The purpose of article is not to question the rationale for the program nor to doubt the good intentions of the government. What concerns me is that a race-based program like this, whether successful or not, is unlikely to garner long-term public support because it is divisive and will be seen as the government playing favourites. I feel this especially acutely because this sort of program would not go over well in my extended family. In fact, I could see it being a threat to my family’s cohesion and happiness. No doubt this may sound strange but let me explain how my family could be negatively affected by such a program.
A race-based program like this … is divisive
When my extended family gets together for major holidays like Passover or Thanksgiving, we are a microcosm of 21st-century Canada: Black, White, Chinese, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist and atheist, immigrant and native-born. As I said, when we sit around the dinner table we look like Canada. I was born in Jamaica; my wife, who is Jewish, was born in Canada, and both our kids were born in Taiwan. In fact, our oldest son is ethnically Chinese and was adopted in Taiwan. I have a small business, as did my father-in-law, and as do a couple of my brothers-in-law. None of us has benefited from special government loan programs. If my younger son, who has a small business, was able to get a loan and other government support simply because he looks Black, the rest of the family would be happy for him, but they would have questions. I could see my Chinese sister-in-law pointing out that while it is great that he can get a loan it is not fair that his brother, who looks Chinese, cannot benefit from such a program. My wife’s oldest brother, who was also adopted, looks South Asian. He has a business and has never benefited from special government programs. He would also congratulate my son, but he would wonder why neither he nor his kids could get preferential treatment based on their race. And then there are my son’s White cousins. They also would be left out of any consideration for special government programs simply based on their race. And I have no doubt that someone would point out that while everyone around the table pays taxes to support a program like this, only I and my younger son could benefit from it.
obscureposter on September 30th, 2020 at 16:30 UTC »
So nothing for other minorities? Do they not face racism and prejudice when it comes to loans. Or is the argument going to be South Asians and East Asians are already successful therefore they don’t need the help. Or are we going to argue that black people in Canada face more racism than other minorities. What’s the basis of this only being for black people?
Anla-Shok-Na on September 30th, 2020 at 14:38 UTC »
A lot of businesses are partnerships. Does the company need to be fully black-owned? If not, what percentage of owners need to be black? Who qualifies as black? What if you're black but light-skinned, or white with a deep tan (Rachel Dolezal anyone)? Do I need to submit my DNA when I apply for a loan, or maybe a printout from ancestry.com?
This is such a badly thought out idea.
rami_k96 on September 30th, 2020 at 12:27 UTC »
How exactly are these banks going to determine who’s black? Do you have to be a certain shade of dark? Is there a DNA test? Do they have racial experts that examine applicants? This is by far the stupidest thing i’ve ever heard.