations people, etc. whose contributions have not been given the kind of exposure they deserve.

    Above all, it means owning up to the mistakes of our past and trying to rectify them, as well as making positive change towards ensuring they never happen again.

  89. I agree. I think it would behoove all Canadians, whether former-immigrants-turned-citizens or several generations Canadian, to listen to some of the absolutely gut-wrenching testimonies presented to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by First Nations people who were forced into Indian Residential Schools.

    http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=4

    What’s really terrible is that for those whose school’s records were “lost”, they may well receive no compensation whatsoever, or even an apology for the suffering they endured. Forcing a person who was abused to recount their abuse and re-traumatize them all over again is bad enough, but for them to do so only to be denied even the acknowledgement that it happened to them at all, is almost as horrible as the abuse itself. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was supposed to be the process by which Canada could own up to our collective mistakes of the past, and take responsibility and ownership of that terrible systemic and racist physical and sexual abuse of First Nations people, yet to deny many of those who suffered the right to even an admission of guilt or apology for the abuse inflicted upon them just because the records were “lost” is simply unacceptable.

    To me, it doesn’t matter that I was not even born when these things happened, the fact that I am a Canadian means that I implicitly benefit from the attempted genocide of First Nations peoples committed by the government of Canada, and that means I have a duty and responsibility to push our current government to right those past wrongs and to apologize and attempt redress.

    We Canadians so often take pride in our peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts internationally, yet in the same breath dismiss any notions that might harm the Great Canadian Myth of our nation as being a bastion of civil rights, and we are particularly good at trying to sweep our terrible human rights record vis a vis treatment of aboriginal peoples under our collective rug.

    http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/canada-treatment-first-nations-rapped-united-nations-committee-183442188.html

    If we are to be truly proud of our nation and ourselves as Canadians, we _must_ rectify the wrongs of the past as well as considerably improve our relations with First Nations peoples today. And unfortunately, despite considerable support for the Idle No More movement amongst Canadians, it has also served to bring out some of the most virulent racists amongst us.

  90. Unfortunately, racism itself is what imposes identity politics upon marginalized groups. Articles such as these would not be necessary if racism did not exist. It is an unfortunate fact that race is still matters in this day and age, in this country, but wishing something away does not make it so. If we deny there is a problem, we will never solve the problem.

  92. If only. Unfortunately, ignoring a problem and wishing it would just go away does not make it go away, it just allows the problem to fester in the darkest corners of our society. It needs to be put front and centre so that we can really address the issues that are involved and put our own prejudices and misconceptions under a microscope if we are ever to find solutions to these issues.

  93. It’s generally easier for those in a position of privilege to be entirely blind to the issues that people without that privilege must deal with on a daily basis. As a heterosexual cisgender male, I can’t speak personally to the many issues that the LGBTQ community, or women, or any other marginalized group that I am not a part of, must deal with on a daily basis, but far be it for me to deny what they go through. I may never truly know what it’s like for them, but I would hardly say that they don’t experience prejudice, discrimination, etc. and speaking about those issues in our society _is_ important. Talking about race and racism doesn’t create racism; not talking about it does, as it allows ignorance to fester.

  94. What I find interesting is the difference between American and British soaps: American soaps are almost all predominantly white, upper class (or at least upper middle class) — think “Young & the Restless”, “Another World”, etc. — while British soaps are primarily working class / lower middle class, eg. East Enders, Coronation Street, etc. (and the British soaps are pretty good at tackling more substantive societal issues and have become much more ethnically-inclusive)

    I wonder why that is, considering the United States in most other respects absolutely loves the myth of the American Dream of the poor working class boy made good via grit and bootstraps, yet their soaps are all about rich people doing absolutely nothing but terrible things to each other. Of course, this may no longer be a sustainable trend, seeing as how soap operas are going out of business in the US while reality TV is booming, by concentrating on people who are decidedly, well, not necessarily “working class” per se, but more simply “classless” people from all walks of life. I’m sure the average American working class family has way more class but you wouldn’t know it from the kind of trash that reality TV producers find to represent them. “The rich,” as Leonard Cohen put it, “have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor”. :P

    Of course, I just realized the reason why the British don’t need a soap opera about the upper crust is because they actually have a 24 hour reality TV show about it, called the British Monarchy. ;) And let’s face it, East Enders is way more entertaining than what the majority of blue bloods get up to… except maybe Prince Harry. ;P

  95. Thank you. This is one of the best articles I’ve ever read. You’re right, mixed-race is not the same as post-racial, but it’s a wonderful transformation all the same.
    ( Even as a 27 year old, I still haven’t stopped pointing out fellow ‘mixies’ :) )

  96. I have wanted to say the same thing to so many of the commenters here. Celebrating race is great, but not what needs to be done. Critical examination of race and racial politics is the only way to go to make any progress.

  97. Again, another comment which is simply proving my post! Making things more complex than it is. Go back to my comment and see the part, “….almost 30 years”. Do the math. 2013 minus 28, 29 or 30 = ?? That is safely post-war, and not long ago. If you know our history, 1967 was when Canada was now open to immigration from the rest of the world. We already developed a Canadian flavour and feel before that and overwhelmingly AFTER that period without discussing or questioning. It was just lived. Overdiscussing and overdoing it is a part of losing its essence.

  98. Neuroantro is on the right track, but is Al probably factually correct. Unfortunately, going back to the 11th century, the Angles probably hated the Jutes, the Normans despised the Danes, the Saxes detested the Celts etc. etc.

    It would seem it is not necessarily just race but some human frailty that causes us, for more than a milllenium, to stereotype and attack, rather than accept and embrace our differences.

  99. I’ll bet you tell everyone you’re not a racist. You’re sorry Eletki doesn’t know what it means to be Canadian, but all you have is “Canada is Canada”! Pretty lame.

  100. You didn’t really write that 1967 was when Canada was now open to immigration from the rest of the world? Plus condescension doesn’t make you right. My grandfather came to Canada from Japan in 1907. Sorry for condescending but do the math. 2013 minus 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 106 = 1907.

  101. I dont think we disagree. I was just trying to make the point(s) that a- Race is a fiction. Where do you draw the line? All living things are connected. Since i was a kid i always felt like if one absolutely had to create a ‘royal order’ of division it would go something like human…gender…nationality(?) But again, it is a fiction. What’s the point? As for prejudice against the LGBTQ community or any other, we have reached the moment where it has ‘flipped’ if you will, and no longer tolerated by the majority. [at least in my eyes] Its an interesting quandary about whether to ‘discuss’ these things or not. For example all the tedious talk of Obama as the first ‘black’ president. It pays homage to historical struggles on one hand, but should not be the rubric by which to judge all his actions. Was just venting my frustration at people who feel the need to ‘identify’ [divide] to make themselves feel all warm & fuzzy inside. The by product of course being the rest of humanity/creation being labelled as ‘other’. Take it easy ; )

  102. see my comment: …”1967…We already developed a Canadian flavour and feel BEFORE THAT and overwhelmingly after.” This is mentioning the Japanese. Read carefully. Yes, Japanese, Chinese, Ukrainians were no doubt earlier minority immigrants, Canadians should know this. But read about the 1967 Immigration Act and then read my earlier points where I had alluded to 1967. Don’t post just for the sake of trying to be smart or just aiming to top people. Please read, think about the comment, research into any possible historical elements mentioned within the comment, then see if there are any possibilities of conflict or being way off the records, and then you comment with your findings or concerns.

  104. Internalized racism?…lol…what hogwash! Especially when pple bring their own racist attitudes with them who are they to talk about racism? I work for an online advertising company and one day an Asian customer from Vancouver asked us just how should they word an ad in which they wanted to indicate their preference for no members of a certain different ethnicity in their bldg! Excuse me!?! People like that do not deserve to live here with their racist attitudes and lots of ethnic groups are like that!

  105. U need an eye-opener apparently so here goes. There may not be any Fathers of that background simply because men in that community are not allowed to date outside of their culture…lol…

  106. Hahaha! Emasculation!?!…lol…for your information, Asian males seem to be in alot of cases governed by racist parents/relatives who object to their dating most other pples regardless of their colour! That is the situation with my Ex who is half-east asian! He needs to grow a pair. It’s men like him who live up to the notion of asian males who just not masculine enough and who are mama’s boys and not man enough to live their own lives! Pple may say it is a stereotype of males in those cultures but u know what? There is a lot of truth in it all. Hence why on earth would females of other cultures be the least bit interested anyway?

  107. Genocide is being committed by other non-white groups for all kinds of reasons and it continues today!

  108. Not the way of this world apparently! Kinda pathetic that it’s not but that’s human nature for you.

  109. I think the article was very therapeutic for the author, not to mention a huge bravo in his career as he was given 10 pages of the magazine with a two page spread high gloss front cover. His experience is just that, his experience. Toronto is the most multicultural city in the world, where we are home to the most beautiful and unique blends of race in existence – this is what makes us proud.
    Diversity is respect and acceptance of all that makes us unique, and individual and one thing I can say of Toronto, having been born here and carrying the torch of diversity running, we have always supported loving who you choose regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or income etc.
    I think in any large metropolis you will find opposition as it is virtually impossible to have all people agree on anything – racism is also something which occurs where ever there are human beings unfortunately. Racism in Toronto has been practiced by all groups, and felt by all groups – white people included. (I imagine a few who worked hard to make Toronto what it is, including it’s diversity, immigration standards, and social policies felt quite a STING when they read the title).
    I will say to everyone what I say to americans who claim all white people are racist and they want to be rid of them, if white people truly were the majority, and have worked hard to tear down walls, remove obstacles, and create an open door to embrace all others who come along regardless of race …. should they be cast in such poor light by the rest of us who benefit from their integrated beliefs, hospitable practices, and hard work?
    I don’t know when my fine city reduced itself to having an old south african way of measuring people based on their racial percentages, but that isn’t the Toronto I know, it isn’t the Toronto I have ever lived in until recently, and it isn’t the Toronto the white people, or anyone else, around me exposed me to.
    I am seeing more and more racism in Toronto this past decade than ever before – and it is disgusting and embarassing. It really needs to be dealt with, and I mean ALL racism even the hate speech against white people, the asian jokes, the police profiling of black males, the terrorism view of middle eastern canadians etc etc. It is ALL unacceptable no matter who says it, no matter who it is directed towards … it is not the Canada I had been so very proud of my entire life.

