Say what? Canada changes the 100$ bill because the women in the bill looked too Asian.
59 replies, posted
[url]http://business.financialpost.com/2012/08/17/bank-of-canada-bans-image-of-asian-woman-from-100-bill/[/url]
[quote]OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada purged the image of an Asian-looking woman from its new $100 banknotes after focus groups raised questions about her ethnicity.
The original image intended for the reverse of the plastic polymer banknotes, which began circulating last November, showed an Asian-looking woman scientist peering into a microscope.
The image, alongside a bottle of insulin, was meant to celebrate Canada’s medical innovations.
But eight focus groups consulted about the proposed images for the new $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 banknote series were especially critical of the choice of an Asian for the largest denomination.
Some believe that it presents a stereotype of Asians excelling in technology
“Some have concerns that the researcher appears to be Asian,” says a 2009 report commissioned by the bank from The Strategic Counsel, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
“Some believe that it presents a stereotype of Asians excelling in technology and/or the sciences. Others feel that an Asian should not be the only ethnicity represented on the banknotes. Other ethnicities should also be shown.”
A few even said the yellow-brown colour of the $100 banknote reinforced the perception the woman was Asian, and “racialized” the note.
The bank immediately ordered the image redrawn, imposing what a spokesman called a “neutral ethnicity” for the woman scientist who, now stripped of her “Asian” features, appears on the circulating note. Her light features appear to be Caucasian.
“The original image was not designed or intended to be a person of a particular ethnic origin,” bank spokesman Jeremy Harrison said in an interview, citing policy that eschews depictions of ethnic groups on banknotes.
“But obviously when we got into focus groups, there was some thought the image appeared to represent a particular ethnic group, so modifications were made.”
Harrison declined to provide a copy of the original image, produced by a design team led by Jorge Peral of the Canadian Bank Note Co., which was a test design only and never made it into circulation.
Nor would he indicate what specific changes were made to the woman researcher’s image to give her a so-called “neutral ethnicity.” He said the images were “composites” rather than depicting any specific individual.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Canadian National Council slammed the bank on Friday for bending to racism.
“The Bank of Canada apparently took seriously … racist comments and feedback from the focus groups and withdrew the image,” said May Lui, interim executive director of the group’s Toronto chapter.
“That was upsetting simply because of the history and longevity of Chinese-Canadians in this country.”
Lui demanded the bank “acknowledge their error in caving to the racist feedback.”
Victor Wong, the group’s national executive director, called on the bank to amend its policy of not depicting visible minorities.
“You’re erasing all of us,” he said from Toronto. “Your default then is an image with Caucasian features.”
The Strategic Counsel conducted the October 2009 focus groups in Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Fredericton, at a cost of $53,000.
The Toronto groups were positive about the image of an Asian woman because “it is seen to represent diversity or multiculturalism.”
In Quebec, however, “the inclusion of an Asian without representing any other ethnicities was seen to be contentious.”
One person in Fredericton commented: “The person on it appears to be of Asian descent which doesn’t rep(resent) Canada. It is fairly ugly.”
Mu-Qing Huang, a Chinese-Canadian who has peered into microscopes for biology courses at the University of Toronto, called the bank’s decision a “huge step back.”
The person on it appears to be of Asian descent which doesn’t rep(resent) Canada. It is fairly ugly
“The fact that an Asian woman’s features were introduced to the bill … I think itself is a huge step forward in achieving true multiculturalism in Canada,” Huang, 24, said in an interview in Ottawa.
“But the fact that the proposal was rejected represents a huge step back.”
She said the “overly sensitive” decision to remove the Asian features suggests prejudice against visible minorities persists in Canada.
“If Canada is truly multicultural and thinks that all cultural groups are equal, then any visible minority should be good enough to represent a country, including (someone with) Asian features.”
Huang, now pursuing an MA at the University of Toronto, came to Canada from China with her family at age 12, living in Toronto and Ottawa.
The 2006 census found that Canada’s population included more than five million people from visible minority groups, of which 1.2 million were Chinese and another 240,000 with ancestry from southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Laos.
The Bank of Canada introduced the new series of banknotes largely to thwart counterfeiters, though they are also expected to last much longer than the old versions. New $50 notes went into circulation in March, with $20 notes still to come in November.
The $50 and $20 banknotes feature a research icebreaker and the Canadian National Vimy Memorial respectively, with no images of ordinary Canadians. Some members of the focus groups said the Vimy memorial looked disturbingly like New York’s twin towers, brought down by terrorists in 2001.
The Canadian Press[/quote]
TL:DR the Canadian 100$ bill showed a female with Asian features. people complained and now they are making her caucasian
Well, Canada is white people's home and native land after all
they had to cut the 'white people' part from the national anthem because it didn't flow as nicely
[quote]“Some believe that it presents a stereotype of Asians excelling in technology and/or the sciences. Others feel that an Asian should not be the only ethnicity represented on the banknotes. Other ethnicities should also be shown.”[/quote]
And these are the people that keep the stereotypes alive by making a big deal out of it. I guess you can't be an Asian and like technology/science because you're presenting a stereotype.
