assimilation vs multiculturalism

PoliChic87

Read this in the georgia straight today:

"The fundamental problem with assimilationism is its inherent racism. To be an assimilationist is to believe in the superiority of one group over another. And if you believe in the superiority of one broup or the other, then you believe that others are inferior and they cannot ever become Canadianized." - Prof Michael Warsh, SFU

Rhea

if assimilation is understood as giving away your own culture and habits, then i think it is wrong and racist. that kind of understanding of assimilation happens in Germany, where politicians, and most germans expect the immigrants to follow the german "Leitkultur" and give up their own culture.
But I think Canada is very different in this regard.... we tend to have a very open minded and extremly tolerant attitude towards cultures that are different than the dominant anglo-saxon culture.

siuying

"To be an assimilationist is to believe in the superiority of one group over another"

that's a pretty impressive statement.. but how does he know that this is how assimilationists think? assimilation isn't about recognizing which group has superiority over the other.. even that sounds ridiculous itself.. who's to say which group is more superior over the other? i'm an asian and i assimilated to the Canadian culture but i didn't give up on my heritage for the sake of that.. and to say that i'm inferior because i don't recognize that Canadians are more superior is leaning towards being dogmatic.. like racisim... assimilation is a personal choice and we all have our variety of reasons which are not limited to agreeing to superiority.. and like racisim it's always going to be around and nothing will effectively and completely eliminate it from the society..

Claritin

I totally agree with siuying, assimilation does not mean you accept the beliefs or religious conviction of another faith. It is much broader than that.
When you are traveling to a different country to go to school you do not need to change your beliefs or the religion you practice.
You do begin to dress differently, because fashion maybe different. You begin to talk differently because the slang used by the people maybe different. You unconsciously do these things because they come naturally when you are introduced into an environment that you are not accustomed to, hence assimilation occurs. Multi-cultural is all around us, with he people we see in our classes to the friends we hang around with. What brings everyone together is some common characteristic or trait that we all share, whether it is an interest in movie or a class, and you do not need to be of a certain religion to do so.

KarEntropy

I don't think that assimilation always signifies the superiority of one group over another. For example, if people are kindly granted the possibility to immigrate to another state, those people should have an obligation to comply with the rules of the country they are moving into.
It is not wrong to say that it is obligatory for people to at least attempt to learn the language and way of living of the state they have chosen to immigrate to. You can preserve your culture all you want as long as it doesn't directly clash with the customs of your new place of living, since it was there before you and you knew it when you decided to immigrate.
Assimilation can be very wrong in other cases, however.

PoliChic87

Wow those are some good responses guys, we have some pretty smart people on here...

I support Multi-culturalism in Canada and am so glad that I don't live in parts of Europe where assimilation is almost forced.

That's why I love Canada. :smile:

Argento77

There's an interesting metaphor I heard relating to the cultural differences between the U.S. and Canada: "The U.S. is a big, mixed-up soup whereas Canada is a salad." I thought this was very amusing and very factual. From my personal experience, I've noticed that a lot of non-Americans who grew up in the U.S. were very assimilated into American culture. I came to Canada and I saw and continue to notice that cultural differences were and are valued and emphasized. People of different cultures who live here are not as "Canadianized," so to speak. Instead, they are encouaged to share their culture and stand out. I think that is what assimilation (or rather, not) means in Canada. Because, as you may have noticed, the contents of a soup bowl are mixed into one homogeneous mixture whereas, in a salad, its contents are colorful and conspicuous.

Insatiable

Since when is assimilation "inherently racist"? Since when is believing in assimilation indicative of believing in the superiority of one group over the other? Ever hear of leaving one's country by necessity Prof. Warsh!?

Coming to a new country already presupposes some degree of cultural loss. You cannot go to another country and expect to completely retain the culture you leave. I also believe that no matter how much emphasis at cultural preservation in another country, assimilation is inevitable. Not to the same degree for everyone (the age at which one takes up a new culture is a variable), but one thing is certain some assimilation will happen to all who have immigrated to another country. This is not a normative statement but a factual one.

I won't say anything about my personal experiences or whether I think it's good or bad but something else: you cannot expect to succeed in another country if you do not assimilate. That is, if you want to succeed in Canada, you should either shed some of your culture, or become more Canadian. I won't give my opinion on this but will say that it is a fact, not an idea.

And about the Canada-US distinction (salad versus soup), it's all bollocks. Both countries let in a huge number of immigrants and to say that one allows for cultural distinction and the other discourages it is purely unfounded.