    Pertaining to mixing races which is NOT NEW to Toronto (I promise I have a birth certificate to prove it) …. the only people who pay attention to mixes are the ones who are keeping score.
    I am not keeping a race score, and never will be.
    With Respect
    Toronto Born and Raised and Proudly Diverse Since Birth

  110. Hey Debs .. a novelty in 94 .. really? Where did you live??? lolol
    We have biracial in our family from before the 70’s and were actively procreating throughout — and we were not the only biracial people anywhere.
    Maybe the novelty was because they were so beautiful – the biracial aspect was already a done deal long before they were born … in toronto anyway! Yay Toronto!

  111. While it is not exactly healthy to become overly codependent on helicopter parents, in the West there is a certain amount of misunderstanding of East Asian cultures where there is a tremendous emphasis on parental and elder respect, the idea of conforming to societal needs, as well as the burdens placed on males in the family and the corresponding responsibilities and duties they are charged with, which does not have an analogue in Western culture. It is foolhardy to attempt to stand in judgement of other cultures with regards to their specific customs, mores, etc. without understanding the greater cultural milieu from which they came.

    What you may see as nothing more than a man being spoiled by his mother, could be seen as a man who holds his mother in the greatest of respect and who feels an intense familial and cultural pressure to live up to the duties and responsibilities charged to him as a male in the family (even more so if he is the first born, or the only male). While one may argue the inherent sexism of such a culture, the fact remains that an East Asian man who was brought up in the traditions of his culture is largely bound by them because that is all he knows, and especially amongst those East Asian families who emigrated recently, or were raised within a greater community of their own culture, will have been inculcated to those cultural mores and traditions and thus feel particularly bound to those familial ties.

    I feel that you are perhaps unfairly casting aspersions on the East Asian male because of your unfortunate experience with your ex-, but I would hope that in time you will come to recognize that just because an East Asian man defers to his family’s expectations of him, that it is not necessarily due to a lack of will or flaw in character but a powerful conflict between his own personal desires and his emotional, psychological, cultural and familial ties which bind him to a set path from which he cannot easily stray.

    It may not make much sense from a Western perspective but it is definitely something to take into consideration when becoming involved with any man who was not raised in Western cultural traditions. In general, it may be easier to date an East Asian man who is at least a couple generations Canadian because by then, most of those strict cultural mores and traditions would likely have faded and you will basically be dating a man of East Asian ethnicity but accultured in the Western tradition, which hopefully will reduce the cultural conflicts which can be an added stress on the relationship.

  112. Thanks very much for getting back to me with your own comments and I do think that is his conflict ( his Mother’s beliefs vs Western ideals) but she is still being racist! There is no excusing that. It will not help with the disinclination that other females have about dating them and I have been completely turned off of dating in that culture anyway.

  113. There’s no such thing as “post-racial”. One line from this piece that really jumped out at me was: “Of all the many privileges that come with whiteness, being able to ignore race entirely is one of the most precious.”

  115. Well Whites are a lot less ( if at all) racist towards each other than ethnic pple are…lol…and it is so pathetic cause ethnic pple tend to originate from a lot of the worst/least desirable Countries on the planet but tend to think they are worth bragging about!

  116. I’m sure that you intended to make some type of point with this comment. And it may have even been related to what I wrote, but it’s not immediately apparent.

  117. “White parents tend ti teach their kids to be considerate, polite, tolerant, manners and respect for others and what i can see of many non-white kids/parents is very lacking in any of those characteristics!”

    Are you being serious? Because if it’s a joke, then it’s not funny, and if it isn’t, then it’s just worrying.

  119. My partner and I do it too (and we’re in our 30s) despite the fact that she herself is mixed, as is our daughter. It’s not out of any type of malice, but rather an acknowledgment that there are more families like us out there, and there’s some comfort in that.

  120. In an ideal world, yes. But that’s not the one that we live in. Your “racial identity” should not define who you are, but it’s beyond naive to pretend that it doesn’t have a significant bearing on how you are perceived, and indeed treated in our society.

    Based on your last name, I would venture a guess that you have some experience with people making assumptions about your character, personality and aptitudes. They may even be positive ones, but assumptions nonetheless. I’m not saying that it happens all the time, or that everyone does it, but let’s be honest. The same way that many peoples’ impressions of me might be coloured (no pun intended) by my dark skin. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve walked into an interview or meeting with someone I’d only spoken to on the phone, and seen a flicker of surprise, as my appearance didn’t match what they had pictured. I’ve even been told to my face that I don’t “look like I sound”. Hopefully one day, we’ll get past it, but we’re certainly not there yet, and it doesn’t do anyone any favours to simply pretend that race isn’t still a huge factor in our society. Even in multicultural Toronto.

  121. This is idiotic. What about white people who want to darken up a little? If only to be able to stay out in the sun a bit longer without burning.

  122. White people are only the “minority” if you lump everyone non-white into one monolithic category, in some type of “us vs. them” exercise. Otherwise, they’re just another group in a large and diverse city. And if you have a burning need to see a lot of white people in any one place, just drive one hour outside of Toronto, in any direction. Or visit any Bay street law firm, while the partners are meeting. Or sit in on a session at Queen’s Park. Go for a walk through Rosedale or Forest Hill (Filipino nannies excepted). Or take the Queen streetcar to The Beach. Problem solved.

  123. This is funny because I know a lot of black girls, who like asian men; but can’t get a second look because asian men find dark skin undesirable.

  125. the world is full of mutts. No one is a pure bread anymore. Mixed race is at 69% … would not be surprised when i hear that the divorce rate is around that number as well. When the mix race was lower so was the divorce rate.

  127. “Whites ignore race entirely” was a part of what u said and my point is that White pple can get along alot easier with each other than ethnic pple who seem to mostly be interested in hanging with their own groups and tend to look for differences in others more so than anyone else!

  128. First of all, I was merely agreeing with something the author wrote, which I would think is so evident that it barely even warrants mentioning. Before I start though, I was wondering exactly who are these “ethnic people” that you speak of? And are you seriously suggesting that white people in Toronto don’t also “hang out with their own groups”? I’ve read several of your posts, and I only guess that you’re interested in generating controversy with some your statements.

    What the author is saying is that in our society, only white people (usually small “L” liberals) have the privilege of being able to use phrases like “post-racial”, or make statements like “I don’t even see race”. Members of visible minorities encounter situations on a daily basis that remind them of the fact that they differ in at least that one respect from the majority. I’m not saying that Toronto is Mississippi circa 1965, or that they should walk around with chips on their shoulders, but these reminders exist. And they exist every day. Television shows like “30 Rock” and more recently “Girls” have done an excellent job at examining the hypocrisy of privileged white liberals who can pretend that they “don’t see race”. When you are the only dark face in a class photo, when you can’t find a doll for your little sister that looks like her, when people casually make insensitive statements about your particular ethnic group, and then suddenly start backpedaling because they forgot that you were standing right beside them, and then trip over themselves to assure you that they didn’t mean you specifically, but “the other ones”, then you’re not allowed to ignore it. And these are situations that most white people in this part of the world simply don’t have to worry about.

    I will not even bother addressing the rest of what you wrote, as I can only assume it was intended to get a rise out of myself or someone else.

  129. Not daily anymore since I recently changed jobs, but yes, still quite regularly. And while I already know where you’re going with this, and strongly disagree in advance, I would like to see if you actually have the nerve to pursue this.

  130. Pursue what!?! Everyone here is discussing issues stemming from what they’ve learned or from their own experiences as am I!

  131. A rise out of you!?! Who do think you are? I don’t even know u personally! My writings like those of others here stem from my own experiences or others pple that I know. There is a tremendous amt of racism between all ethnic groups and I am having in the very office where I work, so don’t try to tell me I am talking nonsense. And if others cannot handle the truth that’s their Problem!!

  132. My kids were the only mixed-race kids in their schools in Ottawa and only a few of a handful of Asians. Since moving to Toronto in September, my daughter who has a Chinese father (who died when she was 7) and a French-Canadian mom, marveled at all the mixed race kids in her school, telling me each day about a new combo she had met (Flipino-Polish, Irish-Japanese…) so much so that she calls one friend “White Alex” as she is the only full Caucasian in the class. She looks more Asian than her brother and would get upset when asked if she was adopted as her brother wouldn’t be asked. He likes the fact that he can pass for anything and while working at a grocery store, he would be addressed in several languages (Spanish, Portuguese). I was once asked by a stranger in a store what nationality was the father of my children which offended me, but I see that, at least in Toronto, it may become the norm.

