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( Hat tip to Maria Niles for the heads up)
Born and raised in Ontario Canada, I would get really annoyed when someone would ask me about my background. After I explained that I was born in Toronto, they would still press, “no, but where are you really from?” I felt, and still feel that my background is really none of their business, and would usually reply that I was from Mars. Or Saturn, depending on what first came to mind. I resented the implication that because of what I looked like that I wasn’t really Canadian. I was educated here, pay taxes, vote, am usually bored out of my f#$%ing mind…basically do everything a ‘good’ Canadian is supposed to do and be. But still, the questions persisted. I felt that it really wasn’t up to me to be a member of this country, but rather up to others to measure my place in society.
Because of the differences in the multiculturalism policies in Canada and the U.S, how people of color are perceived are supposed to be different, but the uneasiness of the ‘other’ is similar. In Canada, we are supposed to value the cultural differences of our citizens. In the States, there is an expectation that one should assimilate into a cultural norm that, in time will be accepted by everyone. But while that sentiment still plays a powerful role in the mindset of many liberal Americans, how true is it?
Can assimilation be a good thing, or for some is it even possible?
That is one of the questions raised by a recent Washington Post article on a group of Latino interns assigned to work in various congressional offices in Washington this summer. The college students, picked for their academic successes, were invited by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and profiled by writer David Montgomery. The article serves as an introduction to the students, their summer positions and most importantly how the younger generation of Latino Americans views their place in the world.
In these days of heightened racial tension and numerous demonstrations on immigration reform, the article, while criticized by some, is a positive and unfortunately, a necessary article. For some, who are blinded by bias media reports and negative stereotypes that are focused on heightening the fears of everyday Americans who are afraid of the ‘unknown,’ tend to overshadow the stories of the average citizen who is focused on their career and personal aspirations. It also serves as a window into the social dynamics that exist between Latino youth, which are eerily similar to other ethnic community groups.
The hue of one’s skin, their diction are not only indicators as to legitimize one’s place in their country, but also used to legitimize one’s place in their cultural group. In the article, the students discuss the problem of the diversity of the Latino community being ignored by the larger society (i.e. everyone is from Mexico) but banding together to fight for common issues, such as the immigration debate. However, there is a stigma that some of the students have endured based on their appearance and their language preferences. How one’s skin color is a ruler to how American (or for that matter, how Canadian) a person is, is mystifying, but a real reality. And while I’d like to blame it on this post 9/11, War on Terror hypersensitive world we live in, it has existed way before that.
So while there is a pressure to assimilate into the dominant culture, what is the point if people continue to be judged on their ethnicity? Perhaps this younger generation with exceed where others have not. I doubt it, I really do. While in Canada, our diversity policy is deeply embedded within our Constitution and people’s cultural and religious differences are celebrated – there is not such a social impetus to conform to a “Canadianess” because there really isn’t a common thought as to what being a Canadian is (in my opinion, that is), and intolerance and the ‘racisms’ (systemic, institutional, etc.) still exists. So I can only imagine what it must be like for people south of the Canadian border.
While I found the article interesting, especially the inter-dynamics that were so similar to other cultural groups, I couldn’t help wonder what the overall purpose of the article was. Was it to show that yes, there are Latino college students that are really, really smart and ambitious? Why can’t people come to that fact by themselves….Okay, I’m a bit
