The Truth About Black Canadians

Life is funny, folks. Case in point? Me. Steve Acier. Mr. Big and tall Black man of Haitian descent living in Nepean, a suburb of the capital city of Ottawa in the Province of Ontario. I moved there from my hometown of Boston, Massachusetts, at the end of 2009. Since then I enrolled at Carleton University and I also work part-time as a security guard at the local art gallery. Since I moved to Ottawa, I experienced a lot of culture shock.

Ottawa is a city with a growing population of immigrants, most of whom hail from the Middle East, the Republic of China, the Caribbean, the Republic of India and Continental Africa. They make up almost thirty percent of the city's population. As a Haitian guy raised in the U.S. I thought I had seen it all. Then I came to Ottawa. A city which I am still trying to understand. Canadians are more complicated and less benign than us Americans give them credit for. I've run into a lot of subtle and not so subtle racism in the city of Ottawa. And not all of it came from 'mainstream Canadians' as I call Canadians of European descent.

A lot of the local immigrant groups don't get along with each other. And nowhere is that more evident than among the many different Black groups. The Jamaicans and the Haitians along with the Trinidadians don't get along with the Kenyans, Ghanaians, South Africans, Somalians and Ethiopians. I think that's a shame because if Black Canadians united, they could accomplish a lot. Unfortunately, there is a lot of infighting among the different groups of Black Canadians in the city of Ottawa. In Boston, I experienced a culturally diverse world where Black Unity was the rule rather than the exception. In Canada, Black Unity is a dream rather than a reality.

In Ottawa, I find myself at odds with my fellow Blacks. I was born in the city of Cap-Haitien in Northern Haiti in 1987. My family and I moved to Boston, Massachusetts, a little more than a decade ago. Since then, I became a United States Citizen and I even started college back home. I attended Roxbury Community College in the cit of Boston before moving to Ottawa, Ontario. I miss the laid back nature of Boston's African-Americans. In Boston, a Black man is seen as a brother by the Black men and Black women he encounters. In Ottawa, he is seen as a stranger. There is very little love between the different Black groups in Ottawa. And that my friends is a problem.

I also noticed that Black Canadians don't seem to think much of themselves. I'm paying international fees to attend Carleton University in the city of Ottawa because I consider it a damn fine school. Education matters to this Haitian-American, thank you very much. So much for the stereotype of Black men not caring about their education. My father, Leonel Acier earned his Master's degree in Sociology from Brandeis University. He now teaches at Boston's very own Saint Patrick Academy. My mother Jeanne Etienne Acier earned her bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Boston College and now works as a Corrections Officer for the State of Massachusetts. My parents are an educated, hard-working couple. And they instilled in me a sense of pride and dignity. I want to follow in their example. That's why I chose to study internationally. I wanted to get an edge over my competition back in the United States of America.

Black Canadians don't seem to put as much value on education. And that's a damn shame. Because some of the best local schools, like the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, are really low-priced for Canadian citizens. International students like myself have to pay double what they pay. And as for those Black Canadians who do attend University, they seem to distance themselves from their fellow Blacks. Almost every Black man I see at Carleton University has a White girlfriend. And many of the Black women at the university just don't date Black men. Now, I am not opposed to interracial dating. However, interracial dating in Ottawa is far different from interracial dating in Boston. For starters, the educational and income disparities between Blacks and Whites are much greater.

Black Canadian men and Black Canadian women seem to think the only way they can get ahead is by hooking up with someone White. They put down their own race constantly and use it to justify dating or marrying outside. I've heard many a Black Canadian male make disparaging remarks about Black women. And I've lost count of how many Black Canadian women seem to have nothing but hatred for Black guys. Contempt for their own race seems to drive Black Canadians into the bedrooms of Whites rather than love. That's the main difference between Black Canadians who date interracially and Black Americans who do the same thing. Black Americans think highly of themselves. They are fearless. And they date whoever they damn well please without losing themselves. Black Canadians are so self-loathing it's not even funny. They constantly praise their White partner and put down Black individuals of the opposite sex. What the hell? It's almost as if Black Canadians are afraid to be Black!

It's in this world that I find myself, folks. I get so tired of Black Canadians. I get tired of these Black Canadian guys who laugh when White women make disparaging remarks about Black women. And I get ticked off at those Black Canadian women who seem to worship White men and treat good Black men like dirt. Small wonder Black Canadians can't advance. In the city of Ottawa, there are a very small number of University-educated Black male and Black female professionals who are gainfully employed. The employment rates for University-educated people of color in Ottawa tend to be dismal. Rather than unite against this grave injustice, Black Canadian men and Black Canadian women would rather sleep with White people, and beg for crumbs from their table. That's all that Black professionals in Ottawa seem to get. I hardly see any of them walking around in business attire downtown. I don't see too many of them in the government sector. White folks in Ottawa seem to think Black folks are only good for cooking, cleaning and washing dishes. In their eyes, that's all we are. An inferior breed designed to do menial tasks. We can't be corporate CEOs or big-shot politicians. Does that bother me as a Haitian-American student attending University in Canada's capital city? You bet! Does that bother Black Canadian men and Black Canadian women? I sincerely doubt it. They're content being losers and nobodies.

Man, I can't wait to finish my studies at Carleton University. I want to leave Ottawa and return to Boston. That and I badly want to work in law enforcement. I know I'll get in. I'm healthy, educated, law-abiding and experienced. And I happen to have a relative in the field, my dear mother. I want to go back to Celtics City and forget all about them Black Canadians. The biggest source of disappointment in my life. It's almost as if the civil rights movement of the United States of America didn't teach Black Canadians anything. Oh, well. These people are no brethren of mine. We've got nothing in common other than skin tone. Inside of me burn the fires of my proud Haitian-American lineage. I know I'm just as good as any person out there, regardless of his or her color. A powerful feeling that someone should instil in our dear Black Canadians. Anyhow, I'm done ranting. I've got to get to class. Peace.