  133. The saddest thing about all this is it not the norm to simply see pple as Canadian without the inclination to ask about backgrounds. I think a melting pot such as in Britain and the U.S. is a much better idea. Multiculturalism as a rule seems to just divide pple and encourage racism. Whites have been content to simply call themselves Canadian and blend into a Western/North American life very well. As an ethnic Immigrant i cannot express how grateful I am to have been allowed to live here and want to embrace this place as my new Home because there are so many places I would never wish to be. I can do this while remembering where I came from and striking a healthy balance between where I’m from and where I am and loving them both. I am proudly Caribbean-Canadian!!

  134. Unfortunately Ottawa still seems to have its racist populace, as almost every racist experience I’ve ever had in Canada has been in Ottawa. When I was growing up there, it was a common sight to see neo-Nazi skinhead gangs roaming about town, and I’ve had my share of racist incidents inflicted on me, though thankfully none of them were violent (the neo-Nazis I ran into on Rideau and Dalhousie when I was 16 came closest). A lot of microaggressions, some outright racist comments made to my face, etc. I had hoped that the influx of immigrants who came to Ottawa in the late ’90s would have helped change things a bit, but I’m not sure it did much except drive the racism underground.

    I hope that eventually Ottawa will have the kind of ethnic mix that allows people of all races, cultures, nationalities to get to know each other on a personal level and see that we’re all human and not so different from each other as our prejudices would have us believe.

    That’s not to say I haven’t witnessed racism in Toronto as well, but thankfully it’s pretty rare these days.

  135. I used to think so too, as I was quite the assimilationist when I was younger, but as I’ve grown older I see the value in everyone experiencing a wide variety of different people of different cultures, nationalities, ethnicities, etc. because that is the reality of our global community in 2013, and there are good things about every culture that are worth experiencing.

    That being said, I believe those cultures which practice certain forms of discrimination against any group need to push to change their cultures towards more progressive ideals in keeping with what Canada should represent (and what I believe most Canadians feel is possibly the most integral part of our national identity: treating all people fairly and equitably, no matter who they are or where they’re from). Hate and intolerance have no place in Canadian society, and we still have a long way to go to actually make that a reality, particularly in terms of our treatment of the true stewards of this country, the First Nations peoples.

    Also, you may have a more rosy view of the Caucasian Canadian experience than history bears out: there was a lot of discrimination of French-Canadians (and in some ways there still is), not to mention the early Scottish and Irish settlers who were coerced or bribed with the promises of a fresh start and abundant land to be worked, only to encounter harsh winters and discrimination from their English landlords. The ethnic, tribal and national tensions from the British Isles (not to mention the class warfare) followed them across the Atlantic, and just as the Irish suffered under English rule for a long time, they didn’t experience that much more equality in the new country that they were helping to colonize.

    You may also have a more rosy view of race relations in the U.S. and UK than the actuality as well: President Obama still faces constant attacks from blatantly racist Americans, despite the fact that he is half-white, and there are still so many predominantly black ghettoes in America, discriminatory practices in hiring and firing, education, housing, and even the Savings and Loans scandal which largely precipitated the fall of Wall Street was race-based.

    And there were race riots in the UK even in the mid to late ’70s and early ’80s, and some have argued that the riots in England in 2011 were at least ignited by ongoing racial tensions (as well as class tensions), and for all that the media largely sold the riots as nothing more than entitled ‘chavs’ using riots as an excuse to loot and pillage high street shops, it doesn’t change the fact that the riots began because of the death of a possibly unarmed young black man in Tottenham by police (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Mark_Duggan)
    which brought up comparisons to another famous incident exemplifying the systemic racism inherent in the UK police – in particular the London Metropolitan Police (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Colin_Roach) – which caused huge rifts in relations between black Londoners and the police.

    There’s also still a lot of discrimination in the UK against South Asians, not to mention police discrimination against black Britons of West Indian descent, and often stopping black Jamaican immigrants on suspicion of pot possession due to the stereotypes about Rastafari.

  136. Rare!?!…LOL….I have news for you, it is highly pervasive!! Speaking from personal experience, it is a HUGE problem here in this City. It’s a shame secret that everyone needs to know about. i will reiterate a very simple fact: ALL HUMANS ARE RACIST!!

  137. Oh no, no, no!! I was not trying to paint Britain or the U.K. as idealized societies at all!! What I am saying is that encouraging a social system of a melting pot is much better than multiculturalism. I am very aware of the racist attitudes in Britain and the U.S especially but as far as Britain goes the same problem of racist attitudes from ALL groups towards each other is as much a problem there in terms of superiority complexes as it is here in Canada. It may not be in the News here as often but it does raise its ugly head in Public occasionally. Take for example that Liberal Party employee who was caught referring to an applicant as ” Ghetto” for which Dalton Mcguinty felt he had to apologize. That employee should have made to apologize publicly! She was of a different ethnicity than that of the applicant and I have read a report in which the Ontario Human Rights Commission issued a statement pertaining to the many incidences of inter-racial prejudice that they are hearing/filing judgements about.

  138. Notice the same pattern with education rates as well? The more stupid people are, the longer they stay in unhealthy damaging relationships – for the kids right?

    Notice how the previous statement made me sound stupid? Don’t infer causation between interracial couples and divorce. Spouting racist ideologies under the guise of intelligence just makes you look like a fool.

    (Mind you, you spelt purebred as pure bread, which makes you look like fool regardless of the rest of your comment)

  140. Wow. I am South American and really proud that, because of the education and access to culture provided by both my country and my parents, I feel nothing but shock by the degree of ignorance displayed here.

  141. That’s partially true. From my own experience (as a Black Woman), I have dated different Asian Men (Chinese-Canadian, Filipino-Canadaian, Laos-Canadian). Not too long ago, I was dating a Chinese-Canadian Man for three years. Unfortunately, I found out later that due to his parent’s prejudice against Black Women, he would not marry me. Had I noticed this before with all of the small signs placed before me (not telling his family that we were in a serious relationship, telling me how his parents think that he is only fooling around before finding his “True Chinese Wife”), I would not have wasted so much time with him. I think a lot of it has to do with the stereotypes that are associated with people of different races and cultures that cause some people to steer clear of one ‘type’ of person and go after the other.

  142. Please stop. When people such as yourself start saying things like that, you create another issue among mixed race children and non mixed race children. Suddenly there is a pressure on bi-racial children to become those beautiful people that they hear of and then the non bi-racial children lead to holding forms of envy and resentment towards the bi-racial children and the commentators. Unfortunately, I have grown up seeing these types of things happen to those around me and I prefer to let all children (both bi-racial and non) know that they are beautiful and to appreciate who they are. The whole ‘mixed children are so beautiful’ is a dated statement that should be put away with the ‘ fair skinned people are so beautiful’.

  143. I congratulate u for being open-minded! But I am going to be alot more selective about who I date from now on, into white males mainly. There are too many others to date to put up with anyone else’s nonsense. The racists can keep their man/boys.

  144. I mostly strongly dislike most Toronto Life articles. I mean, really, it’s like… the level of seriousness they give to issues that don’t need a lot of noise. By being so alarmist and putting this sh*t on your cover, proposing the idea of “the end of white toronto”, you are no doubt obviously just trying to get people riled up so that they pick up the darned thing and read it. People have to eat, TL staff and writers have to eat, we should all understand that.

    Also I don’t ever want to be picked out as being “mixed race” like I’m some sort of freaking spectacle. Actually it doesn’t happen, ever. I am “mixed race” and no one even knows. To most people I am “caucasian/european”.

    I will state myself as being caucasian, because that’s how people see me. The demand to do otherwise is institutional racism, as a “visibly” chinese person who is quarter white will never be socially demanded to acknowledge their ‘whiteness’. Because apparently the silent requirement is to reveal yourself if you are a so-called minority in any significant amount.

    That ought to offend the closet fascists.

    I am a 24-year-old female. I am black and I am white, but mostly white. Everyone thinks I’m Spanish or maybe part Native and even Russian or Polish. Who cares. My white mother is mostly oblivious to social and racial constructs, and sometimes she annoys me. She is blond/red hair blue eyed woman and has had children who are blond-hair blue-eyed, one who is brown haired and brown eyed. So Take that “brown eye gene dominates” bollocks and throw it away.

    As a kid however I did not have it so easy. I had to fight my way to fit in, usually failing.

    Also I have had black people tell me I should never tell anyone I am part black. I agree, because anytime I tell a black person I am part black they start being freaking weirdos who say things like THAT.

    When I date I have to consider the fact that having a relatively “black” parent might surprise a dude. But that will never be known. Either way my offspring with say, some guy who has blue eyes… will likely have blue eyes. My dark genes won’t override anything, as is commonly thought. If it so happens this way, I will likely have kids that are virtually “white”.

    That being said, I have to say that the “white race being obsolete” in any form in the near future is total misinformation. The message is probably being perpetuated by weirdo f*cking fascist scum.

    Sometimes I don’t know how I feel about being “mixed”. Sometimes I think it is insensitive on the part of the white parent, who might not understand the reality of the social dynamics at play. They live in a bubble and decide that having a bi-racial kid will do the world some good. In some ways, yes. But in other ways it is a good way to make a child unknowingly a modern day martyr.

  145. Looking at the cover of the magazine, the white child appears to be sad. Multiculturalism in this city is not something to be sad about and the magazine should’t be conveying this message.

