Multiculturalism and Immigration

This assignment discusses the concept of multiculturalism and immigration in Canada, analyzing two articles that present different viewpoints on the topic. The first article by Wayson Choy highlights the positive aspects of multiculturalism, while the second article by Will Kymlicka critiques the hollows of integration. The analysis compares and contrasts the two perspectives, providing a nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding multiculturalism and immigration in Canada.

Running head: MULTICULTURALISM AND IMMIGRATION
Multiculturalism and Immigration
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Author’s Note:

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“Keep your language. Love its sounds, its modulation, its rhythm. But try to march together
with men of different languages, remote from your own, who wish like you for a more just
and human world.”
The above quoted lines from the book “Spiral Of Violence” by Hélder Câmara clearly
outlines the essence of the concept of multiculturalism and immigration. Multiculturalism can
be defined as the situation wherein all the different ethnic groups as well as the cultures get
equal representation and none of them is ignored or misrepresented (Modood). This intends
to study the process of multiculturalism and immigration through two articles, namely,
Wayson Choy’s “I’M a Banana and Proud of It” and Will Kymlicka’s “Immigrants,
Multiculturalism and Canadian Citizenship”. The thesis statement of this essay is whether
countries like Canada truly follow the policy of multiculturalism.
The article “I’M a Banana and Proud of It” by Wayson Choy focuses on the condition
of the Chinese people in the nation of Canada and the process of their integration in the
mainland culture of Canada. It is to be noted that Wayson Choy is a Canadian author born in
the year 1939 most of whose works focus on the plight of the Chinese people and people
from other nationalities in the mainland of China (Berry). The article under discussion here
sheds light on his mixed identity as a Chinese Canadian citizen and the way he and his family
members have been integrated in the culture of Canada. He says, “Because both my parents
came from China, I took Chinese. But I cannot read or write Chinese and barely speak it. I
love my North American citizenship. I don’t' mind being called a "banana," yellow on the
outside and white on the inside. I'm proud I'm a banana” ("I'm A Banana And Proud Of It --
By Wayson Choy”). This statement clearly outlines the identity dilemma faced by the author.
He even goes to say that “In every human being, there is "the Other….wanting the same
security and happiness” ("I'm A Banana And Proud Of It -- By Wayson Choy”).

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The article “Immigrants, Multiculturalism and Canadian Citizenship” by Will
Kymlicka, on the other hand, focuses on the concept of multiculturalism and “multicultural
citizenship”. It is to be noted that Will Kymlicka, born in the year 1962, is a Canadian
political philosopher and writer most of whose works focus on the theme of multiculturalism
and its related aspects (Weinstock). He sees the concept of multiculturalism to be something
of a façade and even goes on to say that multiculturalism “has led to "undeniable
ghettoization". Rather than promoting integration, multiculturalism is encouraging the idea
that immigrants should form "self-contained" ghettos "alienated from the mainstream". This
ghettoization is "not an extreme of multiculturalism but its ideal: a way of life transported
whole, a little outpost of exoticism preserved and protected" (Kymlicka). He further says that
multiculturalism has a “"cult of ethnicity" which "exaggerates differences…..endgame is self-
pity and self-ghettoization", or what Schlesinger calls "cultural and linguistic apartheid"
(Kymlicka).
It is to be noted that the two articles, though written by two authors who are the
citizens of the nations of Canada itself, gives different viewpoints of the process of
multiculturalism and the process of the integration of the diverse ethnic groups into the
mainland culture of Canada. The arguments of Choy in the article under discussion here
completely appeals to the logos of the readers with sentences like “By 1949, after the
Communists took over China, those of use who arrived here as young children, or were born
here, stayed. No longer "aliens," we became legal citizens of North America. Many of use
also became "bananas" ("I'm A Banana And Proud Of It -- By Wayson Choy”). On the
contrary, the article of Kymlicka, though also appealing to the logos of the readers gives a
different view of the same concept in lines like “"official multiculturalism encourages
apartheid, or to be a bit less harsh, ghettoism". The more multiculturalism policy has been in
place, "the higher the cultural walls have gone up inside Canada". Multiculturalism

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encourages ethnic leaders to keep their members "apart from the mainstream", practising
"what can best be described as mono-culturalism". In this way, "Our state encourages these
gatekeepers to maintain what amounts, at worst, to an apartheid form of citizenship"
(Kymlicka). Furthermore, the article of Choy insists that the Chinese people should adopt the
culture of the native Canadian people in words like “In fact, our families encouraged
members of my generation in the 1950s and sixties to "get ahead," to get an English
education, to get a job with good pay and prestige. "Don't work like me," Chinatown parents
said. "Work in an office!" The lao wah-kiu (the Chinatown old-timers) also warned, "Never
forget--you still be Chinese!" ("I'm A Banana And Proud Of It -- By Wayson Choy”). The
article of Kymlicka, on the other hand, comments on the hollows of the concept of integration
followed by the immigrants in words like “adopting a Canadian identity rather than clinging
exclusively to one's ancestral identity; participating in broader Canadian institutions rather
than participating solely in ethnic-specific institutions; learning an official language rather
than relying solely on one's mother-tongue; having inter-ethnic friendships or even mixed-
marriages rather than socializing entirely within one's ethnic group” (Kymlicka).
Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that multiculturalism form an
important aspect of the Canadian nation. The two articles under discussion here though focus
on the common themes of multiculturalism and integration articulate different viewpoints
about the meaning of the concepts of multiculturalism as well as integration. It is to be noted
that though both the articles appeal to the logos of the readers however one article shows the
positive side of the concepts of multiculturalism and integration whereas the other gives the
negative side of the same concept. Thus, it can be said that multiculturalism is a very
dynamic concept ad whether a country adequately follows the concept the concept of
multiculturalism or not depends on the interpretation of the person as it becomes apparent
from the two articles discussed here.

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References
"I'm A Banana And Proud Of It -- By Wayson Choy." Geocities.ws. N.p., 2018. Web. 10
Mar. 2018.
Berry, John W. "Research on multiculturalism in Canada." International Journal of
Intercultural Relations 37.6 (2013): 663-675.
Kymlicka, Will. "Immigrants, multiculturalism and Canadian citizenship." symposium"
Social Cohesion Through Social Justice", Canadian Jewish Congress, Ottawa. Vol. 2. 1997.
Modood, Tariq. Multiculturalism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2013.
Weinstock, Daniel. "Interculturalism and multiculturalism in Canada and Quebec: Situating
the debate." Liberal multiculturalism and the fair terms of integration. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2013. 91-108.
Wright, David. "Writer's Web: The Rhetorical Triangle and Three Rhetorical
Appeals." Writer's Web: The Rhetorical Triangle and Three Rhetorical Appeals (2012).