Monthly Archives: February 2014

Multiculturalism encouraging segregation?

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Does multiculturalism encourage segregation? I read Reyhana Heatherington’s Ubyssey article, Why does Black History month receive so little attention in Vancouver? and it got me thinking about some topics we have recently covered in our CAP classes. The article suggests that the spatial factor causes black history to be neglected, therefore making it important for Vancouver to celebrate Black History Month. The article suggests that the only beneficial thing that occurred from segregation was that “it encouraged people to develop their community”. Today in Geography, we discussed the idea of ‘good segregation’ versus ‘bad segregation’. Presently, ‘good segregation’ represents the same idea the article describes, that having spatial separation can mean a voluntary, mutually supportive, group. These groups can act as welcoming points for immigrants coming to Canada and are temporary in that the immigrant’s future generations are probable to stray away from these groups. ‘Bad segregation’ represents what we may typically think of when we hear the word segregation. That is one which is long term and involuntary.

On the one hand, having spatially separate groups may be helpful to immigrants due to the benefits of being part of a community. However, spatial separation could be the start of occupational and linguistic separation, creating the long term segregation Canadians typically, currently do not desire. Thus, it could be argued that being a multicultural country, a mosaic, encourages segregation. The assimilation model, however, perhaps rids us of the segregation problem because no clear, and distinct groups form.

However, I argue that assimilation does not rid us of segregation issues. Additionally, while some immigrants arriving in Canada may find these spatially separate communities helpful, others may find them to be isolating. I believe that regardless of whether you are living in a multicultural, mosaic style country or an assimilated, melting pot, country; segregation can occur and thus it is important to be continually working towards being an inclusive country.

Distancing Ourselves from the Problem

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After visiting the Belkin’s Witnesses and the Museum of Anthropology’s Speaking to Memory: Images and Voices from St. Michael’s Residential School, it seemed to me that many Canadians (myself included) have begun to think within the “us versus them” framework, that many of them have tried to dismantle. It appears to me that a large majority of the TRC events are focused on the relationship between the Canadian government and the First Nations people. Additionally, there is a large focus on the Christian church’s relationship with the First Nations people. This makes sense for obvious reasons, especially due to the way that these institutions are primarily responsible for the residential schools- a large focus of TRC events.

As was discussed by many of my peers in last Thursdays class (Feb. 13th), the various churches apology statements are severely lacking in expressing initiatives that they will take in order to aid aboriginal communities. These churches statements are written in a way that suggests they are distancing themselves from the problem rather than providing solutions or aid for it. However, it seems to me that many Canadians are doing something similar. Despite being knowledgeable about TRC and aboriginal related issues, they distance themselves from the issue. I have often seen people think critically about the government and churches actions but not go beyond that. We begin to think within the “us and them” framework, separating ourselves from the government, and thus thinking we are not part of the problem. We are critical of the churches lack to take action but yet we do not take action ourselves.

Perhaps, we should start focusing less on the relationship between the church/government and the First Nation peoples, and begin focusing on their relationship with all other citizens of Canada. Distancing ourselves from the situation is always less effective than taking action and participating in it. I believe Canadians should start thinking about what we can do to aid aboriginal Canadians rather then only considering what the government or churches should be doing.