  146. Racism only exists if you’re attitude is wired that way. A person who encourages or beleives in a racist society will experience this everywhere they go. We are the only ones who can give power to things. We need to re-examine the term “racism” because I feel that It’s thrown around too lightly. Yes, we are all human but growing up, we all adapted to different cultures and religions that are deep rooted factors towards our choice of partners and the way we communicate with others. Things can get totally missunderstood at times. This doesn’t mean the person is racist. They are just comfortable with their own upbringing and would like to keep it that way. Also if a person is not attracted to a specific culture physically, how is this racist? You like what you like right? It’s only natural when you bring people together from different cultures that there’s going to be some tension. It takes time to accept and embrace people’s differences but I beleive we have come a long way, compared to before where people got beat up or ridiculed for colour, sex, status you name it! Our differences are what make the world unique. I am curious and find the opportunity to learn about people everywhere I go. Anyways, In the end, like Russel Peter’s said it, we’re probably going to end up all “brown” and live happily ever after lol. There!

  147. I’ve always been open to dating whomever, so when I met KC in my 20s, I thought it was a bit odd that he was even interested in me (how often do you see asian men and black women together?) Turns out he had a thing for the sisters. heh. I thought he was awesome…his mother didn’t think much of our union, though.

  148. TORAP se my post above. I totally agree with you that Asian guys are least likel to approach…

  149. It’s in your head and perhaps cultural conditioning.

    I’m part of a AM-WF marriage and family. Admittedly, I still find it a novelty to see other AM-*F families. But they are happening more and more.

  150. I think many of us have an inferiority complex. Big stumbling block in the dating game. One thing, after marriage, it seems I have more attention from women than before. But keep in mind, at this point in life, I’m not looking nor caring as much.

    The advice given that one should be themselves and enjoy life goes especially so for Asian men. You are most attractive when you aren’t looking.

  151. Hey, I appreciate your comment. I had that same idea about the preceived inferiority complex within the interracial dating context from the Asian male perspective. Inferiority complex, whatever the form, is psychologically debilitating to anyone in any context.

    And I also agree with your comment about seen attractive when not trying to impress.

  152. I appreciate your advice. However, I find that you’re off the mark on several fronts. While it’s true that my parents were immigrants and preached the importance of academics (as all Asian parents do), my brothers and I have always been socially and academically balanced. We all started having relationships before we went to University. So no, I’m not an Asian bookworm with a inferiority complex; quite the contrary.

    I have also been in a relationship with a WF (one of my brothers have also dated a WF). She had admitted that she didn’t really pay attention to Asian guys, and would not be involved with an Asian male if she had not met a circle of female Asian friends before meeting me. In my experience, WFs don’t have Asian males on radar, unless they have been exposed to other Asian friends. I would be very curious to look at the stat of AM-WF relationships, where the WF did not already have Asian friends. I’d be willing to wager that it would be the minority of cases.

    It’s easy for you to dismiss the work of an academic who has spent much time studying the subject and publishing a paper on it. I would also venture to guess that you have not even read the article, simply because you don’t agree with it and think it represents a defeatist attitude as you would call it. Facts are facts, and numbers don’t lie. The “cultural penalty” for Asian males does exist. If you’re not satisfied with the explanation that the author has given, I’d be willing to read your paper when it’s published.

  153. It seems that trends in inter-racial marriages cause anxiety and somewhat over examination of the participants intentions. We as members of the human race can’t seem to pull ourselves away from ‘isms’. If a black man dates a white woman..that’s because…… if a white man dates an Asian woman , well that’s because……. Oh dear whatever next! We should all do ‘individualism’ and marry who you want for the reasons that you choose. !!!!

  154. Exactly. I’m only the tiniest bit Chinese – I don’t consider myself Asian, but I have features that appear Asian – so all the stereotypes that follow.

  155. The stereotypes of Asian women being milder, obedient and catering to their husbands are all fetishized and it DOES translate into marriage. I know from personal experience of looking Asian (and yet I don’t consider it my race) that a lot of non-Asian men think Asian women are better wives because of this.

  157. I find these writings quite amusing and completely ignore the issue of racism when it comes to asian males and non-asian females and family requirements!..lol…good thing there are many other types of men to choose from.

  159. How many east asian men do u see dating women of different backgrounds? There’s the answer, there aren’t that many.

  161. Very true but that unfortunately is not the reality for most pple. Human nature is ridiculously prejudiced.

  162. It’s not about someone not being attracted to another race for it to be termed racism it has to do with those who despise others because of their difference in race. The reasons are not so cut and dry. I could care less whether or not pple are attracted to different races but to try to make pple feel inferior because they are of another race is racism and we have a long way to go!

  164. Will Toronto be the world’s first post-racial metropolis?

    I think it typical of the narcissism of this city that the idea of toronto being the first post-racial city is the headline. there is also vancouver… but going farther afield, many other cultures have been built on the mixing of races – brazil and cuba are 50% and 35%. even london (england, not ontario) is nearly as racially diverse as toronto.

    toronto and vancouver are a matter of degree – we draw on a slightly wider group of races, this transition is newer and faster than in most other places, there isn’t the lingering discrimination of places where one races (blacks) were slaves, and we have not had much racial tension/conflict compared to other cities/countries/cultures.

    but all is not well – blacks and some other groups have higher rates of poverty… there is still racism in this city -something that rarely gets covered outside of the issue of racial profiling by police.

  165. I agree 100% There are more Asian females with white males than you can count. Some white men will date any asian female no matter how ugly or third world looking some of them may be. Most of the asian females i know only one married another asian. Its the opposite for Asian men since most females asian or non-asian don’t find Asian men attractive.

  166. Vancouver has a lot of Asian immigrants, so it’s possible your customer was a recent immigrant who does not understand that that sort of discrimination is unacceptable in Canada, even if it is common in their home country. Of course, it’s possible the person was just a racist Asian Canadian as well, but seems less likely, because Asians who grew up in Canada’s multiculturalism would know that that sort of attitude is unacceptable.

    I’m not saying it’s alright to be racist, but if you recently arrived from a country which is fairly homogeneous in ethnic makeup, and where racism and xenophobia is rife, then it’s not really surprising when those people bring those racist attitudes to Canada. It’s up to us as Canadians to educate them that that sort of thing is unacceptable here, and help them accept all Canadians and immigrants to Canada, regardless of their ethnicity.

  167. I’m talking about overt racism. There are many micro-aggressions and acts of privilege which do occur, but I wouldn’t characterize them as threatening to me in the same way white supremacists are.

  170. I am sorry, i truly do not believe that they are capable of changing. In my experience these adults pass their racist attitudes to their kids. I have heard asian youth say very clearly that only hang with other asians….lol….if that’s how they feel maybe they should be reminded that they are free to leave and return to their homogenous origins.

  171. Again, parental attitudes tend to prevail in cultures which treasure elder respect, and of course, even children of first generation immigrants tend to maintain some of the cultural values of their parents, because that’s how they were raised. But that tends to change the longer any person of any ethnicity stays in their adopted country, so long as measures are taken to ensure those people are well-integrated into the larger multicultural society.

    I’m not suggesting some melting-pot scenario, because I believe that breeds its own form of intolerance (an inability to acknowledge cultural differences and accept them without judgment, barring any ethical issues, i.e. women’s rights, homophobia, etc.), but helping new immigrants learn English and/or French, learn some of the nation’s history, meet new people of different ethnic backgrounds, etc. I do think the people who sponsor new immigrants have a duty to themselves, to their country and to the people they sponsored to help do this.

    Obviously, some people may be a little too old to learn a new language, unless that person has a particular facility for learning foreign languages, but being able to communicate in a common language is imperative for acclimatizing new immigrants to Canada, as much to make them feel more at home and comfortable meeting their neighbours, regardless of where their neighbours are from.

    I don’t believe this is impossible, and education, not ignorance, is the key to improving race relations in Canada. Just giving up and throwing in the towel is not an option, least of all for all of us ethnic minorities who have adopted Canada as our home, because we gave up our citizenship in our native lands to be here, and we even had to pass a test to earn our citizenship.

    Also, as a Japanese male, I really don’t identify with any of the stereotypes which you have insisted on promulgating about Asian men, and I assure you that neither my mother nor my father has ever once said anything to me about who I may or may not date. It _is_ racism to stereotype all people of a certain race as being all one way, when clearly we are all human, all individuals, and all different.

    And as for people who can’t change, it’s not because they are incapable of doing so, it’s simply that they don’t want to change, and that’s on them as individuals and it’s as much their loss if they can’t learn to change and grow and become better human beings.

  172. Hah, I _wish_ people would see me as a ‘punky gang member’. ;) That would be hilarious, as I’m more the former than the latter. An Asian guy in Ottawa once asked me to join his gang, which I thought was hilarious. I was thinking: what am I gonna do in the gang, be their accountant? ;) A consigliere role, perhaps.

  173. Wow…this article in itself is racist – white people are mixes as well…I’m Scottish, Irish, and Italian…yet I’m always considered “white”. Post-racialism seperates white from non-white, how is that not racist!?

  174. Doesn’t matter to me what form it takes, it is still intolerance, don’t kid yourself, racism here is also overt, may not take that form but at times it can be very obvious. Take for example, i read about the asian restaurant owner who proclaimed out loud that she did not want i believe it was “persians” in her store and the Ontario Human Rights Commission decreed that she was to pay $15,000 in damages to the complainant. How’s that for overt racism!?!

  175. Soooooooooooo true! This City also likes to foolishly brag about multiculturalism alot, gimme a break!

  177. Perhaps they’re just shy, as I was/am? Almost every woman I’ve dated has asked _me_ out.

    I’m not ruling out some kind of racism as craptor suggests, but you never know unless you try, right?

