Bigotry displayed in Morris, Manitoba, while shameful, is not unique

What is going on in Morris, a small Manitoba town of about 1,800 people that's become synonymous with bigotry?

For the second time in a year a restaurant in Morris, about 30 minutes south of Winnipeg, is closing because of apparent prejudice against the proprietor.

Jamaican-born Thea Morris opened Thea's Diner on a corner of the town's main street last June, offering Caribbean and Canadian cuisine.

But now she feels forced to close her doors and leave after a series of incidents that she considers discriminatory and disrespectful, the Winnipeg Free Press reports.

Some would-be customers came into the restaurant but left before their orders were taken. Business slackened "because you're black," one longtime Morris resident told her.

"It's not going to get any better, whatever force I'm fighting," Morris told the Free Press. "I'm not going to succeed. I'm going back to Winnipeg where stuff like this is insignificant. Winnipeg is big. This is small. It kills business."

The last straw, she said, was a response to an ad she placed on Kijiji to recruit staff. One reply went line this: ""From: kkk@morris.ca You guys still chasing colors out of your towns out there? I believe the KKK has a chapter in South Dakota you should join!"

[ Related: Attacks prompt gay owners to close Manitoba restaurant ]

The email address turned out to be non-functional and the message could have come from anywhere, but Morris told the Free Press she's convinced it was sent locally.

There have been more direct messages. Someone defecated in the washroom urinal, said Morris.

"There's definitely people out there who don't want to see people who are different in Morris," she said.

Thea Morris's situation is shameful enough. What makes it more remarkable is that she's the second restauranteur to be chased out of that location.

Last April, two gay men who opened Pots N Hands in the same corner building closed their doors following several homophobic attacks. One local resident told the Free Press he didn't like "who they are."

"It makes you feel uncomfortable," said Aaron Kleinsasser.

Presumably Kleinsasser and his friends have no problem with the Kam Loon Chinese restaurant, which is just down the street from Thea's Diner?

As with the last incident, Morris Mayor Gavin van der Linde expressed shock at Thea Morris's experience.

"That's very unfortunate, for sure," he said. "That's unacceptable that people would be that ignorant to make her feel that way.

"It feels pretty paralyzing. I thought we had made great strides since the last two incidents, in the right direction. The vast majority of people in the community came out in their support [for the Pots N' Hands owners]. It's very disappointing."

Last two incidents? Yes. Morris also made news last January when the editor of the now-defunct Morris Mirror wrote a column attacking the aboriginal Idle No More movement.

[ Related: Uptick in attacks on Quebec Muslims tied to debate over PQ’s values charter ]

Reed Turcotte wrote some aboriginals "are demanding unrealistic expectations of the government and … in some cases, natives are acting like terrorists in their own country. Indians/natives want it all but corruption and laziness prevent some of them from working for it."

Reacting to the ensuing furor, Turcotte was hardly contrite.

"We apologize to those we offended in that regards; however, we stand by the fact that the natives must work to get out of their situation rather than sit 'Idle No More,'" he wrote, according to CBC News.

But before anyone consigns Morris to some bigot's purgatory, consider that it's probably no different from many other Canadian communities.

Racists, religious bigots and homophobes exist everywhere in Canada, whether it's a small town or big city. Their impact just may be more visible in smaller communities.

The debate of Quebec's so-called values charter has been driven largely by residents outside the province's big cities. The backlash against "reasonable accommodation" seems to have originated in places that rarely see people of another faith or skin colour.

In a lengthy 2007 piece on the issue, Maclean's reporter Martin Patriquin pointed out several incidents of vandalism, violence and outrageous comments from Ontario to the Prairies and the West Coast.

"In the town of Georgina, Ont., police have been investigating incidents of 'nipper tipping,' the ugly term for assaults on Asians in the quiet cottage-country area around Lake Simcoe," he wrote.

"At once horrified and apologetic about what is going on, Georgina Mayor Robert Grossi said his town isn't unique. 'You can drill down into any community and find the same thing,' he told the National Post."

True. Small-town Canada is not home to legions of closet Klansmen. The bigots just seem more visible.