How do you court the approval of white voters while trying to make everyone else feel included? In Ontario, you do it very carefully. Our province is home to a large percentage of Canada’s visible minority population, and has received the biggest share of immigrants to Canada for the last 10 years and beyond. But you wouldn’t know it by following our political campaigns.
Read MorePerhaps it happens in many cultures, but Helen Mo has only seen Asian and South Asian families hide death and illness from older relatives. "With one act, it’s possible to both love and disrespect," she writes in Don't Tell Grandma.
Read MoreHelen Mo on why hipsters love an ethnic wedding.
Read MoreMuslims.
That dirty word stripped Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of his white privilege: he had been identified in news reports as a Chechen, terrorist and radical, but never American.
Because he’s Muslim. Like me.
Read MoreHennessy and Enemies: the Toronto Star had some pretty stupid things to say about the link between hip hop, cognac and last summer’s shooting on Danzig Ave. So Denise Balkissoon has some stupid questions of her own.
Read MoreStarting off, let’s confront St. Patrick’s Day head-on with a Dubliner’s Rant by Séamus Conaty. “Patty! Really? Patty? That is either an old WASPy woman’s name or a delightful Jamaican pastry, not Ireland’s main man.”
Read MoreRoger Keil, the director of the City Institute at York, mentions the Ethnic Aisle (he calls us wonderful!) in his post about the NYT's latest take on gentrification (which, says Denise who is posting this, I found fairly annoying and definitely dismissive of ethnicity).
Read MoreSeptembre Anderson wonders if racial profiling by police will always be part of Toronto.
Read MoreDenise Balkissoon argues for purposeful, perhaps policy-based, integration as the key to a less racist future.
Read MoreIllustrator Roxana Parsa shares her graphic take on the GTA’s downtown/suburban divide.
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We are sorry that we haven't updated in a while. It's summer and we're busy enjoying life and you know what? You should be too. Get off the internet, we'll see you at the beach.
One day soon, we are going put up a Q&A with illustrator Ness Lee, a Hilarious-Hakka-Chinese-Canadian whose stuff we love love love. Above, her take on today's news that the Bank of Canada wussed out on putting an Asian woman on our $100 bill because of some random jerks in a random focus group. If you want to hear Denise Balkissoon's take on it, go here.
But really, you should go to the beach.
Jaime Woo reveals the most shocking thing about being a faceless torso on Grindr.
Read MoreIf Kim Kardashian and Rihanna have taught us one thing, it’s that someone else can like your rearview, but if you flaunt it, you’re a slut. No fair, says Renee Sylvestre-Williams.
Read MoreMy mom's not a jeans and t-shirt type of girl.
And now in her mid-50s, it's doubtful she'll ever be one. My mom feels most comfortable in the traditional Pakistani shalwar-kameez, a loose-fitting tunic top and flowing pajama-like pants that billow in the wind every time I see her walk out of our Mississauga home.
Her outfits often have unimaginable bright hues, anywhere from magenta to parrot green, colours that seem to blind you on a cold, tombstone-grey Canadian winter day. They always grab my attention.
Read MoreJaime Woo is a Chinese guy, yet he can grow a beard. Weird. “In gay culture, men have decided to flee from the swishy, polished look of the late-90s and early naughts towards beards and tatts. I’m lucky, I guess, that my laziness happened to time in with the trend towards a more traditionally masculine look.”
Read MorePassing, Or Something Like It: Paul Aguirre-Livington on realizing that despite being a son of an immigrant father whose first language isn't English, the actual colour of his actual skin still makes him "white."
Read MoreBlack envy, or black in a past life? Lisan Jutras in Jesus Saves: "When I heard “Mary Don’t You Weep,” on Aretha’s gospel album, I’d picture myself running super fast, or maybe even floating, with a pushing feeling inside my chest, and I’d find myself crying."
Read MoreJohn Michael McGrath would like to share his 8 Simple Rules for Marrying a Chinese Woman except "it turns out there’s no one Chinese Girl TM out there to date and marry. They’re all different! My wife Vicki is even totally different from her sisters! It’s weird."
Read MoreThe Wellness Issue