    If you’re worried about being too forward and that would put men off, well really, if they’re put off by a woman who is willing to be assertive and articulate their own wants and needs, then you probably don’t want to date them anyway, regardless of race.

    I do believe that there aren’t enough AM/BF (Asian Male/Black Female) relationships reported in mass media, or even in porn (although both Keni Styles and Rick Lee have done AM/BF porn), so there aren’t as many role models, but people are people: there are definitely Asian men out there who find black women attractive. Just because it’s not common doesn’t mean it can’t happen, or that it shouldn’t. It does present an additional barrier to dating, and a possible stressor on the relationship, but if you were really into Asian guys, you should definitely ask them out. Or even if you aren’t into Asian guys in particular but meet some Asian guy you fancy, why not ask him out?

    In terms of who we fancy, some of us are simply pickier than others, and I wouldn’t necessarily assume racism just because someone isn’t attracted to me. It’s as much hormonal, and possibly pheromonal, as anything to do with looks. There are also people with racial/ethnic fetishes, or people who have a specific ‘type’ that turns them on. I wouldn’t necessarily categorize that as ‘racist’: I don’t think you can help who you fancy, and who you don’t.

  178. Obviously there are instances of racism to which I’m not privy due to my Asian privilege which allows me to not stand out in an Asian community and also somehow be seen as ‘one of them’, even if I’m not actually ‘one of them’, so I don’t doubt that this sort of thing happens.

    I meant, to me personally, I haven’t had a case of overt racism in Toronto in a long time. The last one one was by the Sri Lankan owner of the World of Posters store in Toronto who thought my sister and I were Chinese, and that we were there to steal his precious store ideas or something, and kicked us out. But we found out that guy was shady in other ways, so racism wasn’t the worst thing he’d done in his life. I certainly didn’t blame him _because_ he was Sri Lankan, or assume that all Sri Lankans are like that (in fact, the owner of Flash Jacks, a rival poster store, is run by a very cool and nice guy who also happens to be Sri Lankan).

  180. I imagine it’s just internalized racism, which is very sad. Of course, an Asian girl who fancied me in uni got angry because I professed a liking for redheads, so maybe there’s enough blame to go around. But I don’t necessarily equate having a certain type with being racist. But your friends’ excuse for why they date interracially sounds like they’ve internalized racism: if they just said “oh, I have a thing for white and/or Persian guys”, I think there’d be nothing wrong with that.

  182. That’s cool. I’d love to see more of those types of relationships portrayed on TV and the movies, as well. We’re slowly starting to see some AM/WF couples portrayed in ads (I think one was for Rogers high-speed internet and the other was for… hmm, Bell Fibe, I’m starting to see a trend. ;) ), but it would be nice to see Asian males as romantic partners with people of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, male, female, etc.

    Asian men are largely portrayed as asexual in North American media, which, as an Asian male, is obviously disappointing. I guess the irony is that it’s the opposite extreme of how Asian men used to be portrayed as perverse, lascivious types who would ravish white women at every opportunity.

  183. Wouldnt we all be in an outrage if this article was called “The End of Black Toronto”, or “The End of Asian Toront”? I was under the impression that race does not exist; this article not only indicates that the white race exists but also implies that the city will be better off when there are no more white people in the city. Thats pretty racist.

  184. Fortunately i seriously do not care about other pple’s opinions/racist attitudes to me as someone of colour. If they think they are too good to be around other groups of pple then they have no business taking their hatred to anyone else’s country and hopefully one day only those who know how to adapt/respect this Country and all that they find here will be allowed to live here.

  185. i will give you another example of overt racism. Two yrs ago i entered a japanese resto on the Danforth to which i’d taken friends, lunched with my co. and eaten from many times over . I had entered to collect my take out behind a white couple who were immediately asked by a waitress if they needed a table. I on the other hand was completely ignored. Needless to say neither myself or friends or company will ever eat at that location again. Once again baffled by racists who come to this part of the world. I have no sympathy for what befalls them.

  186. Yeah, Jet Li and didn’t even get a sniff of Aaliyah in that movie.. leading male and female roles with some sort of connection… but completely asexual.

  187. I find the heading of this article a pure grab line that is somewhat offensive.

  188. Race exists but for some reason, the people in Canada either try to hide from it or become petrified from it. Whether it is a good or negative perception of ‘Race’ it should be the corrected in terms of application and definition in which it can address social issues.

    For these type of issues, it the times where the discussion becomes interrupted by racists who come out to enforce their ideals of white supremacy or the white rules. Everyone else plays dumb and think that they must ignore or pretend it doesn’t exist which is also wrong.

    Race does exists and it is a social construct that needs to develop in terms of definition and what is considered socially acceptable and not. The standards needs to be balanced out (it should not encourage actions or language that which is offensive or hurt others, but respect on having ‘race’ as the equal respect).

    It is not wrong to talk about race or to manage it but it is wrong to slander those based on the ground of racism that directs benefit to one group. Being in Canada the current norms tend to only benefiting group are whites.

    As you can see most interracial couples are catered mostly to white males too and I believe we were influenced to conform with this racism to satisfy their fetishism for the ethnic minority exotic women. Don’t believe me? check the parents of every interracial kid. Most of the time their father is white.

    That itself is a visible social inequality and a racist standard in effect catered towards white standards. This a ’cause and effect’ result of the past 100 years of backwardness and we still haven’t evolved socially since.

    Note I do not use ‘white’ to point at the race but the questionable of the irrationality of the current standard in western society.

    I would not expect people to be conscious of ‘Race’ and it’s application. After all Canadians are liberally blind and asleep in Ignorance. Yet the mainstream media advertises this as the best thing ever to suit the ideals of the white privilege.

    In the end you get some very confused mixed kids.

  189. What rubbish! The reason that there are so many couples with white males is because they are most likely to be open-minded enough to date outside of their race! Whereas many of these other groups have strict provisions that interracial dating is undesirable and NOT allowed. That is called RACISM! D not place this issue on the shoulders of whites. I know at least 3 mixed/ethnic pple who are ( grown pple too) who are being pressured to date only within their ” cultures” I wonder why pple like that even bother to move to democratic Countries when they truly hate freedom of choice!!

  191. So true! The unfortunate fact is that most of the racists i encounter are ethnic pple. And what really worries me about there being more foreign born pple here than Canadians is how racist and intolerant so many of them are! Pretty soon even Canadians will be left out of jobs just for being Canadian.

  192. Hahaha! U need to read more about this issue in the other comments that were placed before. Or get out more.

  193. I am a part Irish mixie and am well aware of their treatment ( as well as the Scots) by the British monarchy. So you do have a valid point!

  194. Asian male here, living the U.S. I didn’t have trouble with dating inter or intra “racially”. Maybe it’s something to do with Canada? Self-perpetuating fail mystique promoted by certain narcissists?

  195. This article annoys me. Its “thesis”, if you can find one, is comfortably ambiguous and PC enough for everyone to be happy — yet it has a title that is just inflammatory enough to sell issues. There is nothing at all offensive to anybody in it, but it’s the implication that is so greatly irritating that I can’t just keep it to myself anymore. Though what I can tell from it is that it was constructed to be a positive, feel-good, “soft news” story — you know, the sort of horse manure that comes from a publication that some days just doesn’t give enough of a damn to focus on the day’s real issues.

    But why should this be such positive news? Well, for the one obvious reason — there’s less of a stigma about dating people from other so-called “races”. Racism is clearly not directly mediated by the state anymore, as it was in the past century. That’s a great thing — any time the government can be told to shove off when it comes to, uh, “matters” between consenting adults is, as far as I am concerned, at least a minor victory.

    I feel, however, that Canada is in the grip of a wave of very neo-liberal, very warm-and-fuzzy attitudes towards self-hatred of one’s ethnic group. Growing up in Canada, I learned that nothing is more sacred a goal than the propagation of an ethnic culture. Ethnic minorities in Canada are like the exotic species you see on those impossibly long and droning Greenpeace or WWF infomercials on TV. And for good reason. Who doesn’t like goat-sushi-hummus pizza?

    So what’s the problem? Well, that precious gift of being allowed to be happy when you hear about your ethnicity growing and thriving, (and sorrowful when it is shrinking in number and confidence in identity) is unfortunately taboo if you happen to have white skin. The reason’s obvious — just never spoken about. White people are all Hitlers in disguise, so they can’t get too ethnically self-aware or self-enriched, or else–!! White people are the cause of all of the world’s problems, from smallpox blankets to Celine Dion. They’re overfed, over-privileged extortionists and all-in-all just pretty downright mean. They’ve ruled the world and stolen land and just don’t play nice. So to be proud and white is de facto to be proud of slavery and genocide.

    But who’s the one who keeps saying this? I haven’t heard it from any of my “visible minority” colleagues or friends. Oh yeah. It’s white people who are saying it. It’s basically just part of the Zeitgeist these days, from the most innocuous movies about a bunch of concerned and patronizing Anglo-Saxon Americans painting a schoolhouse in a downtrodden black Detroit neighbourhood, to the latest and greatest guilt trip à la Spike Lee. I challenge anybody to watch 10 years worth of TV in Canada or America and not be ashamed of your skin color or your heritage — if it’s the wrong one.

