Bitter Banana vs. Sweet Lemon: Dialogue on Diversity

By: Richard Chuen-Shiuh Chu

(Originally published in three parts in the sixth volume (1998) of Perspectives)

Marcus woke up to the sounds of CKWX, News 1130, "CKWX News time, 7:30."

In his semi-conscious state he rationalized, "Hour to class…10 minutes to get ready, 15 walk to class…35 minutes more sleep." So he pushed the snooze button on the alarm clock and went back to sleep. "CKWX news time, 8:11," the radio blared. Marcus woke again and rationalized, "20 minutes to class…10 minutes to get ready, 15 minutes to walk…I’ll be late…not worth it…wait…have assignment to hand in…have to wake up." He got up, got ready, and headed to class.

On the way, Marcus caught up with Shannon. She expressed brightly, "Good Morning!"

"That’s a matter of opinion," Marcus slurred.

"Hangover again?"

"Yeah, but it’s not that bad…I’d rate it a three…"

"…‘enough beers to get a buzz and remember it the next day.’"

"…’remembering’ meaning hangover."

"You’re not going to be much of a participant in the discussion today, I guess."

Marcus shrugged, "Maybe, depends on how good the T.A. will be at sparking debate. I’m feeling terrible enough to speak my mind. I still can’t understand why I thought I had to come to class today. Sleep or a ‘discussion’ class where everyone discusses by nodding their heads. Hello?!?"

Marcus ranted all the way to class. It was 8:35 AM by the time they got to class. They walked in as the TA was asking, "…so would you let more people in?"

As some people were nodding yes, the TA turned to Marcus, "Morning Marcus. So, would you allow immigration to increase?"

"Uh, well, I suppose not." He said as he sat down.

"Why not?"

"Well, increasing immigration would exasperate existing social and cultural problems associated with it. Like, it’s a fact that immigration is mainly coming from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Asia in general. Given that a lot of them do not speak English, they add ESL to the education budget. You see it all the time in the media that ESL students in high school are decreasing the quality of education for students as a whole."

Shannon, surprised by his answer, countered, "I think that is a huge generalization! Not everyone doesn’t speak English, and not everyone will take ESL. I know someone who intentionally did not take ESL, because she thought it was a waste of time. Instead, her homestay taught her English, and she got a tutor. It was a pleasant surprise to see her change. She used to be so quiet, but now she’s confident and talkative. It’s great! Anyway, if ESL students don’t understand English well, they will not do as well, but how do you think they feel about it? They have it doubly hard. And besides, just because marks are going down, doesn’t mean that education is getting worse. Once students get a handle of English, they’ll have two languages they can speak, three if they take French. In the long run, that is a huge advancement of education."

Trying to spark debate, the TA took the devil’s advocate and said, "But what good is bringing more people who are so different? The change, as it is, is too much."

"You think change is hard for people who are here? What about immigrant families, or especially individual students? They come here with almost nothing familiar, including language. They are isolated from society. I think it’s a benefit that some students have an ethnic community to lean on."

Marcus countered, "Sure, I’m not saying that the ethnic community should not exist. I mean, my parents had a relative here, and that was a springboard to meeting more Canadians. But, if the community is so large, there’s no need for immigrants to change. A friend of mine, who is not Chinese, but ‘Chinese-looking’, i.e. Asian, was working at a retail store. A Chinese lady came up to him and started asking him questions in Chinese. He told her in English that he didn’t speak Chinese. For some reason, she didn’t change to English, and when he couldn’t answer, she got visibly angry and left. Once, I brought a Dutch friend to Parker Place in Richmond and he told me afterwards that he felt so out of place being in there. He was the only one who was Caucasian, and we were the only ones speaking English. Is this the Canada we want?"

Marcus continued, "Immigration has brought a large amount of change, which is causing a lot of animosity. Just look at the washroom stalls in any building on campus. You’ve got a message, presumably by a Caucasian student, complaining about Chinese students who have tuition paid by their parents, and then there’s a response, presumably from a Chinese student, which mockingly feels pity for the complainer, and adds that at least he doesn’t need to get on UI or welfare. And then you’ve got that Heritage Front being confident enough to come on to campus. Some people are just so frustrated about the level of diversity that exists."

