This essay will focus on the personal experiences of a Canadian Immigrant in dealing with multiculturalism here in Canada. I conducted this interview over a 1-hour period. I sat down and asked questions about the lives of Canadian immigrants to get some information on multiculturalism in Canada.
Dina Ocean, a Muslim woman from North Africa, was the person I interviewed. There she completed her post-secondary education, attended medical school and worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist for 11 years before migrating to Canada in the early 2000s. She is a mom to three. She can speak three languages, English, French, Arabic. She started her Canadian life as a bilingual agent for customer service. After completing her social work degree, she worked as a bilingual customer service agent for several years. She was then hired to teach French at a private school. She has lived in many neighborhoods in Toronto with low-income residents and middle-classes, which included people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. These transitions gave her the chance to live in different environments and have interaction with people of different socioeconomic backgrounds and cultures. Every transition brought with it its own set of life challenges and experiences. She has experience in both social work and education.
We covered a range of social and political topics in the interview. Some of the topics discussed included race/ethnicity (employment), immigration, nationalism and poverty. I was able to learn from her about her personal life and identify key moments that have influenced these topics and other social issues. The interview was insightful and allowed me to gain insight into another person’s view of multiculturalism in Canada. I learned about both the bad and good aspects of living abroad. Dina’s experiences in employment led me to the conclusion that good immigration policies (Canadian Multiculturalism Act), can have a tremendous impact on society. It can promote racial/ethnic harmony, unite people regardless their background and create a society where everyone can flourish and their potential is fully recognized. Dina attributes her many job opportunities to her bilingualism. Although she believes these opportunities made it easier for her to immigrate to Canada, she notes that some of the people she met while she was first arriving were not native English speakers and had little Canadian work experience. These obstacles made it difficult for them to fully integrate into Canadian society, and establish a sense of belonging.
Concerns about Dina’s experience with racism, discrimination, and other sensitive topics were a concern. But I was surprised to learn that Dina has been inspired to volunteer in projects outside her local community to break down the stereotypes society has about her ethnic/religious backgrounds (Arab/ Muslim). During the interview, I didn’t encounter any ethical dilemmas. Dina shared an extremely interesting point with my. Dina has two children, John is 3 years old and has dark brown eyes. Jason is fair and has blonde hair. She recalls how Jason was raised by many Caucasian parents. People were often shocked to learn about his religion and ethnicity. She said that his skin color had a significant advantage in many situations, especially when compared to John. She asked her sons about their experiences with racism and discrimination. Jason shared his experience with discrimination, while John said he had experienced it a few times. Jason, however, stated that he never experienced racism or discrimination.
Certain privileges (white privelege, male privelege etc.) are hidden. Certain privileges (white privilege, male privilege, etc.) are hidden in society. When we think of stratification on the basis of ethnicity (skin-color), we tend not to see the advantages it brings but the opportunities it gives us. Jason, for instance, has never been discriminated against because of his skin tone. But, Jason also doesn’t think about the privileges that his skin has brought him. Jason’s story is similar to Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack” article. She said, “In proportion that my racial and ethnic group was made comfortable, confident, and oblivious to other groups, we most likely made unconfident. Whiteness protected myself from violence, hostility and distress. In turn, I was trained to subtly visit people of colour. This reality is a reflection of Jason and John’s experiences dealing with disadvantage and privilege based on skin color.
Guest’s book, “Cultural Anthropology” explains that every society has its own stratification patterns that group people based on their race, gender, sexuality and power. This results in unequal access and privilege to resources, wealth and power. These differences create divisions between the rich & poor. Inequality within such societies can prevent those at disadvantage from advancing. John’s experience with racism and discrimination because of his religious affiliation is a prime example of how this categorisation can put people at an advantage and hinder their ability to develop as individuals. Individuals are prevented from realizing their full potential by this inequality. This was interesting because even though the young men are relatively close in age and come from the same religion/ethnic background, they have lived in very different environments in terms of discrimination and racism.