    So the End of White Toronto? Could there be a greater blessing for this city — nay, for the planet? To have one more city in this world one step closer to being rid of this God-awful cancer, this plague of locusts, this thorn in the side of civilization for all of these long centuries? Well it made you feel warm and fuzzy when you read the title, didn’t it? To wash your hands of the sins-of-the-father, passed onto you by your ancestors and theirs? Even if you are only the first generation of starving potato farmers, there is absolutely no way you can tell me you’ve never felt that your very existence was a burden on the world, and that your “race” was actually a stain on the human species. Not if you’ve lived on this continent.

    I’ve had enough of this crap. You shouldn’t have to be Chinese or Tagalog to be considered a crucial part of this tapestry (well, more like stew) of ethnicities we call Toronto. The first and second generations who were descended from poor European farming families number in the millions in this country, and we deserve nothing from each other but pride, and the drive to make our parents and grandparents even prouder, just like any other minority in this country, “visible” or not.

    Inter-racial relationships are thankfully a non-issue today, but the point is that “intra-racial” relationships should be equally celebrated. People should be free to either create a new ethnic identity or preserve an existing one, and not face the judgement of these holier-than-thou types who believe in abolishing all diversity.

    In short, if you genuinely find love in somebody of another ethnicity, go for it. But for fuck’s sake make sure that love is genuine, and that you’re not just out there as though you have something to prove for white people.

  196. The term “white people” is pure bunk. You can’t get away with having too light a skin color and being considered a worthwhile piece of ethnic diversity to keep around. I’ve suffered through countless Persians and light-skinned Indians and half-East Asians apologizing for how white they look or act, like it was a crime. So not only are ‘white people’ ignored as a bona fide ethnic and cultural mix, so are white-looking people. It stresses the point that when politicians/academics say “diversity” they exclusively mean people who aren’t “white” that are the result of a reflexive disgust towards the self…

  197. Poverty isn’t a result of racism. White people aren’t responsible for black people being poor, and you should be ashamed to be so racist as to thereby imply that black people aren’t strong enough to overcome racism, like almost other ethnic group has in this country.

  199. I really do feel sorry for you. I don’t know how I could put up with being considered ‘mixed race’ all my life as though I was a sort of human flagpost for my parents’ political views. And I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts you had to apologize for looking more white than black on multiple occasions.

  200. They’re poorer because they ‘celebrate fully, the customs of their homeland’. If you want to be wealthy in the developed world, you almost always have to throw out much of these: culture, family, religion, principle and idealism. That’s the culture we’re promoting simply because there’s a huge gap left in Canada and even Europe’s identities when monarchy and Christianity left. “Multiculturalism” is NOT an identity, it’s a lack of an identity. It tells immigrants, “have your culture or have no culture”. Consumerism is a game of distraction and doesn’t replace honest-to-goodness culture, and recent immigrants know that. In that sense, I agree with you. There is no underlying and unifying cultural theme to be found in this city aside from consumerism, and that just doesn’t cut it for people who hold onto their humanity. And the very human immigrants who flood into this country at an unprecedented rate in Canadian history will rightly choose their culture, their values, their ethnicities, their ghettos, over the empty pit consumerism is. They didn’t come here to lose their culture in a stew of multiculturalism, they came here because the government fooled them into thinking there were jobs here.

  201. Yet I’ve met so many ethnic pple who do have superiority complexes because they are light-skinned and like to think that that makes them ” white”…lol…many are even bleaching their skin!…lol….

  202. Other example of how far in left field you are would be firstly, the fact that if you enter businesses owned by ethnic pple in this City you will find in most cases the employees there are strictly of the same backgrounds cause that’s who they prefer to hire whereas if u enter a white-owned business you are much more likely to see a variety of groups of pple working there. And as for the race issue. I have heard stories of ethnic pple murdering their kids for being interested in young white males or pple of other backgrounds. So, who’s racist????????

  203. I don’t disagree that with each generation we are moving towards a global “melting pot” and I am not at all slamming being Canadian (or mixed), but my point was how do we preserve our cultural heritage and history? I am proud to be Canadian and always have been. I pushed my heritage away for many years as a child just wanting to fit in with everyone else…but now with my more life experience and perspective I value the deep history of my family and ancestors. So my question is how do we preserve the good things about our culture and heritage regardless of whether we are mixed or not? Canada is a country of immigrants for the most part, so all of us in some way are “ambiguously Canadian” because I’m sure we can all identify with more than one culture – that from the heritage of our parents and second all that comes from identifying oneself as Canadian.

  204. These pseudo intellectual types that dream of a mixed race utopia are no
    different than Hitler that dreamed of a blonde haired blue eyed Aryan
    world.

  205. Most ethnic groups in this Country bring very racist attittudes with them, so don’t even go there. Povertry should not be blamed on race but do not ignore the fact that ALL HUMANS ARE RACIST & INTOLERANT!!

  206. Nah, the racists are just more comfortable being themselves here in a Country that prides itself on being nice but the reality is unseen and with a smaller population than the U.S they get away with a lot more!

  207. I’m ecstatic to see that somebody else has seen through the hypocritical premise of this article and the elitist bunk that has been perpetuating it for decades now. Why is this essentially extreme racist opinion propped up so heavily by the media and by the academies of this once great country? People are entitled to prefer different races or mixes, but that’s often a question of aesthetics, not a moral question. Why is it so much holier to promote the mahogany race with the brazenly outspoken desire to essentially destroy all races in the entire city, especially European ones (refer to the title: End of WHITE Toronto).

    My grandparents were all working-class European farmers and factory hands! What did I or my ancestors do to deserve this overt hatred?

  209. This is almost exactly what I wanted to say. “Look, there’s going to be a whole bunch of ‘mixies’. We’re post-racial!” is both a stupid premise for an article and pretty neat example of how you can contradict yourself in a headline.

  211. This is such a load of CRUD!. I am ethnic person and have lived in this “diverse city”, so let me give u a simple fact, ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE RACIST!!!! Regardless of their skin colour or what Countries they originated in, rich of dirt poor! U have a problem with white pple feel free to take the next plane out cause they’ve been living here much longer than most ethnic pple and take your hatreds elsewhere ( alot of these ethnic groups need to do the same) cause had they not moved here for better or worse u’d be living in the dark ages somewhere else.

  212. They hate EVERYONE that’s different! They are forget that THEY came here and that THEY are free to leave!

  213. I am of mixed heritage, Irish/Ecuadorian , born and raised in Toronto. When to King Eddy the rival school for Lord Lansdowne and I can relate to this article. When people find out my bloodline I always get ” wow thats a different mix”, I just relpy ” well I’m a real Torotonian, nice and mixed”.

  214. I’m of mixed heritage, Irish/Ecuadorian , born and raised in Toronto. Went to King Eddy, the rival school for Lord Lansdowne and I can relate to this article. When people find out my bloodline I always get ” wow thats a different mix”, and I just reply with ” well I guess I’m a real Torotonian, nice and mixed”.

  215. I recall a high school math problem that asked how long it takes an object moving at 1m/s to travel half the distance of a 10m race. Then continue calculating how long it takes to travel half the remaining distance. Repeat calculating. The second part of that problem was how long it takes for the object to finish the race. The numerical answer got infinitely long and one fact of this exercise is that the object would never actually reach the 10m mark. Numbers are numbers and facts are facts, right?

    So there is a statistic of low AM-nonAF couples. The interpretation of a “cultural penalty” is an interpretation. All the academics in the world can say it, but it’s still an opinion based on a fact and not a fact itself. The statistic is the fact.

    The matter that it’s on a website called Asian-Nation also indicates bias to me. Ex-pats or a group of Asians with a similar mindset that are finding group cohesion in numbers.

    It’s been a month and I stumbled on this response so I hardly remember the context even reading through the responses. Being an average joe in the real world, I doubt any essay I write will have any sway with you nor similar minded people. Beyond a liberal arts degree, I have no accreditation.

    I don’t know what you want out of life. Ability to hit the club scene and pick from the woman tree? A non asian wife/gf who understands and appreciates whatever aspects of your asian background that you still live?

    All I can say to you is get out there and live and be open to whatever comes your way without keeping any of this stuff about inequality and numbers in the back of your mind. If you are out enjoying yourself and being confident and positive, you may not have been on people’s general radar but you can easily get yourself onto one person’s specific radar.

  216. I found the comments fascinating (way more so than the article itself) being a Mexican girl living in Canada I have a lot to say about race. In Mexico we are sadly very racist. The whiter you are the better you live or are well off, the darker you are the poorer you are. Obviously this is not so 100 per cent of the time but this is the perception. I guess it comes all the way from the Conquest, the Spaniards made the Indians their servants (and yes they mixed but the whites were always wealthier and the locals remained poor)
    Nowadays if an Indian looking girl enters the Mexican equivalent of Holt Renfrew, she will not be rapidly approached by sales clerks, enter a blonde girl and everybody is working hard for their commission..
    I know its hard to understand but I thought it would be something interesting to share. I’m in the middle I guess, olive with super dark hair and eyes. In Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto this never happened to me but I have felt the not so warm customer service by clerks in Vancouver and Edmonton and Calgary.
    I get it white people that is not so cool trying to communicate with non-English speakers on a day to day basis and if you are old enough maybe you long for the more homogenous days of your youth (yet it was one of your generation, P. Trudeau who helped shape today’s Canada) I find great comfort knowing that your kids are used to seeing all of “us immigrants” around and they’ll grow up to see this as their “normal”. My kids will be Scottish and Mexican and they’ll learn to make both haggis and Mole as part of their Canadian identity, mmm maybe not Haggis, I prefer shortbread! and I don’t see anything wrong with that :)

  218. Mongrels are not any better. All the First-world countries were built by Pure Race(either White or East Asians). Race Mixing can bring down a country and lower a country’s intelligence. Latin America has already proved that race mixing is complete a failure.

