Prejudice remains in Canada and the U.S., but international travellers and international students of colour or whose culture differs should expect to be welcomed nearly everywhere.

Economically depressed areas in both Canada and the United States offer the most potential for irritation.

Demagogues find it easy to blame one group or another for the local woes, which, of course, are usually the result of technological or other changes such as the depletion of an oil field.

Also, you are more likely to find relations strained where the size of one group has been increasing rapidly. This is basic sociology.

But, even in places like Vancouver, where immigration of people of Chinese descent exploded during the period when the United Kingdom ceded control of Hong Kong to China, you find many healthy signs, such as how many people from various groups mix socially.

If you are a person of colour, do not worry much about your reception in the South, which now boasts some of the best race relations in the U.S.

In most situations today, the basic goodness of Americans and Canadians triumphs.

Prejudice remains—there was so much of it not long ago!—but its dwindling practitioners do not overshadow.

Just remain neutral, and try to ignore the occasional irritation.

Harassment based on race or religion is unlawful in the U.S., and its eradication involves both federal and local law enforcement. Moreover, since the implementation of voting rights laws in all areas of the U.S., law enforcement has become truly multicultural and multi-racial.

Although some travellers worry about what will be their reception in the United States, they should note that the United States is increasingly a nation of non-northern European descent.

According to a recent dean of the University of Southern California School of Education, nearly 60 percent of school children in California, the most populous state, are members of racial and ethnic "minorities." Surprisingly to some, the second most practised religion in the U.S. is Islam.

In addition, don't worry about your reception in New York City and northern New Jersey. These people practise what seems to be equal-opportunity rudeness to everyone!

New Yorkers are not (in most cases) singling you out. Their behaviour may be blunt honesty and efficiency in their minds. Their so-called rudeness is usually not racialistic in nature. In fact, you may find their bluntness refreshing after the false intimacy sometimes found elsewhere in the States.

Please understand that in the large urban area of New York City, experience has taught many people for their protection to withhold any intimacy until both parties know each other well.

In New York and northern New Jersey, Dr. Voyageur does not suggest that you become rude. In most cases, just ignore the rudeness around you.

New Yorkers, by the way, have become much more friendly in recent years as the stress caused by their formally high crime rate has declined and they have met a major act of terrorism with courage and service to the victims, including to those who lost loved ones.

For more discussion about interacting with Americans and Canadians

Go to >> Making friends

Go to >> Interacting with Americans and Canadians

Go to >> Handling complaints

Go to >> Avoiding sexism

Go to >> Settling into North American life