Tension In Canada Case Study

There were many factors involved to increase the tension between the white and Asian populaces in western Canada and although both the white populace and Asian populace contributed to the tension, it was mainly the white populace at fault. Many British Columbians were concerned that they would lose their jobs to immigrants who worked for lower wages and were willing to work dangerous jobs. Furthermore, new immigrants often faced attitudes of suspicion and resentment due to the fear of Canada being taken over by their native country. Finally, pure racism towards non-white and non-Christian groups increased the tension between the white populace and Asian populace. For example, it was opposed to giving Orientals the right to vote and there were multiple riots in which looting of some Asian businesses occurred, as well as the destruction of their property.
Assimilation is the forced act of changing one’s cultural identity (religion, values, language, etc.) into the same as the majority. Integration is the voluntary act of combining with the culture of the majority, yet still keeping one’s original culture. At the time, immigrants were expected to assimilate into the English-Canadian society and abandon their original cultural identity. This was because these immigrants came from elsewhere to Canada, so since they had chosen to come to Canada, they …show more content…
For example, Canadian Sikhs pushed for an official apology from the government for the mistreatment their people had faced (a main one being the Komagata Maru incident), and so Stephen Harper delivered an apology in Surrey, British Columbia. Also, many people tend to associate people that are white to be racist nowadays because of how the majority of the white society acted back in the