Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 4:11 am-
My experience with being even "half-Canadian" in the States is that they HATE that. Maybe it was because it was California, Oregon, Washington, and Massachusetts, where the American patriotism is strongest, and maybe it was just because I am First Nations and they sincerely believe down there that all Canadians are white people; or that since my father was Canadian and I am nonwhite, by US standards a girl is supposed to be "her mother's daughter" and not claim their citizenship based on the father, etc. Something, or maybe a combination of all of those things. For me, being in the States was HELL because I was being torn in two different directions. I've always known where my first loyalty was, but being in my mother's country after my father died, made it, like I said, Hell on earth. But if you're "fully" Canadian, both parents Canadian that is, and not living in the States at the time, then actually it's easier on you emotionally because you won't be treated by the Americans like you're one of them, you're supposed to think like them, act like them, tolerate the horrible ways they treat each other and people they think are "Americans," and even call yourself an "American." I mean, with a Canadian Status Indian card or a Nova Scotia drivers' license, on a First Nations girl in the States, my life was in danger quite frequently. Being treated like an alien (i.e. like dirt) by INS is a whole lot better than being treated like an "American" by the general population and in the streets, trust me! I'd rather run into INS than be treated like "Injun-nigger" in the streets of the typical American city!
Of course, for people not First Nations, none of the above will apply. Only visible minorities are treated like dirt in the States.