Lack of Sikh Academia (Sikh integration into Canadian society)
A few times, over the past three years, since entering University, I've wanted to do papers on subjects related to the Sikh community in Canada or the USA.
Unfortunately, I was unable to do some of those papers due to a lack of sources.
In the two sociology courses I took (Introduction and Ethnic Relations) there were so many interesting topics that came to my mind, but I was unable to corroborate any of them with books or even articles.
For example, once, I wanted to do a paper on Sikh immigration patterns into Canada for my intro to sociology class, and although I found numerous general sources, I found nothing to support the point I was hoping to make, which was that a) since the 1970s, Sikh immigrants every decade since have been less educated and less entrepenurial. And progressively so. From my experience, Sikh immigrants who immigrated in the 1970s raised children which were far more integrated and "Canadian" in their outlook. Immigrants from the 1980s, from my experience tended to combine aspects of the 70's immigrants and the 90's immigrants. The 1990s immigrants SEEM less educated, less professional, less entrepenurial. They seem less likely to raise integrated kids. They seem far more likely to raise their children in neighbourhoods that are filled only with Punjabi speakers. They seem far more likely to have kids that do not know any English until Grade 1.
I graduated from a high school that was about 75% chinese. Most of my friends graduated from a high school that was 75% Sikh/Punjabi. Ghettoized communities only lead to less productivity and more stagnation from my view. People don't want to move on up, and why would they? It's usually nice to live in an area that's surrounded with your own types. And how do you prevent ghettoization anyway? It's impossible. You could promote a sort of cross-Canadian identity, but there really isn't one.
Immigrants who arrived in the 1970s lived in neighbourhoods across the lower mainland, indiscriminately. I think the 1980s saw small collected neighbourhoods, but in the 1990s, the whole ghetto thing exploded in the lower mainland. Many of British Columbia's Sikhs are concentrated in a few select neighbourhoods.
Also, yes, the Indian economy has picked up so it seems that less professionals are leaving India, but it also seems that Canada is losing out on all sorts of Indian professionals to America.
Canada attracts a lot of hardworkers and genuine immigrants, but the economic contribution of those immigrants seems (again, I don't have the sources to completely back this up) to help the industrial and physically arduous sectors of the economy far more than the skilled professions.
Even the uneducated types who immigrated in the 1970s and early 1980s seemed to integrate much better than the same type of people today. I don't understand why. Wouldn't the immigrants from the 1990s and today be more westernized due to globalization? It doesn't seem so. They seem far more likely to cling to carrying on their lives much like they were in Punjab, because they CAN. The infrastructure is in place that allows them to relive much of authentic Punjabi life. Which is largely fine by me in many instances, but I don't know... Having a strong and united Sikh community is important to me, but it's also important not to isolate oneself entirely from other segments of society. It breeds an environment of... not achieving as much success in the rest of society as is possible.
Right now, there's a few thousand Sikhs who attend UBC. That's quite a bit. I'm sure the community is on par or even above par when compared to other ethnicities, but it just seems to be slipping... It seems to me that a lot of young second-generation Canadians who are born to parents who immigrated in the 1990s do not have the necessary tools to really make it. I just hope I'm proven wrong.
Unfortunately, I was unable to do some of those papers due to a lack of sources.
In the two sociology courses I took (Introduction and Ethnic Relations) there were so many interesting topics that came to my mind, but I was unable to corroborate any of them with books or even articles.
For example, once, I wanted to do a paper on Sikh immigration patterns into Canada for my intro to sociology class, and although I found numerous general sources, I found nothing to support the point I was hoping to make, which was that a) since the 1970s, Sikh immigrants every decade since have been less educated and less entrepenurial. And progressively so. From my experience, Sikh immigrants who immigrated in the 1970s raised children which were far more integrated and "Canadian" in their outlook. Immigrants from the 1980s, from my experience tended to combine aspects of the 70's immigrants and the 90's immigrants. The 1990s immigrants SEEM less educated, less professional, less entrepenurial. They seem less likely to raise integrated kids. They seem far more likely to raise their children in neighbourhoods that are filled only with Punjabi speakers. They seem far more likely to have kids that do not know any English until Grade 1.
I graduated from a high school that was about 75% chinese. Most of my friends graduated from a high school that was 75% Sikh/Punjabi. Ghettoized communities only lead to less productivity and more stagnation from my view. People don't want to move on up, and why would they? It's usually nice to live in an area that's surrounded with your own types. And how do you prevent ghettoization anyway? It's impossible. You could promote a sort of cross-Canadian identity, but there really isn't one.
Immigrants who arrived in the 1970s lived in neighbourhoods across the lower mainland, indiscriminately. I think the 1980s saw small collected neighbourhoods, but in the 1990s, the whole ghetto thing exploded in the lower mainland. Many of British Columbia's Sikhs are concentrated in a few select neighbourhoods.
Also, yes, the Indian economy has picked up so it seems that less professionals are leaving India, but it also seems that Canada is losing out on all sorts of Indian professionals to America.
Canada attracts a lot of hardworkers and genuine immigrants, but the economic contribution of those immigrants seems (again, I don't have the sources to completely back this up) to help the industrial and physically arduous sectors of the economy far more than the skilled professions.
Even the uneducated types who immigrated in the 1970s and early 1980s seemed to integrate much better than the same type of people today. I don't understand why. Wouldn't the immigrants from the 1990s and today be more westernized due to globalization? It doesn't seem so. They seem far more likely to cling to carrying on their lives much like they were in Punjab, because they CAN. The infrastructure is in place that allows them to relive much of authentic Punjabi life. Which is largely fine by me in many instances, but I don't know... Having a strong and united Sikh community is important to me, but it's also important not to isolate oneself entirely from other segments of society. It breeds an environment of... not achieving as much success in the rest of society as is possible.
Right now, there's a few thousand Sikhs who attend UBC. That's quite a bit. I'm sure the community is on par or even above par when compared to other ethnicities, but it just seems to be slipping... It seems to me that a lot of young second-generation Canadians who are born to parents who immigrated in the 1990s do not have the necessary tools to really make it. I just hope I'm proven wrong.
posted by Japnaam Singh at
12:35 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home