The Minority

Before coming to North Bay, Ontario for school, I had never considered myself as a minority. Infact, I considered myself apart of the majority because living in Brampton, east of Toronto, I saw many people and things that I could relate to as well as be apart of. Now that I'm living here in the northern parts of Ontario there are a lot of things that I do not and cannot relate to; like what? Well, I cannot say to myself that it's Friday night so I'm going to get a nice, fresh and clean hair cut at the barber shop because there are no barber shops...well not the kinds that cut "black hair".

I remember walking into First Choice Hair Cutters ( a "white hair" barber shop/salon), and being asked by one of the lady barbers "umm, are you here for a cut"? WELL DUHH!!! I wouldn't walk into a restaurant if i didnt want food, would I? But, I don't blame her, especially after conversing for a little while and realizing that no one there had ever cut a black person's hair before so they couldn't cut mine. I appreciated the honesty because I didn't want to be an experiment for anyone. Not being able to get a hair cut is not the only thing that has made me realize that I am a minority, I take a look at myself and I can plainly see that I'm different from most people around me...I'm black (or as I like to say, sweet chocolate complexioned, hehe).

In 2005 I could count all the black people that I had seen in North Bay with my ten fingers and one toe but it's 2007 and I can't go anywhere without coming across an African American. It seemed like it was only international students who came to the city for schooling but not anymore, there are many people coming from the big cities in Canada like Toronto, Ottawa, Peterborough, and London.

It is almost three years now from the day I first set foot in North Bay and I can proudly say that I have not come across a vivid racist individual. The people here are extremely nice, maybe a tad bit too nice which can be scary at times, and despite the constant 2 minute stares I recieve from by-passers I don't have much to complain about. So far being a minority hasn't brough to me the hardships that most people of minority face but I still miss being a majority. I miss the all black stores (the african and jamaican restaurants), the black television stations (BET/CTS), and most of all I miss the black churches, the one place that made me feel loved and apprecited no matter what I was going through! I miss the barber shops and the juicy conversations that are brought up. I miss the ghettos, the gangsters who walk around town with their pants sagging and chests out. I miss the slang that I hear and speak. I miss the multiculturalism that I saw everyday when in Brampton. I miss the majority. I feel different here but the feeling is good. I'm accepted and appreciated just as I am back in my home town. I guess I'm not an ordinary minority.