‘I Had No Comeback’: Senator Ratna Omidvar On Being Told To “Go Back To Where You Came From”

Matt Galloway CBC Radio's Metro Morning July 19, 2019 Diversity, inclusion

Canadian Independent Senator Ratna Omidvar says she’s fearful that the normalization of racism in the U-S, given ‘social licence’ by President Trump, will adversely affect Canada.

The Senator joined Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio’s Metro Morning program after posting on Twitter asking if fellow Canadians have shared her experience in being told to ‘go back to where you came from’. Some of the responses she received can be found below.

Click here to listen to the full interview on CBC Radio’s website.

Discussion on Twitter:

Have you ever been told to go back to where you came from? I have. #Canada is not the US but #racism exists here too. Has this happened to you too? @IamDeepaMehta @SenatorSalma @mattgallowaycbc @nkeung @nenshi @PicoIyer #cdnimm #cdnpoli #SenCA
— Senator Ratna Omidvar (@ratnaomi) July 18, 2019

The 1st time, my face got red hot. I felt ashamed for many reasons – my family was there, I had nothing to say and at that moment, I wished I could rip my skin off. The 2nd time, I wrote about it. Today, it's the reason I do the work I do. We all have a story. #layers #racism
— Diya Khanna (she/her) (@dkhanna80) July 19, 2019

Believe it or not I’ve been told to go back to Quebec. I love la Belle province but I’m from Manitoba.
— Raymonde Gagné (@SenGagne) July 18, 2019

I wasn’t born in Canada. And I’m white. In 40 years, I have *never* been told to go back to where I came from, despite being a regular critic of this country. If you don’t think this has anything to do with the colour of my skin, you need to give your head a shake.
— Mikal Skuterud (@mikalskuterud) July 19, 2019

That reminds me of an incident regaled to me earlier this year, a South Asian immigrant kid was told to go back to where he came from by another SA kid who was born here. Race relations certainly more complicated today, mixed with many other issues like class
— Nicholas Keung 姜巧樂 (@nkeung) July 18, 2019

Too many times to remember beginning at age 11 when I landed in Ontario. @OCASI_Policy and City of Toronto campaign against Islamophobia used this "Go back to where you come from" and the response from the Hijabi woman: "Where North York?" resonated withe many racialized people!
— OCASI (@OCASI_Policy) July 18, 2019

My brother called out a racist and was assaulted Extraordinary article @metromorning @mattgallowaycbc @ratnaomi https://t.co/Cu0aEr9pak
— Annie Kidder (@Anniekidder) July 19, 2019