Content area
Full Text
The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the official multiculturalism policy in Canada. Often held up internationally as a successful model, Canada's practice and policy of multiculturalism have enjoyed international recognition as being pioneering and effectual. Yet, this apparent successful record has not gone unchallenged during COVID-19, as racial and ethnic conflicts and divisions resurface. Since the outbreak of the global pandemic, there has been a surge in racism and xenophobia across the country towards Asian Canadians. When celebrating its 50th anniversary, it is necessary to revisit multiculturalism at the crossroads of anti-Asian racism during COVID-19. It seems there is an urgent need for immediate action in combatting and eliminating racism by adopting a framework of pandemic anti-racism education in post-COVID-19 Canada.
MULTICULTURALISM TURNS 50
In 1971 Canada was the first country in the world to formulate an official multiculturalism policy with an objective to assist cultural groups to over- come barriers to integrate into Canadian society while maintaining their heritage, language and culture (Guo & Wong, 2015). During the past five decades, multiculturalism has been the subject of much debate both in Canada and elsewhere. Some scholars claim that multiculturalism is a response to the pressures that Canada exerts on immigrants to integrate into common institutions (Kymlicka, 1998). It provides a framework for debating and developing fairer terms of integration, as integration is usually a long, difficult, and often painful process. However, others disagree. Wong (2008) summarizes the fragmentation critique of multiculturalism in the sociological literature over the past four decades primarily focusing on social divisiveness, clash of cultures, and ethnic marginalization and stratification. Others argue that the multiculturalism policy impedes understanding of structural power differences, such as racism and sexism, and their exclusionary effects (Bannerji 2000).
Reflecting on the historical development of multiculturalism, Kymlicka (2015) identifies three stages in the saga of Canadian multiculturalism with three distinct dimensions of diversity at work - ethnicity, race, and religion. In its incarnation stage, multiculturalism policy encouraged the self-organization, representation and participation of ethnic groups defined on the basis of their country of origin. This logic of ethnicity was supplemented in the second stage by programs intended to deal with processes of racialization and racial discrimination. More recently, Canada started to witness the emergence of...