We Need to Reform Multiculturalism | The Prince Arthur Herald

Group versus individual identity:

Growing up in a partially government-funded ethnic school, I experienced first hand the disadvantages of our current multicultural policies. Being put in an ethnic school by my parents not only kept me isolated from mainstream society but also limited my opportunities, hindered my self-expression and restricted my freedom of conscious. Looking back, I believe I, just like any other child in this country, had the right to grow and prosper in a diverse educational setting, free of cultural and religious biases. I am convinced that it was the glamorization of our ‘cultural mosaic’ which led my parents, just like many other immigrant parents, to put their child in an ethnic school – because a country which promotes itself as a ‘cultural mosaic’ necessitates the retainment of the ancestral cultures of its people.

I truly believe that if we want to build a country that has equal opportunity and is real in diversity, we need to reform multiculturalism, drop our obsession with this so called ‘cultural mosaic’ and start welcoming newcomers as individuals first, and not as clusters of cultures. We have to take a balanced approach where we neither assimilate newcomers nor encourage them to keep their ancestral culture. Let’s opt for multi-individualism instead of multi-culturalism. If we truly believe diversity to be a strength, then we must believe that the diversity of individuals is stronger than the diversity of cultures, for individuals outnumber cultures. Clinging to the ‘cultural mosaic’ as a social model is outdated and will only result in pseudo-diversity and oppression because in reality, Canada has thirty-five million ‘cultures’, not two-hundred.

Agree with him on the need for common institutions like public education and more emphasis on bringing people together (one of Kenney’s changes and emphasis on integration and interaction, while respecting the individual and group heritage).

Much of this is happening anyway in our larger centres, with slow but steady growth in mixed unions being one manifestation.

We Need to Reform Multiculturalism | The Prince Arthur Herald.