Post by Souriquois on Sept 23, 2018 11:45:18 GMT -4
Since the claim is that it is leftist, I thought I should point out the true origin of it, from Canada, the birthplace of multiculturalism and the only country in the world that has multiculturalism in its constitution.
Somebody spit some truth razors on the Canadian politics hashtag:
The birth of multiculturalism as a policy comes at a time when Anglophone/Francophone tensions in Canada were very high. The main source of the anger was that Francophones did not have equal voice in the political or economic life in Canada. There were starting to revolt, violently. Public buildings were bombed, people were killed, all that.
The solution proposed by the Canadian left was biculturalism, not multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism was proposed by the Canadian right, who have a long history of mobilizing people of colour against francophones which dates back to the Underground Railroad, when they said escaped slaves could stay in Canada, if they bumped off a few Frenchies. It was a shadow way to deny francophones their rights.
The left responded by proposing multiculturalism, in a more fair way. So yeah, since biculturalism was blind to other people living in Canada like indigenous people, black folks, as well as other "white" groups like Germans and Ukrainians (who were also treated poorly back then), I would say the right improved upon it. And I can perfectly understand why John Diefenbaker, a Canadian of German descent who faced prejudice as a youth because of his heritage (and mistreatment, because of his heritage, as prime minister), would be more open to that, since biculturalism did not help Germans like himself (or blacks, or indigenous people, who he was also sympathetic to).
It also got caught up in the language of neoliberalism, since immigrants are good for the economy and all... and a country governed by neoliberal economics needs immigration, and in such an economy, the places with the most jobs will be multicultural because that's what puts people on the move.
Also, scholars of fascism have claimed that if it ever arose in Canada, it would be multicultural, since fascism puts the state above all else and multiculturalism is enshrined in the state here.
Not saying I am against multiculturalism (I personally don't care if a place I live in is multicultural or monocultural, just as long as the people are nice), but might as well point out the origins.
Somebody spit some truth razors on the Canadian politics hashtag:
The birth of multiculturalism as a policy comes at a time when Anglophone/Francophone tensions in Canada were very high. The main source of the anger was that Francophones did not have equal voice in the political or economic life in Canada. There were starting to revolt, violently. Public buildings were bombed, people were killed, all that.
The solution proposed by the Canadian left was biculturalism, not multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism was proposed by the Canadian right, who have a long history of mobilizing people of colour against francophones which dates back to the Underground Railroad, when they said escaped slaves could stay in Canada, if they bumped off a few Frenchies. It was a shadow way to deny francophones their rights.
The left responded by proposing multiculturalism, in a more fair way. So yeah, since biculturalism was blind to other people living in Canada like indigenous people, black folks, as well as other "white" groups like Germans and Ukrainians (who were also treated poorly back then), I would say the right improved upon it. And I can perfectly understand why John Diefenbaker, a Canadian of German descent who faced prejudice as a youth because of his heritage (and mistreatment, because of his heritage, as prime minister), would be more open to that, since biculturalism did not help Germans like himself (or blacks, or indigenous people, who he was also sympathetic to).
It also got caught up in the language of neoliberalism, since immigrants are good for the economy and all... and a country governed by neoliberal economics needs immigration, and in such an economy, the places with the most jobs will be multicultural because that's what puts people on the move.
Also, scholars of fascism have claimed that if it ever arose in Canada, it would be multicultural, since fascism puts the state above all else and multiculturalism is enshrined in the state here.
Not saying I am against multiculturalism (I personally don't care if a place I live in is multicultural or monocultural, just as long as the people are nice), but might as well point out the origins.