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.