"Why do I get the impression that you are one of them?"

"I’m not prejudiced, but I am concerned that the level of change is becoming too great. Ideally, you want both groups, immigrants and established Canadians to do their part and create a unified community. But when each community becomes so large, how is that possible? One side speaks English, the other side speaks Chinese. Socially, both are in their own community, and have little need for each other. To be effective, you need more money, and that’s exactly what people don’t want. The task is so daunting, most people will just not care."

By this point, the TA wanted other people to speak out, "Anyone else want to say something?"

Near the back of the room a Chinese student was looking down on the desk table, frowning. The TA noticing said, "What about you, Peter?"

The frowning student looked up in mock-surprise, "Uh, well, I don’t agree."

"Why not?"

"Well," Peter took some time to well up some courage, "It looks like Marcus is taking a big-picture view of things, which is not necessarily the right way to go."

"How so?"

"Well, look at what Shannon said. She emphasized the individual, and I think, that is more important. Aggregating all Chinese immigrants into one group is as unhelpful as it is inaccurate. Marcus said it himself, the majority of immigrants these days are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Singapore, and immigrants of other Asian ethnic origins. You have to look at it from a smaller perspective to be accurate, appropriate, and helpful."

"How would you look at it then?"

"Well, look at Marcus for example. He’s a Chinese-Canadian; he was born here. So, he has an interest in keeping things the way they are."

"Wait a minute!" Marcus exclaimed, "Now you are doing what you said I shouldn’t do: look at it from a big-picture perspective. Just because I’m Canadian born, doesn’t mean I have the same opinions as other Canadians."

"Okay, fine; but my point is you are not ‘entirely’ Chinese. You were born here, and grew up with Canadian beliefs and activities. No offense, but to use a crude metaphor, you’re a banana: yellow on the outside, and white on the inside. You see things from your established Western perspective. And you have very little idea as to how immigrants feel when they come here."

"What about when I’m in Richmond?"

"Sure, you can be uncomfortable there, but for you it’s different. In that specific place, you feel like you standout. You don’t speak the language, so you don’t know what’s going on. If you speak English, you feel totally out of place. You can solve your problem by getting in your car and driving for 5 minutes."

"Actually, it’s more like 15-20 minutes." Marcus quirked.

"Okay, fine…" Peter replied lightly, "Anyway, my point is, immigrants don’t have another place to go. They chose to come to Canada, and were accepted. They have decided to make a life here. They’ve made their choice and have to deal with it in the best way they can. I mean, the whole country is generally the same with respect to English being the working language, except of course in Quebec. And, just because there’s a large commercial sector catered to Chinese, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the social atmosphere is just as large."
"But when I go to Richmond, should I feel like an outsider?"

"No, but you have to take into account the individual immigrant’s perspective. On a city-scale, yes, there is a huge Chinese population. But just because there’s a huge community of people who are ethnically the same, it doesn’t mean that they will automatically associate with them. Think of it this way, if you feel uncomfortable in a specific area, just imagine what it might be like for someone to go to even a larger area with far less experience?"

"Yeah, but if they’d just go more often and get used to the environment…"

"Exactly! If they should do it, why can’t you?"

Shannon added, "It’s like the first time you go on a roller coaster. Before you actually do it, you can be as scared to death, but once you ride it for the first time, you can’t get enough."

Everyone stared at her, "Yeah…okay" Marcus stated comically.

Peter continued, "Anyway, when we look at it from an individual point of view, the task becomes less daunting. I mean, you can put away all those silly, strange, and wild conspiracy theories that float around."

"You mean the truth really isn’t out there?" Marcus said sarcastically.

"Not that truth," Peter commented, referring to the X-files.

The T.A. pushed for the debate to stay on course, "So what are you getting at, Peter?"

"Well, take Marcus and myself. We are both Chinese, but we are very different. He was born here; I recently came here. So, there is a big personal difference between us. And this isn’t just within the Chinese community, but many, I’d say all, ethnic communities. The diversity is inside and outside."

"Yeah, and this is because we have Multiculturalism."

"You say that with such contempt."

"It’s not contempt, but dissatisfaction," Marcus answered.

