Teaching the Majority

I am grateful for all the services provided to immigrants and refugees by their new home country.

I also find it slightly ironic.

The immigrants I've talked to know things are going to be hard for them. They know they will face every institutional disadvantage. They know everything will be different and confusing, that their new society will demand they adapt in order to survive. They know their traditions and beliefs will be challenged and they will be asked to take on new values and norms. They may not know precisely what their new country will have in store for them or in which ways they will struggle most, but they know most of what is familiar to them will be thrown out the window and they will have to start playing by new rules.

I think the bigger challenge for integrating immigrants comes from the established culture. After all, they didn't go anywhere. They didn't expect their culture or the rules of society to change on them. Adapting and integrating wasn't on their menu. They were sure their immobility afforded them static identity, traditions and beliefs. They trusted norms would remain normal. Haven't they earned the right to familiarity and predictability?

And these are often the arguments I see from those who state multiculturalism doesn't work.

Perhaps, and I'll go out on a limb here, we need to spend more time offering services and training to those who've never lived abroad. Deconstruct any illusions that a static society is even possible or desirable. Offer resilience training to anyone who struggles with the realities of a pluralistic society. Offer counseling to those who feel their core identity is threatened by any sort of difference.

Fur Traders in Canada, 1777

In a recent interview, David Johnston, the Govenor General of Canada, pointed out that the earliest settlers would have perished if the indigenous population didn't reach out and offer them help. Many of those earliest settlers would not have survived their first year if the indigenous population did not offer their hospitality and support. Over time, it was the locals who taught the newcomers how to adapt to the new climate and geography and how to acquire food and shelter. They shared what they had and what they knew.

What a delightful heritage to pass on! I imagine many of the systematic problems immigrants face would disappear if our society as a whole could get back to that sense of hospitality. Many of the services we currently offer to ease the transition may become irrelevant if we were better prepared to be understanding. And full integration could be a reality if we accepted that it has to be a two way street.

That is why I'm so passionate around diversity training geared towards the dominant culture. It is a lie to believe that power affords ignorance. If a dominant culture accepts diversity, then the power structures will change, and I believe, for the benefit of everyone.