Toxicity Scores & Embeddings

Here is a aggressively neutral take as a Canadian elementary school teacher in an area with an extremely high Indian population (around half our school is ethnically Indian). It is also my own opinion, and some opinions on the internet suck: The good: Cultural integration IS possible (the Indian families are more into hockey than the white families where I live), tons of cross-cultural friendships, beautiful blend of cultural celebrations, top achievers are almost always second-generation immigrants, kids are growing up to love their parents' culture while also loving Canada's, many fantastic families who engage their children well and raise them very respectfully, religious temples that will feed an amazing meal to ANYBODY who walks into them (as long as you cover your hair), low rates of family trauma (drugs, abuse, divorce, etc.), families that take care of their elders The rough: Not all families are interested in being Canadian (some families just send their kids to Indian speaking private schools, live in Indian areas, and only seem to practice Indian ways of life - what's even the point?), many Indian families retreated into their home-lives during Covid which removed their children from integration opportunities, a very small percentage of the families are absolutely TERRIBLE at parenting and treat their sons and daughters with different levels of respect, multi-family households pay a single property tax which makes the contribution per taxpayer much smaller (while social benefits are equal to anybody else), some crime such as extortion and gang activity has been imported into the country, some individuals' disregard for rules and laws (setting fireworks on Diwali in the middle of a dry, grassy field is just plain stupid), some Indian communities seem to vote blindly for their own ilk during local elections without any regard for policy or experience, LMIA immigration program has been corrupted by the nepotism of bad actors and the greed of large corporations (wages can be federally subsidized which makes it cheaper to hire immigrants than the 16 year old down the street). Many of these families were simply making good choices for their own family, so don't blame the people themselves for this - blame the government that allowed it to fester unsustainably. I'll continue to stick up for the majority of these beautiful families though - haters be darned! Watching these kids grow up gives me some hope for humanity!

The contrast between immigrants, many from India, and the rhetoric of those who now feel like a new minority was striking. It should not surprise me that racism appears anywhere humans are, but what stood out was how some speakers treated all Indians as a single people, despite hundreds of cultures, and accused them of failing to assimilate to ‘their way.’ Many of those voices were themselves descendants of immigrants who were once pressured to abandon Norwegian or other identities in the name of assimilation. Yet there was little evidence they had actually spent time getting to know their Indian neighbors, their cultures, friendships, or daily realities. Instead, the focus was fear and a narrative of societal collapse, rather than honest engagement that separates real local issues from blanket blame. Of course, any local community can have problems, and some groups can be unwelcoming. But the argument presented implied there is only one way to be Canadian. That echoes xenophobic rhetoric in the US about who counts as ‘American,’ often while ignoring the reality of Indigenous peoples entirely. I do not deny the importance of shared commitments like the rule of law, freedom, and evidence based policy rooted in the Enlightenment and scientific thinking. But culture and learning can coexist with those values. What troubled me most was how poverty and discrimination were replaced with racial generalizations, and how victim language was used to deflect responsibility, something that resembles DARVO. Given the same conditions, these problems could arise in any group, regardless of race.

No offence to the amazing Indian people, as a Canadian I find the majority very helpful and good for our country. However, things changed 2015- onwards- there are large scam companies now that bring unqualified people by taking money from them and creating fake student permits for them. The issue with that is that these people are OK with subpar living standards and offer their services for less than minimum wage and this creates a shadow/ cash-based economy where taxes go unreported and quality of life does not improve. This is not good for anyone- not the Canadians and older immigrants who lose jobs to these people and must pay higher taxes to maintain the infrastructure needed for a larger population. Not to mention how these new immigrants are a bit uncultured and almost like the "red-necks" of India- they throw garbage around, do not learn English, never make friendships with other races/ethnicities.