"Why?"

"Well, you’re right that there’s diversity within ethnic groups. I mean, I myself have been ‘graded’ based on how integrated I am. And from both sides, there’s this tug-o-war of what is good and what is bad. From the ‘ethnic-side’ there are people who frown on the fact that I don’t speak Chinese. But then, on the ‘integrated-side’ there are people who frown on not using English. There’s just no clear road to follow."

"The road to follow is your own; as I’m sure you know. And, you’re right, you can say that Multiculturalism creates ambiguity. But, you can also say, and more accurately I think, that society is not so clear cut; Society is full of ambiguity, and Multiculturalism is reflecting that."

"And this is good?"

"It is good in that it does not impose, directly, one definite way of life. Is that not one of the basic tenets of democracy?"

"Okay fine, but how does this help Canadians integrate? By promoting diversity, you are allowing people to separate themselves into their own cultural groups."

"But remember, the problem is not ‘macroscopic’, it’s ‘microscopic.’ Why do people associate mainly with their own? Because it’s easier; it’s safer. What established Canadians have to realize is that there is a contentious atmosphere between communities. Right now, it’s a contention between newcomers with different ideals and ways of life, versus the supposedly established traditions of Canada. Everyone has to realize that this is not the case in reality. Diversity is complex, Marcus and I are proof of that, and to macroscopically simplify it is the wrong way to go. I mean, just as it is inaccurate to say to be Canadian is to drink ‘Canadian beer,’ and watch and play hockey, to be "a minority" doesn’t mean to be unable to speak English or French, or prefer hot pot or ‘instant noodles." You have to simplify by looking smaller—look to the individual person. For example, Marcus, I called you a banana."

"Yeah, we Westerners are just slimy little devils, aren’t we?" Marcus said sarcastically.

"Well, to make another crude metaphor, I’m a lemon."

"How sweet this is!" Marcus replied in mock-surprise.

"There, we’re even," Peter replied smiling, "So, we have a banana—yellow on the outside, and white on the inside—and a lemon—yellow inside and outside, and what do you get?"

"A strange cocktail" Marcus replied sarcastically.

"Work with the metaphor, here" Peter returned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you get something bitter-sweet."

"Exactly. Not something entirely good, but not something entirely bad. You have a compromise, and if there’s anything I’ve learned about Canada, it is that it is the land of compromise. I mean, Multiculturalism is not perfect, but it’s better than nothing. Canada never was, and never will be a homogenous society. It might not provide an easy way to define a Canadian, but citizenship shouldn’t be whittled into a simple pithy phrase. It has personal meaning, and that is the essence of citizenship. As such, to exemplify citizenship is to actively develop it."

"Isn’t this ironic," Shannon blurted out.

"How so?" The T.A. asked.

"Well, here’s Marcus, a Canadian-born Chinese, and here’s Peter, who’s from Hong Kong. Marcus, who supposedly adheres to Canadian values, is being lectured on Canadian ideals by an immigrant," she says with an ironic smile.

"So?"

"Well, it just makes me think. Immigration, integration, multiculturalism; they are all big issues. And we generally look at it as such. Peter’s right that we need to look at it from a more personal view. Reducing immigration sounds so impersonal; the government is just turning away a mass of people. But if one immigrant, for the sake of argument, Peter, can make us Canadians think about ourselves, and we turn him away, we are doing ourselves a disservice. What, I guess I’m saying is, we have to look at ourselves before we go on superficially judging someone else. Just because he’s an immigrant, it doesn’t mean that he’s automatically a burden to Canada, or he’s automatically rich. Just because Marcus is Chinese, doesn’t mean that he’s not Canadian. I think the first thing we have to change is the mentality of these issues with all ethnic groups. Government can play a part, but citizens have a much larger, and vital, role. People blame the government for causing all the cultural problems, but what are everyday people doing besides complaining? You can’t ‘pass the buck’ as they say. To have immigrants integrate, they need to interact with those already here, and this is a two way street. If we just put aside our pride, put aside our fear, put aside our stereotypes, then we can get somewhere. And this goes for both immigrants and citizens."

"Well, it looks like the problem is more personal then I thought" Peter concluded.

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