"I Ain't Racist But..."

How do you like them famous last words, Gentle Reader?  The R word seems to be never very far from public discourse.  Is it any wonder given how far we've gone, or rather, how far we've come with multiculturalism.  Now we are enduring growing pains.  Currently on the news is the strata council in a Richmond condominium where one of the English speaking residents has filed a human rights complaint because all the strata meetings are held in Mandarin without English translation.  Seventy percent of the residents in said development don't speak English as a first language.  It has finally been ruled that this gentleman has been subjected to discriminatory treatment and the council meetings are now being held in both Mandarin and in Canada's first official language.

I listened with interest and curiosity on the CBC this morning to an interview with a lawyer who moronically claims that anyone who uses the words "English and French are the two official languages of Canada" is a racist.  Well, hey honey, I have been heard to say those very words, and you know something my dear righteous lawyer?  I am not a racist and I don't preface any intercultural criticism with the lame words "I ain't racist, but..."  I don't even say "I'm NOT a racist, but..." 

I'm not a racist.  And neither do I tolerate racist language, comments, behaviour or attitudes.  But I am also an equal opportunity inclusion sort of person.  If I think that members of a minority, visible or not, are behaving inappropriately and yes in a racist manner then I will call it for what it is.  English and French are the two official languages of this country, just as Spanish is the official language in Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia, all countries in Latin America I have had the privilege of visiting many times.

When I am in a Spanish speaking country I do not expect to be served or catered to in my native English.  I have made the effort to become fluent in Spanish and when I am in a Hispanic country, out of pure respect for the people who live there, I communicate in Spanish, not English unless invited to by people who want to practice with me.

I understand from my personal experience what a challenge it can be learning a new language.  I also appreciate how necessary and rewarding this is especially to those who have come here as immigrants.  There is a necessary and reasonable obligation placed on newcomers to gain some proficiency in English and/or French.  This does not play against multiculturalism it enhances multiculturalism.  If we are doing it right then we are all going to be putting on the table all the best that our respective cultures have to offer.  If we wish to communicate well in this process then we are going to have to be able to understand one another.

A few years ago I had this conversation in Spanish to a room full of Central American men.  Very few of them spoke English to any degree of fluency.  They had been talking about how glad they are that they can live in a country like Canada without needing to learn a single word of English, that they could always rely on the many services and supports here to have everything conducted for them in their native Spanish.  Remember, Gentle Reader, I am fluent in Spanish and I speak it often.  I said to these same individuals that the Canadian version of multiculturalism is something rather different.  We all have something to offer from our respective cultures and we all are asked to contribute to the growth and evolution of our national identity.  And that this cannot be done unless we can understand one another.  I am afraid to report, Gentle Reader, that the room temperature seemed to drop so low and so quickly that I could almost see my breath in that room.

Living in Canada is not a right.  It is a privilege.  We are one of the world's most generous countries when it comes to welcoming and assisting immigrants from all over the world and now we finally are going to see some healing of the damage done to our immigration services by the Stephen Harper Conservative Government.  Newcomers to this country owe to their hosts and to themselves as a courtesy the willingness to learn and become fluent in either or both official languages in this country.  We are not a community of solitudes.  We are a community of friends, or if not, then shouldn't this be something worthy to aspire to?