When they had immigrated here from different parts of the world, no one made services like opening a bank account easy for them. Pardeep Nagra, a well-known Sikh activist who rose to fame in Canada after a court victory against the Canadian Amateur Boxing Association over his beard, is the executive director of the Sikh Heritage Museum in Malton. His path to Brampton is a lot like the trek of so many Sikh immigrants in the Toronto region. Then once their wives and children immigrated from India, the families bought their first joint home — 10 people under one roof in a semi-detached in Malton.
They moved a few times in the area, eventually following relatives and friends to Brampton in the early nineties. Nagra has carefully collected artifacts documenting Canadian Sikh history. Yet despite the long history in Canada, Sikhs are still not accepted as Canadians, says Mr. Nagra said. It is racism. Racism also contributed to why an influx of Sikh immigrants watched white families choosing to leave and other white families opting not to move to Brampton, Mr.
Nagra continues. He points to the language in the anti-Sikh flyers and racist comments that surface during City Council meetings on temple permits. Is it having citizenship? Is it cheering for the Leafs? Is it playing hockey? Is it having some maple syrup? Doing the Terry Fox Run? Until I am not seen as a Canadian, my existence here offends people because of what I choose to wear.
In fact, it needs to be worked on. Forward-looking municipalities actually try to create links between their various ethnic communities in order to counter resentment and flight. Kristin Good is an associate professor of political science at Dalhousie University. In her book, Municipalities and Multiculturalism: The Politics of Immigration in Toronto and Vancouver , she argues that local governments — not just their federal and provincial counterparts — have a role to play in helping communities deal with multiculturalism and the racial tensions that may arise as a community becomes more biracial than multiracial.
Good says. Part of it is the sense of cultural takeover and the loss of being the majority in the place. And, part of it is that certain types of developments are perceived to cater to particular ethnic groups, and sometimes that makes longstanding residents feel excluded.
In such cases, municipalities need to step in and foster intercultural understanding between the two groups. In fact, Prof. Good found that neither politicians in Brampton nor Mississauga had planned or reacted well to their minority population in the early s. Good said. In her research, Prof. These municipalities also provided grants to community organizations helping new immigrants integrate and promote positive ethnic relations, and finally they took steps to incorporate immigrants and ethno-racial minorities into the political process and municipal decision making.
In Brampton, visible-minority representation on city council and in City Hall was a problem back when Prof. Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, 35, was elected to Brampton council in December, In a town where the visible minority is now the majority, Mr. Dhillon is the sole non-white councillor. Case in point: disputes over the use of city parks. During the summer of , Mr. Dhillon organized an opportunity for residents to vent concerns to city staff about their requests for more park gazebos, shelters, tables, benches and port-a-potties not getting approved.
Dhillon said. The city also needs to hire municipal officials, police and firefighters who reflect the community, says Dr. Brampton residents have a point. The disconnect between the community and racial representation on the police force is a problem afflicting many American cities struggling with police brutality in African American and Latino communities.
The national multicultural program not only provides funding to organizations to take on projects and events promoting multiculturalism, but also undertakes public education initiatives that promote diversity and help break down barriers like Asian Heritage Month and Black History Month.
Reitz said. Canadian cities may boast that they never fell victim to racism and avoided the kind of white flight that led to the destructive segregation in many large cities south of the border.
In comparison, White citizens of Brampton composed of According to Bramptonsucks. Third is Hinduism. We do see a growth in South Asian modes of worship, demonstrated by Gurdwaras and Hindu temples scattered across Brampton.
South Asian symbolism also transcends to cuisine as many South Asian restaurants and bakeries have gradually opened and are prospering in Brampton. Men in colorful dhotis, or kurtas with pajamas meet in parks and relax on picnic tables or benches.
Bhangra music affiliated with Punjabi culture would echo from vehicles with all windows down. In November, grand fireworks set off for the celebration of Diwali. Everytime I drive to and from work, all I see on the streets are ladies on their gowns and guys on their pajamas and torbans! The girl in the video expressed disdain for South Asian people because her high school consisted mainly of South Asians, and concieved of them as terrorists, dangerous, smell bad of curry, and are dominating Brampton.
Online discussions on Brampton also mirror her thoughts, and become very controversial as comments lead to racial fights. People clearly express discomfort and annoyance that South Asian culture has become so pervasive.
One argument is that White people are no longer the dominant group, but a minority. Also there is frustration that South Asians are non-conforming or assimilating to Canadian culture. This indicates a dislike of South Asian culture and how it is changing Canadian policy, and reducing Christian and Canadian traditions.
Not being able to see other White people as often as they do see South Asians is another area of concern. This may reflect losing the feeling of community, and the lack of desire to include South Asians into this community.
All these negative characteristics are emphasized to represent a South Asian males and culture. Not only is it demeaning, it portrays South Asians in a stigmatizing and subordinating manner. Today it has morphed into a giant, crime ridden slum. Wannabbee gangsters and restrictive hiring practices Asians only keep any decent people from moving to Brampton and keep a high level of them moving out.
And just because a city has a high proportion of foreign-born residents does not mean its population is always open to other newcomers. In the last municipal election, some candidates participated in debates in Cantonese and Mandarin.
There remains ongoing debate, however, on how much cultural change can be adopted into mainstream society, and how quickly. For instance, statutory holidays, which are mostly aligned with Christian holidays, are days off for workers in Canada.
But in , some Chinese grocers in Markham including the Foody Mart stayed open in defiance of the law. City councillor Joe Li heard both sides of the debate: that grocers were being discriminated against for not being able to stay open, and that Chinese businesses were trying to impose their culture on the city. Ultimately, Li decided in favour of the grocers, arguing that consumers should have the option to shop on holidays. The move proved so popular that York Region, in which Markham sits, voted that from any business could stay open days a year.
Li asked for something in return: to hire more diversely. Easy access to halal meat, south Asian groceries and a mosque are all things Rameeka Khan appreciates about living in Markham. The year-old pharmacist of Pakistani descent was born in Canada and has lived in the city nearly her whole life, choosing to settle here with her husband.
She is glad they bought a house in — her family would be priced out today. As in Vancouver, conversations about the Markham property boom sometimes have racially tinged accusations about foreign ownership driving up prices. Brampton is another majority-minority suburb, west of Toronto. There are also significant populations from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean.
But with its rapidly increasing diversity has come another development: not just a decreasing proportion of white residents, but also a shrinking number. According to numbers cited by the Toronto Star , the white population fell from , in to , in , and now hovers around ,
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