The part of MY personality which has constantly tried to "fit in" or "be normal". It tried to conform to mainstream culture, denying my Brown Androgynous Childish Soul.
As of late, I've been trying to find ways for this part of myself to exist in equanimity with my westernized identity. To be truer to my whole being. And what it has revealed is something very quirky and eccentric within me.
Anyone that denies that many of us (if not all) have been subjected to socialize ourselves in public (denying deep rooted parts of ourselves) to "fit in" to a Eurocentric industrial drone (and the social norms and mainstream culture it encompasses) in our schools and offices are a little naive.
You may think we as Canadians are tolerant of Diversity. But have you ever really inhabited a diverse way of being in public and experienced how people react? Have you ever been in a situation where you actually accommodated another person's diverse way of being?
Or rather, are you a person who easily defines people and things which are different as 'weird' and 'crazy' because it made you uncomfortable not because they caused harm? Are you someone who believes there is a normal way of being we should all be subjected to inhabit?
Are you really sure we're tolerant of diversity?
You may think we as Canadians are tolerant of Diversity. But have you ever really inhabited a diverse way of being in public and experienced how people react? Have you ever been in a situation where you actually accommodated another person's diverse way of being?
Or rather, are you a person who easily defines people and things which are different as 'weird' and 'crazy' because it made you uncomfortable not because they caused harm? Are you someone who believes there is a normal way of being we should all be subjected to inhabit?
Are you really sure we're tolerant of diversity?
Yes, is my answer. Other than broad-swooping, emotionally-charged questions, what explanation do you have for these accusations? How else would cities like Toronto (with more than half of its population self-identifying as a visible ethnicity, other than 'white') and Vancouver thrive? If you're not talking about immigration+education policy, and the charter of rights and freedoms (which clearly support diversity, and were written on that very tenant), then surely you're referring to the social constructs the country's citizens create. Yet, with the aforementioned demographics, it would be logical to deduce that the constructs in Toronto+Vancouver are created, by and large, by non-'whites'...n'est pas?
ReplyDeleteHey D.B. Cooper, I think it would be logical to deduce that at the moment most of these social constructs are created by and large 'whites'. Immigration of non-'whites' to Canada was literally illegal till post - 1960's. However, in the 1970's to the 1980's we saw a rise of non-'white' immigration from the East. The children of these immigrants (including myself)are now coming of age. It will be interesting to see how things will progress. Will they simply assimilate? Or will they infuse some of the wisdom that they learned privately at home, from their parents (wisdom from the East), publicly in the West? My only explanation for these accusations are my personal experiences. I grew up feeling ashamed of the values and customs practiced at home. I don't know where this shame came from. Perhaps, experiences of other children calling me "weird" or laughing at me if I did something that was culturally inappropriate. Nevertheless, I grew up with deep-seated insecurities, which I am now questioning and trying to rise above. I now believe that there's a lot of wisdom my parents shared with me. Things I no longer want to deny. Rather, I hope to grow in confidence, to be truer to my whole being, and to share this wisdom (which I denied for so long) with my greater Canadian family. In hope of incorporating it to some of the great things that already exist in Canada.
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