The root of all problems in the Black community isn't the White man. Black people have got to stop playing victim and accept responsibility for their actions. My name is Christina Xavier. A tall young Black woman living in the City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario. I hold a Journalism degree from the University of Toronto, and presently, I'm doing an investigation in the socio-economic issues of the Black Canadian community. That's why I'm in Vanier right now. This area is mainly populated by Black and Middle-Eastern people, and let's just say that they're not exactly the wealthiest segment of society in Canada's capital region. Perfect environment for our expose, don't you think?
Today, I shall focus on the Somali community of Vanier, Province of Ontario. Of all the immigrant groups in the Canadian capital, Somalians are the most controversial. Many people come to Canada and settle into ordinary, peaceful lives. The French and English did it in the seventeenth century and of course the eighteenth century. The Dutch and the Irish came later. The Haitians came to Canada in the 1950s and settled in the Province of Quebec, primarily the City of Montreal and its outlying areas. The Jamaicans, the Chinese and the Hispanics came to Ontario in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They settled primarily in the City of Toronto and surrounding areas. The Somalis are everywhere in Canada, yet they're also the one group that nobody else seems to like. Even Black immigrants from the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa can't stand these guys and gals. Why is that?
To answer these questions, I'm visiting a traditional Somali immigrant household in Vanier. Ninety nine percent of all Somalis are practicing Muslims, and as you well know, Islam is a deeply patriarchal religion which places men at the top and women at the very bottom. Aziz is the head of the Abdullah family. He's a tall, slim man with light brown skin and curly Black hair. Aziz moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, from the City of Mogadishu in Somaliland eight years ago. Presently, he doesn't work. He has a recreational facilities management degree from Algonquin College in Nepean, Ontario. Whatever that means. Aziz seems to mainly spend his time sitting on his ass at home, watching television, playing poker with Somali male friends and smoking weed. His wife Fatima is the one who pays the bills. She works as a cashier at Wal-Mart during the day and studies at La Cite Collegiale during the evenings. She's in the Police Foundations program at this French-Canadian college and hopes to become a police officer someday. Fatima has been in Canada for four and a half years now. She's counting the days till she becomes a citizen of this great country.