Cross-Border Misconceptions

While Canadians are painfully aware of the general American public's woeful lack of knowledge concerning all things Canadian I have to point out that misconceptions cross both ways on the border.

First off, not all American's own and/or carry guns. Recently my sister and her family decided to drive to Tennessee for a little road trip and she confessed an underlying fear that they would be robbed. I do not personally know anybody in the States that owns a gun. Mind you, I don't go asking my neighbors if they have any either. In fact, I know lots of people in Canada who own guns and regularly use them for hunting. Now I will allow for the fact that Tennessee is not California and things might be very different there then where I live, but the fact is I have lived in the San Francisco Bay area for 15 years and have only seen guns in stores.

Which leads to another misconception Canadians have about America: violence is everywhere. I have never seen a single act of violence of any kind (though I once did stop a guy from taking some old lady's shopping bag -- but that's another thing). I follow the news and I understand that people are involved in acts of violence every day all over the Bay area. But it never touches me, so for all intents and purposes it is a rare creature. Most of the violence appears to me to be within ethnic classes and neighborhoods -- black on black, latino on latino. It's sad, but it's true.

Americans are ignorant about anything other than America. While this may be true in some parts of the States, it is not true where I am. Some of the smartest, most informed people I know are American. And though there are large gaps in education from region to region, state to state, it is unfair and foolish to think of Americans in general as being ignorant.

I think that misconceptions are tied closely to stereotyping. Where it is easy to create a image that fits either it is equally difficult to find a person who fits specifically.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.