Multiculturalism in Canada is actually a beautiful element. Through different texts such as “I am not racist” and “I’m a Banana and proud of it” multiculturalism may not be a beautiful thing after all. The stereotyping, that is describing people shape, colour and language they speak. In Canada, stereotyping and racism occurs even if we think it’s not as we are multicultural country.
In the short story “I am not racist” by the author Neil Bissoondath, goes to explain about racism in Canada. He was born in Trinidad, and then moved to Canada when he was 18 years old to attend York University. In the story he talks about racism in Canada but also he says it’s international which I totally agree with. Bissoondath uses his first person point of view to attract more people particularly teenagers to send out a message to all of them.Bissoondath has a problem with the word” racism” as it is vulnerable to manipulation. Most people say the word “racism” to indicate a person with different color. The word “racism” itself is linked to skin color of people, but also including every race around the world. Bissoondath indicates this by saying “during the heat of altercation, we seize, as terms of abuse, on whatever is most obvious about the person.” (Rubens, Melanie, ed. The Mercury Reader - Custom Publication. Pearson Custom). People also can attack others by sex, weight, attractiveness and other things. It never ends.
Bissoondath says, that these terms are not easy to use or not easy to describe. They hurt people in every decent way. He stated in his story, once he met a person who said racial words to describe a particular race. Although, he says that the use of those kinds of words are not always indication of disapproval of their comfort wi...
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... co-operated with English- language magazines that showed them how to act, look and what to buy. In his other book, The Jade Penoy, Choy tried to recreate his past, to explain the struggle which he faced between being Chinese and being North American. He also said that, the people who came to North America who don’t belong here faced this struggle; which is universal.
I completely agree with author Choy, because I feel struck by understanding the cultural change, from where I grew up and from where I am living right now. By my accent people ask are you from India? I feel so annoyed when they say these sorts of things even though I am speaking in scientific way or speaking the facts. I totally agree the part when he says where ever we live; we should not leave our past. We should pass the traditions and culture to next generations so that they won’t become history.
There was a notable divide between Canada’s French and English-speaking population in the 1960s, as they each presented contrasting views of the country’s national identity. As the federal government faced what seemed like two separate nations embodied within a single country, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson assembled the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in July 1963. It was to evaluate the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism and recommend the actions needed to alleviate the largely linguistic and cultural divides in Canada. Pearson’s directive was given at a time when Quebec was experiencing a period of great social and economic development through the Quiet Revolution, while English-Canada was grappling with the re-establishment of the country’s identity as the British definition of Canada was becoming increasingly rejected. This paper will assess bilingualism and biculturalism as it challenged national identity, seen through the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (RCBB) and the influence of the Quiet Revolution; which resulted in policy – the Official Languages Act in 1969 and the Official Multicultural Policy in 1971 – that ultimately shaped bilingualism and biculturalism within what became a multicultural framework in Canada.
... presence of religious diversity amongst the multiculturalist scene, multiculturalism and its relationships to ethnocultureal minorities, Quebec’s reasonable accommodation as well as the overlap of Aboriginal and multiculturalism issues, require research and development. This speak volumes about Banting and Kymlicka, as it places their work on a larger spectrum that will one day be surrounded by other impressive works that may compliment or challenge their findings. Canadian multiculturalism is completely different than what takes place in different countries. It goes without saying that not every picture can be painted with the same type of brush because the world is not full of the same picture that has a white washed idealized understanding. With that being said, the problems in other countries are not inherent to the multiculturalism picture in other countries.
Canada is internationally renowned for its commitment to multiculturalism. In fact, Canada was the first nation to officially adopt a multicultural policy. However, while the Canadian government has developed a broad-based multicultural mandate that includes a national human rights code and increased penalties for hate-motivated crimes, and most Canadians oppose overt forms of discrimination and hate, racism continues to exist in Canadian society, albeit in a subtle fashion.
Multiculturalism policy was first adopted in Canada in 1971, which reaffirms the dignity and value of all its citizens regardless of ethnic origins, race, religious affiliations, or language. Part of this policy, Canada confirms the rights of all the aboriginals along with the recognition of two official languages. Indeed, multiculturalism has great importance since its main purpose is to give equal treatment to all the citizens (Daniel, 2010). It ensures that all individual citizens could still maintain their identities, and have pride with their ancestry. Through this initiative, the Canadian government was able to give their citizens a feeling of self-confidence, making them more open to their diverse cultures. The multiculturalism policy
“Multiculturalism” entered public speech in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Canada that focused on unique cultural diversity, nationalities, and ethnicity across the nation. Multiculturalism and Immigration are important factors in the development of Canada to attain a strong multicultural example of economic stability, social and political growth which leads to the emergence of Canada’s identity and culture.
Racism is a form of extreme prejudice that leads to physical and psychological violence. Racists can be any color: white, black, brown, red or yellow. A white racist thinks all blacks are alike, while a black racist thinks all Hispanics are alike. In addition, a Hispanic racist may think all Native Americans are alike. The ethnic boundaries of racism "pigeon hole" anoth...
