Sociology 433

“Roots of Identity, Routes to Knowing” by Howard Ramos

1) Consider the encounter on the side of the road between Ramos’ father and the French Canadian man who asks the question “Where are you from?”.  In “Roots of Identity, Routes to Knowing”, Ramos considers the effect of his personal insecurities and preconceptions on his recollection of the encounter.

When a person is hurt by encounters like this one, is it the question itself that causes the injury or is it a pre-existing injury exposed by the question that is the true source of the pain?

2) Ramos closes with a poignant comment about how in order to embrace his Canadianness he must embrace the Canadian obsession with identity and accept that constantly being asked where he is from is a kind of Canadian ritual that must be embraced as part of the experience of being Canadian. How does this resonate with you?

3) Thought Experiment: imagine that questions like “Where are you from?”, “What is your background?” and “Were you born in Canada?” etc… are outlawed in Canada.

Is it possible for our multicultural society to evolve into an intercultural one without the freedom to ask one another about our personal histories? Consider different interpretations of the word “Canadian” and their effect on casual interactions between strangers and how those interactions are interpreted by everyone involved.

“Jewish, Canadian, or Quebecois Notes on a Diasporic Identity” by S. J. Ship

1) Ship mentions in her article that “Trying to define the Jewish identity with the categories of (religion, culture, appearance, and perseverance of anti Semitism) are never enough as it does not involve the lived experiences and the consciousness of the individuals…”

But what about those who haven’t had any lived experience, for example like the 2^nd generation, 3^rd generation Jews who are born in Canada just like herself. So, how would they identify themselves as a Jew? What factors would play a role in changing their status quo to being more Jewish? (Ex-Strict traditional family roots, Jewish education?)

2) She mentions that the authenticity of experience is a sufficient criterion for truth and representativeness. What do you think?

3) Are you sympathetic towards her situation of being a confused Jew? If yes, Why? if no, Why not?

4) Is the Canadian census, racist towards immigrants for having them define their ethnicity in spite of them being Canadian?
And is it fair that race and ethnicity plays a vital role in everything an immigrant does from applying to jobs, going to school, working at a restaurant, etc even though they are born in Canada and speak English as their first language?