From: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Subject: Re: You're a racist! NET CHALLENGE!
Reply-To: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Organization: The Bates Motel
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 17:55:28 GMT

cs911461@ariel.yorku.ca (CHRISTIAN D. ARMOUR) writes:
>
>Enforced "multiculturalism" is expensive, will guarantee division and
>ethnic rivalries and will eventually lead to a stratification of
>rights and freedoms based on what group the individual belongs to.

Since I'm of non-white descent (if you don't know what, then I'll
leave you to guess (-;), I would like to say that I'm not alone in the
opinion that multicultural encouragement on an official level (in
Toronto) rather than the old "live and let live" which alone has
sustained strong ethnic identities (as here in NYC, for example) is
actually a hindrance to young Canadians and immigrants who would
otherwise fall into the pattern of integration that naturally occurs
up north because we have been and are very much still (even Toronto)
overwhelmingly white.  The bogus multiculturalism that is hip in
Toronto, which seems to be encouraged among the anglo majority as a
form of divide and conquer to preserve its power (once the results
started to manifest themselve), decomposing ethnic communities and
encouraging them to pull their young people away from the mainstream
of society.  Cultural diversity should be a function of private
wishes, since we are all individuals; but, division is division,
especially in the Toronto case.

However, this differs in the case of Quebec which has maintained a
French-speaking mainstream society there ... I stress "mainstream",
because that's what you find the moment you get off the plane or
train ... Canadian French society is not "ethnic."

I have never met so many people of my generation who merely look upon
their Canadian citizenship as a convenience, but express an allegiance
to their parents' countries as I have in Toronto or in meeting young
Torontonians here at Columbia in New York City.  A Chinese education
student, an Estonian soprano, and a Greek pianist that I know all
share the same thing: they were born and raised in Toronto, and speak
perfect English, but never identify themselves as Canadian.

>We're already seeing this happen.  The white population in Canada is
>not allowed to unite (this would be racist!) but other groups are.

I would say that this view is overly paranoid, the thought of the 97%
European-descended population needing to circle the wagons against a
minority among the remaining 3% which actually wants their own little
enclave.  The white population in Canada can't unite because over 125
years and many more previous to that, it hasn't done so yet ...

>Since I have no interest in becoming a member of a "white league", 
>I propose the abolition of racism in all it's forms, not just white
>bigotry.

That's fine, and I agree with that; however, chasing down every little
ethnic seperatist will involve a massive investment in energy and in
attention that could be better put elsewhere ... it hasn't worked in
Hawaii, California or British Columbia, where there are very high
rates of intermarriage between european- and asian-descended people.
Why not just let it die?

gld
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare				
> gld@cunixB.cc.columbia.EDU		Oct 26/92: Just say "OUI!"
> gld@cunixc.BITNET			(Let's worry about the economy!)
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