|
White stream does not equal to Main stream
Sometime in September, 1995,
Vancouver Sun columnist Elizabeth Aird was "attacked" for her view
point in racial relationship in a forum organised by S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
During an interview after the forum, Aird denied that she was a racist and said
that she was only being factual. Aird's thinking is, in a sense, quite
similar to that of Markham's deputy mayor Ms Bell. Both Aird and Bell
think that only the "white stream"is the "main stream", i.e.
"white culture' is the "main culture" and "white
society" is the "main society". If we extrapolate
such a thinking, we get racism.
Aird and Bell seem to say that: 1. new immigrants are challenging the Canadian
tradition; and 2. English is the symbol of "main steam".
Aird even went on to suggest that the relationship between the Chineseand white
people is a power struggle between two vested interest groups. The meaning
of Canadian tradition is hard to define as it spans a time frame of more than a
hundred yearsand involves the mingling of the English, French and native Indian
cultures. Immigrants come to Canada may due to many reasons, however, it is hard
to believe anyone would come to Canada just to challenge Canadian
tradition. After the immigrants arrived in Canada, some may try
their best to integrate into the local community, while some may try to live in
their own way. But even for the latter, it is far from "challenging the
Canadian tradition".
Aird and Bell said that there were white people moving away from areas being
"dominated" by Chinese immigrants. They worried that the
Chinese were so concentrated that white people would be driven away .Their
message is simple: White is white and white tradition is the "Canadian
tradition", the very existence of so many Chinese is challenging such a
"Canadian tradition". Aird said that the Chinese could not
speak English while Bell pointed her finger to the Chinese commercial signs.
Both of them are trying to protect the "white stream" .
Language is not a proof of nationality, rather, it is a means of communication.
English is one of the two official languages of Canada. It is very useful
for our lives in here. However, it is neither illegal nor making one
less useful in the Canadian society if one cannot understand English.
During immigration application process, the principal applicant* must know
either English or French in order to be qualified.
Such requirement is not applied to the family members of the principal
applicant or for reasons of humanitarian.
New immigrants have the freedom of learning English at their own pace. We
cannot say that those who are slow to learn English are challenging the
"Canadian tradition". If suddenly, there are a lot
of Francophones moving into one of our community, will the English
Canadians move out because the (Francophones) do not speak English?
What will Aird say to them? I want to understand more about
thelogic behind her comments
.While the motives of Aird and Bell is clear, their thinking is not. Commercial
signs are put up in order toattract customers and the choice of the signs
language is therefore based upon which kind of customerthey are going to attract
i.e. it is purely a business decision rather than anything else. After
all, there are actually very few commercial signs which are written in Chinese
only.
As for the question of "why the Chinese book stores do not sell English
books", it is just like asking "why the cinemas do not provide hair
cutting service" - they are just irrelevant. There are many
English book stores in Canada and the Chinese book stores are, as a matter of
fact, a kind of specialty store selling specialty products to a specific group
of customers.
Aird framed the above situations as a power struggle between the English and the
Chinese vested interest groups. We would say that she has either missed
the whole point or had her own hidden agenda. The Chinese has never been a
vested interest group - both economically and politically. So where comes
the"power struggle"? Of course, Chinese Canadians want to
develop themselves in the economic and politicalsectors. But it only mean
that the Chinese are doing what all other Canadians are doing. There is
only one vested interest group and that is the white community. Is Aird afraid
that the interest of the white peoplewill be reduced because of the development
of the Chinese community?
Put in a nut shell: Bell and Aird are speaking out for those who think
that "white stream" is the only cultural stream in the Canadian
society and the Chinese is now posting a threat to it. Under the
concept of"white stream", other people of different cultures are
"foreigners". So, white stream = main stream and therefore our
multi culture policy becomes nothing but the so called hollow idealogy.
Sadly, there are some Chinese believe that "white stream" is the main
stream and based their judgementaccording to the white people's standard.
They have forgot that Canada is a multi racial and multi culural society and
"multi stream" is our true main stream.
If Chinese Canadians are not aware such a situation and do nothing to
correct it, the problem of racialdiscrimination will become more serious and the
spirit of multi culturism will diminish.
- Foster
Lo September 24, 1995
Translated by: Eric Wong
PROFILE
A music critic, a lyric writer, a columnist, a commentator and a journalist
with over 30 years of experience in HK & Canada. Former Editor-In- Chief of Ming
Pao Daily News (Western Edition, Vancouver), is now seeking new
adventures.
|
