The political issues I followed was the magazine article printed in Maclean's titled "Too Asian". (Just as a reminder this article can no longer be found under this title but only via this link: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/11/10/too-asian/ and is now titled "The Enrollment Controversy".)
The article was published in November 2010 but controversy and ongoing debate still make it a current piece of news which remains an important issue for many diaspora groups but especially the Asian diaspora. The article was basically about the issue of how some 'white' students perceive some top-ranking schools of the country to be "too Asian". This expression was used to express the feeling of how some universities have become too competitive and how the scholarly achievements are valued higher than the university experience putting too much pressure on the students.
As one could expect phrasing this within the framework of an article titled "Too Asian" caused protests among the Asian diaspora which it mainly targeted. The Asian communities were offended by the racist undertone and felt singled out and targeted by the national media. This article created many racists undertones to occur more frequently in the national media and fueled the arguments of the extremist right wing. The discourse on discrimination based on being part of a visible minority is not what the Asian community responded to, but the way this issue was framed, by singling out one diaspora, and doing so by sensationalist's media practices in order to attract readers was simply put wrong.
The political issue behind this racist attack on the Asian community is the question when a Canadian is a Canadian. The Asian community has been part of Canada and its history for many generations now, however, being part of a visible minority they are still considered as non-Canadian by some and the article supported this idea. Following the principle of Canada's multicultural policy states that regardless of country of origin, body color, creed or language each individual in the Canadian society must be granted equality of opportunity and freedom. This includes the ides that race or ethnicity should not be factors when calling someone a Canadian or not. Many students that were targeted by the Maclean's article were born in Canada and considered themselves Canadian, to then be considered as Asian, and only that, by fellow 'white' students was offensive and discriminating.
The article and the reactions only pointed at another problem though that needs to be dealt with in Canada. Many visible minorities are still discriminated against in their everyday life. This discrimination is based on them not looking 'Canadian'. The Maclean's article raised although in a racist and hurtful framework the question of when a Canadian is a Canadian and pointed out that for many, although not publicly announced since the official statement is that of a multicultural society - the Canadian cultural mosaic - a Canadian is sadly enough still connected to the idea of WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
Montag, 14. Februar 2011
Sonntag, 13. Februar 2011
Attending a sports event at my university
Studying at a university in North America means the possility to participate in sports events much more often, than what I am used to from my home university. The sports event I attended was the basketball game between the UFV and the team from Regina. That night was Baker House appreciation night, which meant that as many residents as possible should attend the game and show their support for the Cascades team. The night started early with everyone dressing up in the school's colors (green, yikes!) and painting their faces or simply, put as much green color on you as possible.
I must honestly admit that I am not a big fan of basketball and was not looking much forward to watching the game. However, the game was really exciting and it was a good feeling to have a team to cheer for together with everyone else. Considering the special place sports occupy at a North American university it was interesting to me to see what people attended the game and what that told me about the community.
Quite frankly I do believe that this night's audience offered a different picture than it usually does. Since many Baker House students were attending and most of them from the international floor, the audience, when it comes to different ethnicities, was very varied thus I believe creating a skewed representation of the usual audience present at those games. Even though Abbotsford's community is very diverse, even for such a small town, this diversity was not represented at the game. Mostly caucasian people watched the game, with only one or two exceptions of an african american or a south asian. The reason for this I really do not know, perhaps this indicates that watching college sport games is still more important in the caucasian community than in those that share a different sense of community, those that can consider themselves as part of a diaspora for example. However, maybe this lackof interest in watching college basketball games had a more trivial reason, for example of the game not being interesting enough or maybe that college basketball in general does not have a big fan base in Canada.
Nonetheless, attending this event still told me something of the larger cultural picture at UFV. It showed me that showing pride in your university and cheering on the teams as a group is very important here and can have a unifying effect. In general the events organized by the UFV and by Baker House especially always give one a certain sense of belonging. And even though this might not directly relate to a diaspora group I think it shows a communities ability to deal with many different culture and ethnicities, when being able to organize events that interest all students, whether they are from Canada or are here as an international student. Going to these events as a group gives us as students the possibility to feel in a certain sense as a unity despite of all the diversity.
I must honestly admit that I am not a big fan of basketball and was not looking much forward to watching the game. However, the game was really exciting and it was a good feeling to have a team to cheer for together with everyone else. Considering the special place sports occupy at a North American university it was interesting to me to see what people attended the game and what that told me about the community.
Quite frankly I do believe that this night's audience offered a different picture than it usually does. Since many Baker House students were attending and most of them from the international floor, the audience, when it comes to different ethnicities, was very varied thus I believe creating a skewed representation of the usual audience present at those games. Even though Abbotsford's community is very diverse, even for such a small town, this diversity was not represented at the game. Mostly caucasian people watched the game, with only one or two exceptions of an african american or a south asian. The reason for this I really do not know, perhaps this indicates that watching college sport games is still more important in the caucasian community than in those that share a different sense of community, those that can consider themselves as part of a diaspora for example. However, maybe this lackof interest in watching college basketball games had a more trivial reason, for example of the game not being interesting enough or maybe that college basketball in general does not have a big fan base in Canada.
Nonetheless, attending this event still told me something of the larger cultural picture at UFV. It showed me that showing pride in your university and cheering on the teams as a group is very important here and can have a unifying effect. In general the events organized by the UFV and by Baker House especially always give one a certain sense of belonging. And even though this might not directly relate to a diaspora group I think it shows a communities ability to deal with many different culture and ethnicities, when being able to organize events that interest all students, whether they are from Canada or are here as an international student. Going to these events as a group gives us as students the possibility to feel in a certain sense as a unity despite of all the diversity.
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