In this very controversial article “I’m Not Racist, But…” Bisoondath use his own experience as example to criticize the abuse of racism words and the community care a little about the stereotype and ignorance problem. Bisoondath describe racism is as Canadian as maple syrup, American as apple pie, as French as croissants, as… This shows Bisoondath’s ideas is about everyone in the community. We all know Canada is a multiculturalism country and no doubt Canadian is proud of it, but this is not completely true. Canada is more open and accept than the other countries but the racisms still exist.
Nowadays, when concepts of integrity, complexity, and globalization play a huge role in shaping our society, a concept of multiculturalism is common and widely accepted by most countries in the world, including Canada. According to Statistics Canada, as of January 2014, an estimate of Canadian population exceeded 35 million people and 20.6% of the total population are immigrants from other countries (Statistics Canada, 2014). These figures mean that on average every fifth person living in Canada was born in another country. This is especially relevant for Province of British Columbia, where, according to BC Stats, the population estimate equals to 4.6 million people as of July 2013 and BC was named one of the three Canadian provinces that accept most immigrants from all over the world (BC Stats, 2014). Unfortunately, the most recent demographics research on British Columbia population available was made in 2006. However, those numbers can still help to evaluate proportions of different ethnicities living in BC right now. As of Canada 2006 Cencus, minority population equaled to 24.8% and 10% of those immigrants were Chinese. Chinese people represent the biggest immigration minority in British Columbia, followed by South Asian (6.4%) and Filipino (2.2%) (Chui, 2006). While being the biggest diaspora in BC, Chinese population keeps growing as new working and studying opportunities provided by federal and provincial governments. The main aim of this research is to 4study historical reasons that led to given nowadays demographics. This paper is going to try to support an argument that historical events happened in Canada in the past and involved Chinese immigrants, especially the building of Canadian Pacific Railway, had a positive eff...
Racism comes in many forms ad can be expressed in many different societies in various ways. 1 The dictionary defines racism as the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. This definition of racism makes it clear that it is a perceived point of view that implies prejudice towards people or a person based solely on their race. Racism has been an issue in many societies for many years and still is an issue in modern society. 2 Recently in the U.S. many cases of racism towards African Americans have been shown in the media. However racism is not just a U.S. culture based issue but also a cross-cultural issue
Canada is an ethnically diverse country. The notion of "multiculturalism" began circulating in Canada in 1971 and is a word that is now commonly used to define this country, unlike the word "melting-pot" which is used to describe Americans' loss of ethnic identity. The broadcasting system in Canada is pressured by the government to acknowledge the culturally diverse society by broadcasting a fair representation of the population in terms of ethnicity. This is achieved through the many acts that have been passed through parliament: the multiculturalism policy of 1971, the Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982, the Ethnic Broadcasting Policy of 1985, and most recent, the Broadcasting Act of 1991. These legislative and policy frameworks have provided guidelines for the management of Canadia...
Racist and racism are provocative words in American society. To some, they become curse words. They are descriptive words of reality that cannot be denied. Some people believe that race is the primary determinant of human abilities and capacities and behave as if racial differences produce inherent superiorities. People of color are often injured by these judgements and actions whether they are directly or indirectly racist. Just as individuals can act in racist ways, so can institutions. Institutions can be overtly or inherently racist. Institutions can also injure people. The outcome is nonetheless racist, if not intentional (Randall).
Multiculturalism is a significant fabric of Canadian society that defines its unique identity among the rest of the world. Enactment of the Canadian multicultural policy (1971) affirmed government position and recognition of multiculturalism as a vital element of Canada. It is imperative to understand that multiculturalism is a static concept that keeps changing overtime and has a multidimensional entity. Canadians have always and will continue to revise the concept of multiculturalism to suit the ever expanding needs of Canadian society. In this paper, I will evaluate the reasons behind Canada’s adoption of multicultural policy and assess whether the policy should be maintained or not. I will defend the thesis that Canada’s multiculturalism
Mordecai Richler. These writers are not meant to represent any ethnic group as a whole,
Racism is one of the world’s major issues today. Many people are not aware of how much racism still exists in our schools workforces, and anywhere else where social lives are occurring. It is obvious that racism is bad as it was many decades ago but it sure has not gone away. Racism very much exists and it is about time that people need to start thinking about the instigations and solutions to this matter. Many people believe that it depends on if a person was brought into the world as a racist or not but that is not the case at all. In fact, an individual cannot be born a racist but only learn to become one as they grow from child to adulthood. Basic causes, mainstream, institutions, government, anti racism groups, and even some hidden events in Canada’s past are a few of the possible instigations and solutions to racism.
Canada has been ranked one of the most multicultural countries in the world (CBC, 2015). Thus, on a world stage Canada has a reputation that is often characterized as ‘one to aspire to,’ as multiculturalism has become a defining aspect of Canadian culture, essentially portraying Canada as a so-called ‘post racial society.’ Multiculturalism refers to the existence, acceptance and promotion of various cultural traditions. Thus, what is the need for anti-racist education in a nation that accepts and promotes different cultures? Even within the discourse surrounding multiculturalism, race relations in Canada still continue to gain social currency, and race continues to be a marker for the unequal distribution of power, privilege, social prestige,