How to Prove You're a Bigot

I was in a Tim Horton's today lamenting that I had done so poorly during the rrrroll up the rrrrim to lose promotion when an East Indian came in and got in line behind me. He wore a turban and had a beard which indicated to me that he was of the Sikh faith. I know a little about India as I grew up in a predominantly East Indian community and my best friend since I was in grade 2 was also a Sikh. They were the nicest family I have ever met. In fact I called his Mom Massi (MOSS-see) which means My Mother's Sister in Punjabi. I picked up a little of the language as a child and also visited India in 2001. My Massi was always nice to me and taught me a lot about their culture, (although I hated the food) and traditions. She was very proud of me when I accomplished things and treated me like another son. It was her I thought of when the following incident happened.

Back to the local Timmy's. I was in line, and after the Sikh gentleman lined up behind me, in came an older white gentleman (a term I use very loosely). I overheard a conversation that I inevitably would join that went something like this;

Bigot - "Do you know Harbinder that works at (some business) over on Empress?"
Sikh - "No I don't"
Bigot - "He's from India, Harbinder... you don't know him?"
Sikh - "No sorry I don't"
Bigot - "Well you're from India aren't you?"
Sikh - "Yes but I don't know him"
Bigot - "But he's from India"
Sikh - "I don't know everyone in the city"
Bigot - "Are you sure you don't know him?"
This is all I could take and stuck my nose into it as I do from time to time
Payne - "Excuse me Sir but there are maybe 60,000 people from India in this city he obviously doesn't know them all"
Bigot - "I wasn't talking to you"
Payne - "Well I am talking to you, do you know all the redneck bigots in town? No, so why would he know all the East Indians. Grow up."
Bigot - "Mind your own business"
Payne - "I'll make you a deal, I will stay out of it if you stop being ignorant, you're embarrassing yourself"
Bigot - "(unintelligible muttering)"

...and thus ended the conversation. It really annoyed me though and so I had to blog about it. I spent the next few minutes (and Timmy's claims to save time by not having interac) speaking with the gentleman and displaying my limited knowledge of Punjabi to his amusement. He tried to teach me more but I couldn't do it. I got my stack of Timmy's coffee's (and my Large Tea - two milk and two artificial sweetener {I am trying to cut back on sugar}) and said goodbye and he said goodbye with a big smile and I felt pretty good about it.

I understand certain prejudice's in our society though I don't condone them. Although I must admit I don't fully understand people's mistrust of East Indians. I realize, as with most bigotry, the roots begin with a lack of knowledge and understanding. Since Sept 11th it seems anyone with a turban or even a darker complexion is considered a Muslim terrorist. That to me is also strange as most of the muslims I have encountered are a lot more peaceful than many of the caucasians I meet, but that is a blog for another day.

The whole thing really bothers me. Yes there are some extremists out there that are from India. Interjit Singh Reyat and Repudaman Singh Malik are tied to the Air India disaster and there are some gang troubles in the East Indian community but look around. We have extremists in every culture. Look at the Africans in Darfur, or the Muslims in the middle east, or the Asians in Southeast Asia, or how about us caucasians...we are pure as the driven snow aren't we? KKK, IRA, FLQ, the Oklahoma City bombings, the Unabomber...all of these represent white people. Maybe before we look fearfully at others we should as a society take a good long look in the mirror.

I wish everyone could experience other cultures and then maybe this type of misunderstanding and hatred would cease to exist. Where would we be without Comedian, and East Indian, Russell Peters, or Naveen Andrews (Sayid Jarrah on the TV Show "Lost") or finally The Simpsons' Apu ("Thank you come again") at the Kwik-e-Mart in Springfield? Let's all lighten up and celebrate the differences. That would be something my Massi would really be proud of. Until next time remember, no Payne no gain!