Give Me Your Poor, Your Tired, Your Huddled Masses - But Don’t Give Me Attitude!

Although it is not uniquely a Canadian problem, the resistance to assimilation by a certain percentage of ethnic groups who immigrate to a new country is, perhaps, exacerbated here by our collective propensity toward self-effacement and our near - pathological need to be viewed as “nice folk” by the world at large. I do not suggest that we should ask newcomers to completely abandon their entrenched ways; I do, however, wish that we would not trip over ourselves, politically and socially, to buy their love for Canada at our own cultural expense. Too often we appear downright obsequious about accommodating folk: “Oh, you wore a ceremonial knife in your country? Yes, but, you see, here we don’t and.what?…no, we’re not trying tono,no,no, it’s not prejudice, it’s just that..well, okay then, if you feel that strongly about it, go ahead.”

Where is our national spine? Are we a country with self-esteem issues? How can we expect others to honour our fundamental operational system of law and civil conduct, if we treat it - and allow it to be observed as - something soft and malleable that can be reshaped as easily as putty?

It is a core problem that, if left unattended, will (in fact, has) lead to great civil strife. No one in power wants to say the “No!” word, and no one seems to want to enter into frank dialogue about it at a level where policy is made. For the everyday Canadian, it is too easy to rise to anger and dismiss a complex social conundrum through the expediency of prejudice. That is an ugly response and one that we should shrink from in distaste. The world is shaping itself into a global village through the exigencies of compressed travel time, the resultant shifting economies, and the vehicle of light-speed communication technology.

Only a short time ago, mass exoduses and diasporas took time, great risk and suffering. New arrivals were welcomed, but viewed with a prudent caution. They were held from the outset, to our codes of behaviour yet allowed to enjoy our hard-won freedoms. From there on in, they were on their own. Today it seems to be instant osmosis, a cheque and a number to call for room service!

The upside of a global village is that, over time, racial lines will blur as people from all points of the earth interact and intermingle. Before that happens, there will be a long period of adjustment that will require education, tolerance and good will.

However, goodwill requires reciprocity to show good results. There must be a willingness, no, a zeal on the part of foreign newbies to learn about and respect, if not embrace our ways, our histories, our faiths and our dreams. Sadly, some never try.

Nothing is learned in hiding; little is achieved in sequestering one’s self from new experience. It is to be expected that strangers to our shore will seek out each others company and form communities of religious and ethnic kinship. It is when they build walls of intransigence that the cultural siege mentality takes root. In my own experience, I have known of people with fifty years residency in my city who have been buffered from the Canadian way of life to the extent that they speak no English and are enabled in their social reclusiveness by services such as grocery stores who pick them up, drive them to do their shopping and then drive them home again all without contact with others. This is completely contrary to the spirit in which we welcome new citizens it is voluntary exile.

Perhaps a social parable might help to illustrate my point:

“My home has been destroyed and I am forced to leave it behind. The danger of this cataclysm of neglect has existed for some time, but, for one reason or another, I was prevented from maintaining my dwelling by those who held the mortgage and who charged such outlandish interest that our very lives were threatened. Thanks be to God, I and my large family have been taken in by an ever so charitable neighbour who has offered not only to shelter and feed us but to assist us in building a new life.

All is well at first and my brood and I cannot adequately express our gratitude. The house is commodious, with lots of room for everyone and an embarrassment of food, services and freedom has been made available to us. We therefore try to overlook the fact
that our deliverers are not like us in many ways, and we remain quiet. Our natural instinct, of course, is to stay together and try to ward off the taint of our well-meaning hosts’ foreign ways and mores. The house from which we fled was occupied by our people for many many generations and we consider ours to be a more advanced culture than that of our saviours. They do, however, seem to have acquired a great deal more material things and hold some odd and rather loose beliefs about life and its conduct. Our ways enjoy the solid foundation of centuries of rigid, slavish adherence to lock-step rites, rituals and beliefs. These people have a lot to learn, but we will indulge them for now.

The first opportunity for instruction arose today. When we sat down to dinner and my host began to offer thanks to his God, I protested. It was an insult to my ears, a brittle blasphemous cant. We now forego grace and he has agreed to modify the offense-giving names, chants and rituals of his holy days, quite appropriately, I think.

Later, my nave host and I were sitting in his living room - very poorly decorated and uncomfortably furnished by my standards - and chatting. My grasp of his language is poor, but I hope that, in time, he will realize the necessity of learning mine. He suggests that his son escort my eldest daughter around his property in order to acquaint her with it.

Such audacity!

“No!” I say. “Certainly not!”

My host says nothing. His embarrassment is palpable. He wears a puzzled look and appears uncomfortable. He rightly apologizes for his lack of tact and insight. I am a patient man, but these people do hold some barbaric customs. I will try, for the protection of their souls, to sequester my people as much as possible. Our young must not be allowed to stand too close to the fire of their heathenism. We are already building a place of worship in one bedroom and I will soon press my host for the money to establish a school for the education of our young. We must retain our religious and cultural autonomy at all costs. We will, however, continue to avail ourselves of our hosts’ store rooms, his soft beds and his protectionit is our due.”

Hmmmm!

The majority of those who come to us in need the “tired, the poor, the huddled masses” of Emma Lazarus’ poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty are here because their countries have failed them. There, it’s been said! Despite fierce national pride retained by many political and economic cast-ups on our shores, the reality is that most, if not all, would have remained at home, had home not proven to be indifferent or antagonistic to their plight. So why the attitude of so many: the false superiority and the just plain organized whining? It may just be analogous to the child with the abusive parent, who in his anger and his shame, shouts, for all to hear, that his dad is the best.

Or perhaps it isn’t that at all. Perhaps it’s the size of the soul. They come in sizes, I believe, like underwear small, medium, large and once in a while, extra large. And, regardless of creed, race, country of origin, there are always those small souls who cannot enlarge enough to grasp or encompass anything beyond the reach of their owners’ fingertips. How do we recognize them before we open our doors? We don’t. The best we can do is to invite them to the party, but remind them, as we should remind everyone else in attendance, that, as at all large social events, there will be bouncers to remove those people whose souls just wont let them play nice.

Welcome one and all to our country. It is a politically distinct and geographically defined piece of mother earth. Some day its borders may shift, its fortunes decline. For now, respect it for what it is. Raise your kids, earn a living, prosper.but please exhibit some taste and decorum. When one is invited to seek succor and shelter in another’s home, it is proper to be both mindful of the blessing and be thankful for it. Your host should exhibit a global goodwill and not make you feel humble or beholden. You, on the other hand, should not begin your stay by advising him to redecorate to your taste!