    Fuck Mongrels.

  221. It didn’t…but not because of his mother. It was me. I wasn’t ready for him and all he had to offer.

  222. When white people are finally extinct it will be a better world. Finally, the horrible scourge of racism will be gone forever, along with blonde hair, blue eyes, green eyes and all those other features of colourless European peoples. 92 percent of the world is already various shades of brown, with black hair and brown eyes, so, as long as race mixing continues, a better world is just over the horizon. To expedite the process, it might just be more humane to round up those whites that stubbornly refuse to embrace the new vision in cattle cars, and send them off to be quietly, but humanely euthanized. Then everybody will love each other, there will be no more division and we can all finally hold hands and sing kum bah yah in a single resonate voice and revel in our diversity and enlightenment.

  223. I can relate! I met 2 men in the past ( also not black) that I really liked but was not ready and now that I am they and are taken and am left feeling very sad about it all but knowing it’s all on me.

  224. I’d take that kinda society over one where everyone wants to look the same and actually thinks it’s cool!

  226. Several yrs ago in the U.S a black person was murdered by a Mexican person simply for being black! Racism knows no boundaries or limits. As for pple here preferring their homogenous history, can’t say i blame them, lots of these newer pple who move to this Country prefer to be around their own and are very racist towards those who are different. My issue with a lot of Immigrants to this great Country is this: in truth they prefer to deal with their own kind, not speak English and only support businesses run by those from their own countries. They are truly not suited to living anywhere other than where they came from. Many are very racist, rude, arrogant and ignorant and NO society would find pple like that desirable. It’s an issue everywhere even in the U.S in Jayz’s song New York there are lines ” foreigners who forget how to act”, problem’s everywhere!

  228. Leave NORTH AMERICA then! I find your comment so ignorant on so many levels. North America and this part of the world period is known as the New World not the first world and it has been developed by Caucasians, that’s it. If your pure race pple are so superior how is it that so many of you are moving to this part of the world?

  229. That’s because many of these groups are too racist to date each other…lol…what they forget is that they’re all living here for the same reasons although some are from worse places than others. And Brazil is not a race haven either, just ask those of African descent!

  232. I love how they showcase these poor kids like they’re zoo animals for this current political fad.

  233. He’s married, now! With a son… I, on the other hand, am still very much single. womp womp LOL

    He wound up marrying an Asian girl – whose parents are Trinidadian.

  234. Same here, womp, womp! Also single. One’s married and the other’s taken with 2 kids and the most difficult part is I work with him and sometimes have to see them as a family. Sucks!

  236. OMG, all the write is saying is the same thing i have heard said of mixed kids and that is that they tend to be cute/attractive, that’s all, not that they are superior to those who are not or that to be mixed makes them superior, geesh.

  237. Hahaha! You pple!?! I am an ethnic person, don’t get it twisted! Are whites to blame for the killings in Syria? The way that Saddam was to his own pple, the killings by muslims of christians, the incidents of inter-tribal killings in iraq because now that hussein is gone they are completely outta control?. The killings/bans in afghanistan of girls who want to be educated??? Oh yes, cause they are to blame for the problems of the world today. Btw, your writing is gibberish so i’d suggest you read more and hate less! Your one-sided assumptions are so ridiculous that it warrants this very simple fact, ALL HUMANS ARE RACIST!!!!!! Most of the racists i encounter are alot of the same ethnic groups you mention in your rant, so get a life and get real! And as for telling anyone to head back to Europe if u failed to notice it is a lot of these same groups that i are dying to get into Europe and North America in order to have any kind of life, no one’s forcing them to!!!!!

  239. I love how they showcase these poor kids like they’re zoo animals for this current political fad.

  240. LMAO! Are u saying that Halle Berry, her daughter, TIger Woods, Mariah Carrey, Lennie Kravitz, the Rock, Boris Kodjoe, Barack Obama, etc, who are all half black, are not attractive pple? What nonsense! Can u even name famous pple with the backgrounds or mixture that u think is all that? U’ve a small mind and you’re just talking smack!

  241. Do u ever bother to notice just how many east asian men are dating non-asian females? There’s the answer to why there aren’t any, geesh!

  242. Ask yourself this question, how many east asian men do u see dating non-asians? There is the answer, if they are unwilling or are too racist to do so, there will continue to not be many, these pics reflect the reality. Fortunately, there are many, many other types of males to choose from!

  243. I really enjoyed this article, thank you:) I’m in a mixed relationship and always wonder how our future kids/ mixed kids really feel about being mixed.

  245. Done? If ethnic pple have issues with white pple stop moving to the Countries they develp then and have a nice life wherever they came from, just stay there then, no one’s forcing u to leave! Most of the racists i encounter are ethnic pple so quit using the race card cause that just makes u and idiot!

  246. It seems nobody is aware that “Mexican” (ie. Amerindian) -looking Hispanic males have it much worse than Asian males. I am mestizo but look way more Amerindian than Spaniard. I’ve been living 8 years in Toronto and have always been turned down by white women and Asian women. The furthest I’ve been with a woman was on 3 dates but that was only because she is into First Nations projects within healthcare.
    I know some friends that are of my “stock” and they too are single and their dating is nil.
    Talk about real racism!

  248. So because some women have not found u attractive they are being racist???…lol…no doubt in some cases your race-look may have something to do with it, Toronto may be a diverse City but racists come in ALL shades. Life is like that, you may not be everyone’s type, keep trying!!!!!

  249. Put a pic of you here, i dare ya! let’s see how cute YOU are. And pple are race mixing for LOVE. In case u missed that!

  250. The white male is on the top of the dating chain ! No matter how much u think the society is over it, it is not only clearly depicted in the skewed ratio of Asian/Black Males interracial dating to White men interracial dating but this mentality is also prevalent in the media (movies, TV, ads etc.). People use stereotypes of Asian males being nerds as if White nerds do not exist ! If u say that Asian males do not want to date black or other non-white race please also note that white women will also never date Asian males because of cultural stereotypes like they being from an inferior race and other non-sense like that. Racism is still very alive and kicking !

  251. Rom, u r truly delusional! White males appeal more to me as an ethnic person because they are more worldly, open-minded, interesting, classy, well-rounded and educated than alot of these other males that I encounter. Alot of these other cultures are very opposite to that. Very stuck in some other culture, not very good to women and not very sophisticated and downright racist!! It has very little to do with the media and very much to do with the way alot of these groups perceive each other or think that they are too good to date others. Take for example my ex, he is 1/2 east asian and half moroccan, his mother is a mixture of 2 east asian cultures and is very racist: has mad e it very clear to all 3 of her sons that she wants them to date only asian women. Two of them do so and although my ex is attracted to darker-skinned women he does not dare tell his mother this or date anyone like this openly! I could never respect any man from any culture who is not man enough to make his own personal choices in this aspect of his life so quit blaming others or the media for any of these issues!!!!!!!! Many of these groups carry within them this hatred of others. They forget oh so easily that they are the ones moving to other Countries, no one’s making them do it and they are free to leave, I just wonder how superior they’d still feel if they were stuck back where they came from with not much of a chance of a good life or health care or jobs or much of anything really!!

  252. What’s bad about this how racist and self-centered alot of these pple are. With Canada allowing high numbers of certain groups who bring very bad attitudes and pre-conceived notions with them it’s just a matter of time before things take a turn for the worst here. Canadians would be much better off populating their own Country. At least Americans/Mexicans have the numbers and strong cultural identity to maintain their own society/identity!

  258. Sentence makes no sense, pick up a book and get something in your head and stop hating, they did not force you to come here!!

  259. Yoy should take a look at the mixed race
    population in England and Cape Town South Africa. Not only is there a large mixed race population, but the rest of the population does not refer to them as something else or only one race. Toronto is jusy starting to learn.

  260. Race-mixing increases racism as it gives more areas to pick at: ex. different shades of skin (light vs brown vs dark), eye shapes (almond vs wide), nose, eye colour etc etc. Most biracial or multi-racial children who share more “white” features are liked more than having more “asian, black, or brown” features. Look at Brazil! Rac-mixing brought MUCH more racism that destoryed. Look at black America!

    Racism will never end because of inter-racial marriages, but from celebrating and accepting differences in all races! It’s like saying intersexes will end sexism! Stupid logic!

  261. Rianna you are blissfully unaware of what you just said, Latin America is THE MOST racist and most mixed place in the world! Look at Brazil, race-mixing just increases racism!

  262. Whites are the least racists in the world! It’s always white majority countries where you see other ethnicies learning side-by-side with white students, and working in careers (not just servitude jobs seen in many Arab countries).

  263. au contraire! Somewhere on this list of comments I indicated the issue of intra-racial tensions all across Central and South America to someone who wanted to paint Brazil as a racial paradise. U r wrong.

  267. Oh u blithering idiot! I am an ethnic person who’s lived and works in Toronto and know exactly what I am talking about. Shouldn’t u be somewhere else? You wanna start something? Bring it!! Cause I will not be sugar-coating anything!!

