Transgender London

Diversity and Culture: A Clash of Titans

The words of diversity and associated terms are often used today to describe our Western and in particular, Canadian culture. It is not new since it became a governmental policy some 40 years ago. However, it has taken some surprising twists.

Originally it was multiculturalism that was established as government policy with the aim to encourage increased immigration and with that, a celebration of our diverse ethnic and cultural makeup. However, one has to wonder if somehow it has been derailed along the way.

We have also seen gains in women's rights as well as Gay, Lesbian and Bi-sexual rights. There has been a massive growth of religion and this is often fingered as a source of discrimination against both visible and invisible minorities.

Religious intolerance has been particularly focused on the LGBT community, and by and large is the result of fundamentalist thought excluding the larger message of any one faith. This has been particularly well illustrated in the United States elections of 2008 where the right to marry for gays was made a plebiscite on many state ballots. Perhaps the most visible of these was Proposition 8 in California. That is not to say that we as Canadians are more tolerant; we are not. We have the same religious minorities here that have been working to overturn same sex marriage legislation in Canada.

What is important to note is that it is a religious minority that is attacking another minority. Their voices are very loud indeed; loud enough to convince many in the middle that they are the majority view when in fact they are not. Not surprisingly, it is this same group that is attempting to roll back women's rights legislation.

We also see religious groups setting up their own schools to provide a "religious based" curriculum. There are obvious problems with this of course despite the fact that the Catholic system has practiced this for decades. One has to ask how much religion influences math and history. It can affect many areas of study where creationism is the fundamental thought rather than well established scientific proof.

Another area seen as reverse discrimination can occur when religion and culture are intertwined such as Arabic-Muslim schooling. We see ethnic based schools opening regularly where the whole purpose of multiculturalism and diversity is thwarted. This is in fact condoned by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, it is not government's responsibility to fund these schools but these schools must meet basic government curriculum guidelines. The key word here is basic.

Is it possible we are seeing black only schools promoting racism just by their existence? How about Muslim or Jewish schools? Are fundamentalist Christian schools promoting a "white supremacist" culture among the young and influential minds of their students? Are women's rights under future attack due to the attitudes being absorbed today?

This writer is of the belief that the majority of our students enrolled within the public systems are receiving a well rounded (although debatable for content) education. These are of course the majority. The question remains whether this majority will stand against the vocal minority of their same generations.

Often the prejudices seen are evident in more than one place, the home being at the top of the list. We can also often look at geographic locations for further evidence of societal acceptance or prejudice as an overview.

In the end analysis, prejudice exists and it is cyclical. Breaking that cycle is impossible. However, rallying our youth to stand for what is right instead of apparent populist views has become critical for our own social development both singly and as a nation. Canada cannot afford to find itself as a nonsecular nation or even as a polarized nation.

Discrimination doesn't just affect a few; those who are hurt by it as victims, but it also hurts the majority who allow it to happen either overtly or covertly. As a society we all suffer for it and we also lose just a bit of our own humanity.

It is one hell of a price to pay for misguided superiority.

This site was last updated 08/11/10