These focus groups are just retarded; I don't see a problem with the $100 bill at all.
[quote]Some members of the focus groups said the Vimy memorial looked disturbingly like New York’s twin towers, brought down by terrorists in 2001.[/quote]
[img]http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/topstories/2012/05/02/hi-new-20-bill-6col.jpg[/img]
...
[img_thumb]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VlUV965rvyk/TvvS2yi0C0I/AAAAAAAAArA/8oQzd2kb82Y/s1600/-4.jpg[/img_thumb]
hmmm
[QUOTE]Harrison declined to provide a copy of the original image, produced by a design team led by Jorge Peral of the Canadian Bank Note Co., which was a test design only and never made it into circulation.[/QUOTE]
oh whoops.
irregardless, why not choose a black person? or arabian? someone who doesn't have that sort of cultural baggage
And now the Canadian - Asians feel like the bank folded over nothing?
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Personally, I don't really care. but, since it mentioned a bottle of insulin, why not put Dr. Frederick Banting on the bill instead?
Some people need to grow up.
I seriously see nothing wrong with the $100 bill as it is, I don't think it's necessary at all to change it.
she doesn't look asian at all
What's next? People are going to say The Queen looks too Nigerian on the £20. :v:
She doesnt even look Asian to me...
[quote]A few even said the yellow-brown colour of the $100 banknote reinforced the perception the woman was Asian, and “racialized” the note.[/quote]
Oh wow, what the fuck?
Am I the only one who sees a young caucasian boy in it, not an asian woman?
Kinda off topic but Canada has some cool looking cash
[QUOTE=uitham;37303494]Am I the only one who sees a young caucasian boy in it, not an asian woman?[/QUOTE]
its not suppose to be any race in particular. people are pointing out things that never mattered because they like to get offended apparently.
how could Canadians do this?
this completely changes my perception of Canada.
I don't see the point in changing the bill because of just that.
When will people stop flipping out over race?
[QUOTE=Amez;37303533]I don't see the point in changing the bill because of just that.[/QUOTE]
asian people in bills means they are literally taking over Canada.
maybe we should nuke Vancouver and get it over with.
Where does the Bank of Canada keep finding these crazy focus groups?
[QUOTE=asteroidrules;37303567]Where does the Bank of Canada keep finding these crazy focus groups?[/QUOTE]
Rural Alberta, of course.
[QUOTE=Triumph Forks;37303413]Well, Canada is white people's home and native land after all
they had to cut the 'white people' part from the national anthem because it didn't flow as nicely[/QUOTE]
No, that would be the Native Americans land.
this article raises many questions, but the one everyone wants to know the answer to is:
has anyone ever looked at and/or cared about the look of notes
[quote]The bank immediately ordered the image redrawn, imposing what a spokesman called a “neutral ethnicity” for the woman scientist who, now stripped of her “Asian” features, appears on the circulating note. Her light features appear to be Caucasian.[/quote]
hahahah, a "neutral ethnicity" aka white
terrible
[QUOTE=thisispain;37303528]how could Canadians do this?
this completely changes my perception of Canada.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Rainbow_(1891)#Royal_Canadian_Navy[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_anti-Chinese_riots,_1886[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Indian_residential_school_system[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Canadian_internment[/url]
Wikipedia articles are pretty lacking on a lot of those subjects. Canada still has a shit tonne of problems with racism, aboriginal rights, LGBT rights, sexism, etc - maybe less so than a lot of places but we're still fighting to get our shit together. At the very least we're being educated on the mistakes we've made, but it's not like most people pay attention
you can't just represent a single minority on it!!!
just slap a white person on and then it's fair
because if you can't represent all the minorities, you might as well just have a white guy
this is how equality works
[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;37303892]you can't just represent a single minority on it!!!
just slap a white person on and then it's fair
because if you can't represent all the minorities, you might as well just have a white guy
this is how equality works[/QUOTE]
girl*
Why can't it just be a blank note with a leaf in the middle and a handwritten "$100" on the corners?
Huh, wasn't aware anybody gave a fuck
Canada is historically a "white" country made up of French and British settlers. I really don't see the big deal in having a white person on the bill. I can't even tell if the person looked asian before cause I'm too poor to have a 100 dollar bill.
[editline]18th August 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Zee Captain;37303923]Why can't it just be a blank note with a leaf in the middle and a handwritten "$100" on the corners?[/QUOTE]
Monopoly money?
[QUOTE=Aman VII;37304013]Canada is historically a "white" country made up of French and British settlers. I really don't see the big deal in having a white person on the bill. I can't even tell if the person looked asian before cause I'm too poor to have a 100 dollar bill.[/QUOTE]
And First Nations and Asian immigrants, historically.
Just fucking put hockey players on all the bills and no one will wine anymore.
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