Intolerance, Anger and Circumstances

I submitted this letter to the Harbour City Star (a Canwest/Global paper) in response to an emotional letter from another reader. As far as I can tell, it was never published.

Dear Editor,
When I first read Gary Baylis' Letter to the Editor in Saturday's Harbour City Star (Returning citizen upset with system), I knew I had to respond but I didn't know quite what to say. Then I happened to watch the academy award winning movie 'Crash' and it became clearer. One of the main messages of this excellent film is that, while there are (regretably) many out-and-out racists in North American society, some of the people who appear to be racists are, for lack of a better term, victims of circumstance - they are 'mad' about something, which unfortunately exhibits itself as intolerance. While I'm sure that this does nothing for the victims of the racism, it does hold out a glimmer of hope for improvement if such people can deal with their anger.
While being born in Canada automatically confers citizenship on an individual, there is then no distinction between a 'natural-born' Canadian and one who has been granted citizenship. Just like sometimes biological parents shouldn't have custody of their children where others have shown by their actions that they are the ones who have done the 'heavy lifting'. So it is with those born in Canada who go on to live elsewhere for a signficant portion of their lives, such as the writer. Those who have been living here for many years, paying taxes and contributing to our society in a multitude of ways have at least as much 'right' as him. Being Canadian born doesn't, by itself, make you 'special'.
Mr. Baylis writes that he was upset by "the woman from India" asking him questions prior to obtaining a Social Insurance number, which isn't automatic - that's why one has to apply for it! Even assuming that he is correct about her being from India (there are many second-generation immigrants living in Canada), she had been required to ask those questions by her employer, the government of Canada. While acknowledging that Immigration Canada as a whole has a lot to answer for in their handling of immigrants and refugees, that has nothing to do with this lady who was just doing her job. One final question for Mr. Baylis. When you were a foreign-born resident of the United States (I believe the term they use is 'alien'), did you assume your 'proper' place in their society and leave all decisions affecting your life to only those who were U. S. born? I also wonder if you would have had the same reaction to a male, caucasian person like myself asking you the same set of questions because, although I have lived here for 52 years and been a citizen for 37 of those, I was not born here either. A piece of advice, if you want to truly be Canadian, you would do well to develop a little tolerance and learn to deal with your "issues".