There is always an argument about how much new immigrants (and the not-so-recent ones) should be trying to assimilate into the society of their new country. That is probably the one element that causes the most friction between newcomers and the less flexible of their new hosts.
A recent study by Angus Reid has discovered that 2/3 of Canadians are happy with the amount our new immigrants are becoming more like us. Isn’t that nice? How Canadian of us. But then, when asked if new immigrants should make a stronger effort to assimilate, 2/3 of Canadians said that they should.
Huh?
I have been known to express the opinion that people who answer polls often give a rather optimistic version of their real opinions, but this seems to suggest that 1/3 of Canadians are holding two opposing opinions and don’t realize it. After all, either the immigrants are doing all right or they’re not.
It Isn’t That Simple
But if you look at it carefully, these numbers may not be that cockeyed. It’s all a matter of what elements of culture the immigrants should be adapting, and in what elements they can keep their own ideals. Perhaps it is ingenuous of us, but there are certain Canadian values that we think need to be upheld, no matter what. These are the ones that the vast majority of Canadians hold to firmly, and in the words of a very unpopular American would-be politician and his followers, if you don’t like them, why are you here?
Honour killing, for example. We have laws against murder in this country, and when it comes to murdering your sister because she wants to marry someone you don’t like, most Canadians Would remind you that you came to Canada because it is a better place than where you came from. One of the reasons it’s better is that people don’t go around killing each other for any reason. Read my lips. ANY reason. Including the fact that a person has challenged your right to rule her life.
Because that is the real point of contention here. The main element of Canadian culture that we hold dear is our inclusiveness: our insistence that every individual has the right to direct his or her own life in the way he or she (or whatever pronoun you like) sees fit, without interference of others. The old “My right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins” argument, taken quite a bit further. So if one element of your culture that you wish to preserve is its exclusiveness, then you’re going to have a problem with the rest of us.
Authoritarianism
Closely related to exclusivity is the amount of authoritarianism that exists in any given culture. A dictatorial group in any culture creates an incredible store of resentment in the rest of the society. This dangerous store of violence is usually concentrated in the young males. The most dangerous situation for cultures of this sort is when the subjugated element sees a possibility of breaking free of their chains. Revolution is bound to occur.
So immigrant elders who try to impose their authority on their children, when those children see everyone around them enjoying a much greater freedom, are creating an explosive situation.
And the perfect cultural storm occurs when the host society treats the newcomers with disdain. The resentment the young and angry feel towards their own elders is multiplied in their feelings towards those they consider their new torturers. With no cultural rules to control them. This is why there are so many home-grown terrorists in France and the United States.
The Hijab
A perfect example of this seeming dichotomy is the argument about women who cover themselves. The practice is considered by most Canadians to be misogynistic. Forcing a woman to cover herself so only her husband has access to her beauty seems to us to be the ultimate control over her life.
However…
If we consider it a crime for her husband to force her to wear it, isn’t it an equal sin to force her not to wear it, should she choose to of her own free will?
The Afghan government says a woman must be clothed from head to foot. We went to war against them.
The French government says a woman may not wear a head scarf in certain circumstances. We consider them authoritarian.
The Parti Quebecois tried to keep people in certain positions from wearing religious symbols. They lost the next election.
Most Canadians want to wear what they want, when they want, and nobody is going to tell them different. And if you think you can tell them – or any other Canadian – what to wear, what to think or what to do, then you need to do some serious thinking whether there is a place for your ideas in this country. And that goes for a lot of our home-grown authoritarians as well.
So, while the majority of Canadians thinks the majority of immigrants is doing just fine in assimilating into our society, likewise a majority of us thinks that there are certain areas where many immigrants need to do better.
But that’s not picking on immigrants. If Messrs. Angus and Reid asked, we would probably say the same about the rest of Canadians as well. No matter how many generations they have been here.