Written by: Shayanika Suresh
As more and more of us around the world eat at McDonalds, listen to songs on our iPods, and chat with our friends on Facebook, globalization’s increased domination of our world becomes a visual apparence. Slowly, we begin to realize that despite the racial and cultural roots of the people walking by us on a busy street in the city, many of them are still wearing the latest trends from H&M or Abercrombie & Fitch, just to mention a few.
It is not that I oppose the waves of globalization for I, for one, cannot imagine a day without Facebook! Yet, globalization, as I see it, unites us in uniformity. We become equal not because we are all individuals, or humans, but simply because we read the same books, watch the same movies, wear the same clothes and so on. Soon, we see boundaries being merged, cultures assimilating, and entire identities being erased as the importance of having a diverse range of national, cultural and ethnic identities becomes submerged by the contemporary notion that having one, united identity serves a more beneficial purpose for the nations of the world.
For decades now, Canada has prided itself in its promotion of multiculturalism, with John Murray Gibbon (in his book Canadian Mosaic) elegantly referring to Canada as a ‘cultural mosaic’ in stark contrast to the American ‘melting-pot’ – wherein cultures are assimilated into one American identity. Canada, as a nation, has opened its hands to many refugees coming from countries all over the world, offering shelter, good education, employment, and most importantly, peaceful lives – away from the horrors of war. Immigrants have taken on many essential roles within society, and have helped to keep Canada strong as a nation. Moreover, despite the upholding of cultural and religious values within the respective communities in Canada, immigrant families and the generations that follow them have equally considered and treated Canada as their second homeland. They have provided much to Canada as Canada has provided for them. And thus, the notion (as presently, in Europe) that allowing communities to hold and maintain their own perceptions of things, as valued within their respective cultures and religions, is a definite lead to terrorism, is a false outcry.
The importance of identity, and I use this term in reference to one’s cultural and racial roots as well as one’s upbringing, to an individual is such that it cannot be denied. Just because your parents have migrated to a country different from that of their countries of birth should not suggest that you should grow up completely unaware of your family’s culture and traditions. In fact, I argue, it becomes even more so important that you identify as a ‘Canadian-________’ placing your parents’ nationality at birth beside the hyphen, acknowledging your complex identity. The necessity of this lies mainly in the definition of yourself as an individual, not to mention the value this has for your nation of residence as well.
Firstly, how is the acceptance of one’s identity as inclusive of one’s parental origins important for one’s own self-definition as an individual? Just as the history of a nation is important for its growth, to learn from mistakes and experiences, so is the history of an individual. Our histories, whether we realize it or not, teaches us our lessons, helping us to move forward every time we come across an obstacle. And these histories, I must add, are absolutely worthless without their context. Can you imagine learning about the First World War, if the only context you can imagine it in, is in our contemporary society? How then are we, as individuals, supposed to benefit from our histories, if we do not apprehend or rather are not allowed to understand the cultural and racial context of this history filled with the experiences of our parents. If that were the case, we would fail to ‘completely’ define ourselves as individuals.
Secondly, in identifying with our origins in addition to our country of residence, we constantly pivot ourselves as examples of the resident nation’s participation in the assistance of refugees and immigrants, and furthermore, emphasize our patriotic attachment to that country as well. This goes without mentioning the diverse flavour that is added to this nation, in our embrace of our respective cultures, and thus proof that Canada, for example, is welcoming of individuals of all cultures – that is, the portrayal of Canada as an accepting, peace-loving nation. Moreover, our ability to exist as individual racial and ethnic communities with our respective values – pieces of the ‘mosaic’ – and yet function together as Canadians – as a whole ‘mosaic’ – in our duties in school, at workplaces and so on; that again, is a benefit for the nation.
It is this ‘integration’, that sparks my interest in respect to the Canadian society. In contrast to assimilation, which I believe, suggests the complete merging of cultures into one identity, integration implies the existence of both the parts and the whole – as a united identity. Canada’s Federal Immigrant Integration Strategy provides an excellent illustration of this idea:
“Newcomers are expected to understand and respect basic Canadian values, and Canadians are expected to understand and respect the cultural differences newcomers bring to Canada. Rather than expecting newcomers to abandon their own cultural heritage, the emphasis is on finding ways to integrate differences in a pluralistic society…”
As a young immigrant individual myself, I truly believe that within our own communities, we have given back to Canadian society, as it has given to us, and there is no doubt that we will continue to do so. After all, though our parents were not born here, and for some of us, neither were we, this is still the nation in which we live. Just as we work to make our individual homes a more comfortable place, we hold hands with other communities, in helping Canada become an even better nation than it already is.
The subject of multiculturalism and the integration of immigrant communities is one that provides room for much discussion. In fact, I have simply mentioned the value of multiculturalism to us as individuals, and to the history and economy of a nation just to suggest the need for governmental tolerance with regard to ‘different’ cultural and religious values. In fact, what I have written is just a simple reflection into the issue at hand – the call against multiculturalism. It is my hope that globalization does not perform its magic into spreading this issue into the nations of the world, including Canada, for as I see it, this would be detrimental not only to our individual identities, but also to the composition of the nations themselves.
Tags: Speak Out