  268. I am an ethnic person u ignoramus!! Once again you are being an idiot!! What does America have to do with this Canadian article and uniquely Canadian situation!?! At least Americans have a society of togetherness where EVERYONE lives under ONE flag and calls themselves American and do not have to do deal with the divisiveness that Canada has to because we have foolishly decided to encourage multiculturalism!! Why don’t u go live some place else If u have a problem with white? How about Syria or North Korea? I am sure you would love being there right now!! :P

  271. Americas
    The Americas, or America, also known as the New World, are the combined continental landmasses of North America and South America, in the Western Hemisphere. Along with their associated islands, they cover 8.3% of the Earth’s total surface area. Wikipedia
    Population: 953.6 million (Jul 1, 2012)
    Area: 16.43 million sq miles (42.55 million km²)

  272. By your bantering I belong in western europe. Truthfully I’d LOVE to be in europe vs this failed corporate american state called canada.

    You idiots truly are the 51st state.

  273. U’d love to be!?! What’s keeping ya? Canadians don’t give a crap about u ungrateful idiots who have no choice but to leave whatever hell holes u originated from and then go online and criticize their Country while forgetting that YOU came here and u can get da hell out on a plane or a bloody boat, who gives a damn! Americans would tell u even you even more that you need to hear!! My final take on this cause u r an Idiot who will not get a brain is this, u got a problem with North America, get back on a plane and beat it!!!! Cause u obviously cannot see the real third world country that parts of Canada is becoming and I would rather it was the US cause at least It would be North American.

  274. I am wasting one last comment on u cause u r an idiot who obviously craves attention: you said America, that pertains to one Country, the United states of America!! U did not say the Americas, NO ONE says that anymore!! Stupid. You can quote Wikipedia but somehow still get it twisted!! Stupido!!

  275. I’m sorry to break the reality to you but Outside quebec, Canada and the US are the exact same place to me. Both pales in comparison to most of Europe.

    Toronto is america’s fourth largest metro area.

  276. Agree with guest. Funny how “diversity” usually means a black guy and Asian woman on TV. Asian males have many negative racist stereotypes in Western society, many unfair and bigoted. Asians themselves also have lots of white worship, so simply race mixing Asians with whites sometimes just reinforces white privilege…..

  277. Most Asian women who date white men look like Mrs. Zuckerberg

    http://imageshack.com/a/img690/1699/24qf.jpg

    In my area, of course there are white male – Asian female couples but the most gorgeous Asian women are dating Asian men.

    And I am firmly convinced that Asian women are attracted to white men at all

    If you go to YouTube and search video clips containing “I love white guys” including quotation marks, all the results are young black women. There is not even one clip of an Asian woman saying she likes white men http://goo.gl/RxgZYO

  278. What nonsense! How does dating an asian person enhance white privilege? One would think that it would be the other way around since whites are more known more known for wealth and privilege! And as for your comment about asian males let me lay it out for you, many of them are very close-minded and too racist to date outside of their own backgrounds, do not ignore the intolerance and racist attitudes that alot of these groups bring with them to North America because they so easily forget just what kinds of hell holes they had to leave behind to get here!!

  279. It’s funny how now that Whites have done all the work to develop this Country over hundreds of yrs how so many ethnic want to change it to suit them and their purposes, gotta problem with the way things are pack your ish and take the next plane out!

  280. That’s because Canada gets alot of the worst immigrants many of whom have no manners or class and are very hostile and racist!

  281. There are also a lot of asian women who are not the least bit interested in dating asian men, so what’s your point? White pple don’t care about this stuff and would not wanna be from most Countries that ethnic pple are from. And alot of these asian women date/marry white males to get their papers so don’t get it twisted!

  283. I get comments that I’m Southeast Asian or that I’m half or a quarter white when I’m full Chinese (as far as I know. They might have switched babies!) I suspect my future husband will likely be somebody other than my own race. Not because I want to “mix genes” or I am more attracted to people other than my own race per se. However, I’m more culturally American as I am raised here and I suspect my own people wouldn’t find me as attractive as I do not practice strict sun avoidance as most recent immigrants.

  284. You really know the history about Latin America? Most of problems is not about the color.

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  288. Where I’m from mixed races are so common and natural and beautiful, I don’t see the problem with two different people coming together who loves each other or attracted to one another a problem at all God made us all equal we are all humans some just different color and and from different places, I’m mixed with Nubian, Indian and Yiddish and almost everyone in my family is mixed

  289. Hi I’m jeff just wana know I’m aboriginal and German my spouce is Lebanese is it rare to have kids like that in Canada were just curious and wana know if anyone has children that we will have soon also because her religion is difficult because not suppos to be with someone like me lol.

  290. White people are an evil race that invented slavery and killed the Indians and destroyed the earth. White people want to mix because they know they’re evil. The facts sprakt for themselves.

    If you DONT want to mix you’re a racist.
    Whites need to go, and everyone knows it… Unless they’re racist.

  292. In my experience, many family men and women from various ethnic backgrounds I’ve spoken to share the opinion that we should truly cherish and appreciate the differences between us, our cultures and our people. We should truly cherish and appreciate what makes our peoples unique, distinct and individual. Quite frankly I’m not particularly interested in having coffee coloured kids or grandkids, and neither were they.

    These immigrants explained that multiculturalism in the way that it was implemented in Canada didn’t encourage diversity. It didn’t encourage us to really enrich ourselves or take part in enjoying different cultures. We agreed that in order for multiculturalism to succeed, you had to engage in the breakdown and destruction of all the individually unique cultures involved to create a new identity. Kinda like a meat grinder, taking people from various ethnic backgrounds and blending them together to form a uniform brown mass.

    A mass with hardly a culture of its own, disconnected from any historical roots, values, morals, and with little to no sense of community besides other mixed individuals is not exactly a shining example of diversity or multiculturalism. If there are no more cultural values and radically different identities, you have a monocultural society.

    I’m not interested in that kind of society. These recently landed immigrants weren’t either and I think they should stay that way. We can appreciate the differences between our people without becoming a “post racial society”.

    I’m glad this kind of society is only sought after by progressive college students, and usually self loathing, ethno-masochist people of European descent in the cities, because the rest of Canada is for the most part, ethnically and culturally homogeneous. This fake multiculturalism only exists in the cities.

  293. Unfortunately, the highest levels of government and the UN believe in mixing (only Whites), out of existence. This is happening in every White country on the planet, and they politicians and social engineers have been quite Frank about their intentions. Just search for “White Genocide” and you’ll get all the proof you need. Also subscribe to Red Ice Creations, check radixjournal.com and various sites in the “Dark Enlightenment” who are trying to save the White race.

    Rural Canada is white, for now, but plans will be made to disperse immigrants. This is currently being done in the Sates through HUD. There can be no White countries. There can be no White areas within those previously White countries, and soon enough, there can be no White families.

    This is real. It’s not hidden, it’s just not televised. If you look, you’ll find all the proof you need.

  294. They’re referred to as “coloured”. There are several examples of countries which are race mixed, Mexico and Brazil included. they are not shining examples of perfect humanity and they certainly aren’t leading the way in science or the Arts.

  295. Isn’t it strange that interracial couple basically means 1 white person + (insert non white partner here)? The stigma of being depicted as automatically be racist just because you are white carries over into profound levels for some. But mostly that stereotype of white man + asian women (many Asians are in fact shadists and will not marry darker skinned people) is as such because they believe the asian women to be less of a westernized feminazi then the white woman. Ditto with other races of women.

    Still any stories on the asian + black couple? Hmm? Indian + black etc? Seems pretty obvious doesn’t it? It’s a liberal tactic to pander to tribe mentality and invent corresponding phobias to silence all criticism when at the end of the day it’s all about staying in power. Take for example the mostly liberal predominant north vs those racist bubble thumping southerners in the states. Baltimore was a riot after what happened to brown. In the south, blacks and whites were hugging and embracing each other after the church tragedy. The only people obsessed with race and racial baiting and divide and conquer tactics are the nasty liberals who will do anything for a vote. Be it immigration (which has done nothing in toronto but create even more traffic, overwhelm our aging infrastructure to the point now where with a modest rainfall we get floods, drive housing standards down whilst prices are shot to the moon etc), or as in the states through HUD the relocation of poor housing into middle class housing for better services and we’ll being of the poor (read stifling predominantly republican voting neighborhoods and states with democrat voting ones). This is why toronto in a mere 10 years has had a MAJOR change in its demographics.

    So to put it simply. How has immigration been libtards? Owning a house is a luxury, traffic is worse here then in far larger cities in usa and europe, basements and roads are more prone too flooding. But hey, we simple conservative minded folk are just shallow racists for making any critique (as Rob Ford was labeled anti-immigrant with a racist overtone for pointing out the obvious; that Toronto’s infrastructure couldn’t handle the people already here).

    But hey thanks libtards, it’s worth all the choice of ethnic foods eating out while living in a shoebox for over a grand a month, or paying a million for a 300k 1000 Sq ft house with no yard, or taking an hour to travel a dozen kilometers, whilst banks and building companies are making a fortune to mostly foreigners creating big blocks of Asian etc only housing (read advertising homes/condos only in their native language).

  296. Brazil has been post-racial for awhile then. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be black in Sao Paulo?

  297. A lot of these other groups are very racist I agree speaking from personal experience. But interracial does not just mean a white male and an asian female, it pertains to all mixed relationships, that I disagree with. Shadists is not the word, it is very simply racist, that is the word. And as for the other ethnicities you refer to in your second paragraph, these groups are too racist to date each other…lol….but I do agree on your take on the unfortunate results of high immigration. When will the politicians learn!?!

  298. It’s funny how now that Whites have done the work to build and develop Countries like Canada and the US that idiots like u want them to leave. Take the next plane out and go home, fool!

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