This week an article I wrote about the observations on the Democratic Presidential election among Black Canadians was published in my hometown newspaper, the Toronto Star. As any freelance journalist knows, you have to adhere to a rigorous word count and I really wanted to post some of the perspectives from the interviewees that didn't make the cut, here.

First, why in hell does a Canadian care? Something that I have thought to myself as I feel the heat rising from my chest to my face as I watch FOX news or Lou Dobbs on CNN. It's not about simply disagreeing with them; it  is how some political pundits and TV journalists (and some bloggers) intentionally fan the racist and sexist flames to incite fear into socially and culturally ignorant voters by perpetrating falsities that if they had a even basic IQ level, they would realize that their claims don't make any sense. Examples: a) Barak Obama is not a Muslim - if that really even matters if he was, but the insinuation infers to the 9/11 terrorists whom yes, were Muslim but a radical sect of terrorists who just happened to be Muslim. Get it?

Or b) Reverend Wright - What's the big deal? Because some people really think that all black folks are secretly angry and planning to start a race war. See, we all think alike, and we all vote alike, some police officers think we all look alike and apparently, are not allowed to have an opinion that differs from what others feel we should feel and think.

Sigh. From Chandra at Is Greater Than:

Canada prides itself on an expression of multiculturalism that Americans only dream of. This is the legacy of the late great Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Yet, having spent seven years in academia in the USA, I have never seen academics behave as abominably when it comes to the topic of race as I have seen in Waterloo, the world’s Top Intelligent Community in 2007 and 70 miles southwest of Toronto, the second most diverse city in the world. From comments about “whining aboriginals who get away with too much” to “you Black people,” I continue to be shocked and even surprised. It has been pointed out to me repeatedly that all but one of the aggressors in my stories of racism in Canada have been European by birth, not just descent. This supposedly implies that this is not a Canadian problem but perhaps a European problem.

Despite having a rich African-Canadian history, it is my opinion that Black Canadians have always borrowed heavily from African-American culture. We carefully watch what is happening in terms of music, trends and yes, even political and social activism. Canada, despite what many people rather naively think is not the bastion of peacefulness. We have our problems, but here - and I think I can say this as I travel to the States quite frequently - our racism and sexism is covert in comparison to our neighbors - which in some ways, makes it even worse. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be so polite. 

Even though we are live in another country, I found while talking to a number of people for the article, we are watching and we have formed an opinion on who we want to win. Despite the title of this post and despite the responses, not everyone was initially an Obamamaniac. Some were vying for John Edwards and some, like myself, really liked Dennis Kucinich . I wondered, what if any social, political or cultural changes Black Canadians might see if Obama does win the Presidency. Here are some outtakes:

(But) wasn’t Obama thinking about (the potential for an increase in overt racism and how his candidacy would be affected) before? Doesn’t / should he be thinking about the future?

You always have to weigh the pros and the cons. But you always have to look at what is good to you. We have never had a black man who has had a credible challenge before. It seems that he has a good shot in terms of delegates and fund raising. He is doing everything right. You have to ask yourself – what is the nature of citizenship? You are entitled to….How does it translate? A lot more Canadian blacks could run for political office. We might be seeing a huge change among the younger generation, as he has reached out to youth like nobody else has. He’s younger and looks young. And he will not be the youngest person but he is inspiring to the younger generation.

Do you think Black Canadians would volunteer to go down to the States and work on Obama's campaign - if they (legally) could?

I don’t think that a lot of Canadian black would go down to help with Obama’s campaign. I think it’s cute I think it’s funny and I think it’s silly. I think that Obama represents all of us. He is an immigrant – but he is not an immigrant, he has roots in Africa, he has other cultures in him he is American but on the other hand, he isn’t. I think that he represents all blacks but he also represents non-blacks, too.

Is it fair to think that an Obama presidency will be a positive influence among black youth? What about Canadians? (Okay I rephrased this a bit better during the interview)

“It will give (black youth) the self-respect and boost the image of the black community in the eyes of the country and in the world. At least I hope it will let people see that we can be more than gang-bangers and ‘ho’s!” Admitting that she is concerned more with American politics and Canadian politics because “I think what happens over there has a bigger impact on the world than what happens here,” she does not think that it will help in unifying the cultural differences that presently lie within the Black Canadian community. “There is not common experience. Black Canadians do not really have that one defining moment in their history. Whatever we experience here is just the byproduct of the African – American experience. Our clothing, the way we talk, the videos we watch – all these are based on the black American culture. Heck, you can’t even name a single leader in the community!”

What I believe, is Black Canadians have a vested interest in the outcome of this election because we realize this about racism: What happens to one person can ultimately happen to anyone who shares the same ethnicity. We also know that because of the 'monolitic' thought that even trumps sexism - more people think that blacks share the same mannerisms more than they think all women share the same emotional and intellectual attributes. We have experienced it, we have to acknowledge it, and more importantly, we know that what happens south of the border will eventually make it's way here.