Why Bruce Allen is an idiot
Bruce Allen is not a racist. He might give comfort and misguided ideas to racists and xenophobic people and in doing so, he deeply poisons our social harmony, but he himself is not a racist.
He has, however, made extremely short-sighted and ignorant comments.
More than anything else, Allen's comments were deeply undemocratic. He said for immigrants to "shut up" if they had any problems with living in Canada. Allen's supporters regularly defend their support for him on the grounds of free speech. Why would they defend someone who tells people to shut up if they have concerns? How do you square your support for free speech with support for someone who tells Canadian citizens not to pursue their democratic rights if they don't correspond with his own values?
And what exactly else is Allen trying to say? That the law should never change? The status quo is perfect? The motorcycle helmet issue is another case of Allen's supporters being completely hypocritical and attempting to use any case to bolster their xenophobic fears. A lot of his supporters consider helmet laws and other such state interventions to be 'nanny-statism' and things that the government should not interfere with. But if it allows them to loudly express their misguided xenophobic fears, then there's no problem with helmet laws, right?
Allen's other points were even funnier. The passport pictures dealt with one rogue individual who was clearly acting in a way that made no rational sense. The children who were taking their pictures were easily recognizable and were in fact more recognizble since that's how they looked all the time. But no, Allen can't stand people standing up for their dignity and self-respect, since I guess only certain types of people are entitled to that.
On the name change issue, it's funny as well. He refers to an "immigration plan" to have Sikhs change their names before immigrating to Canada. What fiction! The ideas of a couple of bureaucrats in New Delhi to make their jobs a little easier hardly qualifies as some kind of centrally coordinated "immigration plan"! He made it seem as if the Government of Canada was taking a sophisticated approach to integration by forcing Sikh immigrants to choose new names. What a fool. If he looked into these issues even slightly, he would recognize that wasn't the case at all.
At the end of his rant, Allen talked about how we have laws in this country. Could he explain how the passport and immigration issue had anything to do with the law? They didn't. They were about rogue individuals who were treating Sikhs in an undignified way. There was nothing else to it. And the helmet issue... that IS the law now! There wasn't always a helmet law, then there was and now for Sikhs with turbans, there isn't. The law can change. Immigrants will continue to lobby changes to the law if it affects their personal dignity and there's nothing Bruce Allen can do about that. We're citizens too. We love Canada, our home, just like he does.
One last point. I've heard a few xenophobic types say recently "If you don't like it here, leave." The interesting thing with that comment is people like that aren't speaking for any kind of silent majority. The vast majority of Canadians find that sentiment apalling, no matter what you might be hearing in the media recently. Let's see if a mainstream Canadian political party went out there and said "If you don't like it here, leave." They would be decimated at the polls. They'd be reduced to fringe party status. So to those people who make that comment, why don't you leave instead? Your opinions are actually a lot less mainstream than those of us who feel that while we live in a liberal, secular nation where we have many things that unite us all, there is also room for the richness of diversity. The vast majority of Canadians view Canada as a beacon to the rest of the world, where we're welcoming of those that are willing to come here, contribute and feel as if they are a part of the Canadian fabric. No matter what anyone says in this debate, we should never lose sight of that reality. The xenophobes and the racist will never win this battle.
He has, however, made extremely short-sighted and ignorant comments.
More than anything else, Allen's comments were deeply undemocratic. He said for immigrants to "shut up" if they had any problems with living in Canada. Allen's supporters regularly defend their support for him on the grounds of free speech. Why would they defend someone who tells people to shut up if they have concerns? How do you square your support for free speech with support for someone who tells Canadian citizens not to pursue their democratic rights if they don't correspond with his own values?
And what exactly else is Allen trying to say? That the law should never change? The status quo is perfect? The motorcycle helmet issue is another case of Allen's supporters being completely hypocritical and attempting to use any case to bolster their xenophobic fears. A lot of his supporters consider helmet laws and other such state interventions to be 'nanny-statism' and things that the government should not interfere with. But if it allows them to loudly express their misguided xenophobic fears, then there's no problem with helmet laws, right?
Allen's other points were even funnier. The passport pictures dealt with one rogue individual who was clearly acting in a way that made no rational sense. The children who were taking their pictures were easily recognizable and were in fact more recognizble since that's how they looked all the time. But no, Allen can't stand people standing up for their dignity and self-respect, since I guess only certain types of people are entitled to that.
On the name change issue, it's funny as well. He refers to an "immigration plan" to have Sikhs change their names before immigrating to Canada. What fiction! The ideas of a couple of bureaucrats in New Delhi to make their jobs a little easier hardly qualifies as some kind of centrally coordinated "immigration plan"! He made it seem as if the Government of Canada was taking a sophisticated approach to integration by forcing Sikh immigrants to choose new names. What a fool. If he looked into these issues even slightly, he would recognize that wasn't the case at all.
At the end of his rant, Allen talked about how we have laws in this country. Could he explain how the passport and immigration issue had anything to do with the law? They didn't. They were about rogue individuals who were treating Sikhs in an undignified way. There was nothing else to it. And the helmet issue... that IS the law now! There wasn't always a helmet law, then there was and now for Sikhs with turbans, there isn't. The law can change. Immigrants will continue to lobby changes to the law if it affects their personal dignity and there's nothing Bruce Allen can do about that. We're citizens too. We love Canada, our home, just like he does.
One last point. I've heard a few xenophobic types say recently "If you don't like it here, leave." The interesting thing with that comment is people like that aren't speaking for any kind of silent majority. The vast majority of Canadians find that sentiment apalling, no matter what you might be hearing in the media recently. Let's see if a mainstream Canadian political party went out there and said "If you don't like it here, leave." They would be decimated at the polls. They'd be reduced to fringe party status. So to those people who make that comment, why don't you leave instead? Your opinions are actually a lot less mainstream than those of us who feel that while we live in a liberal, secular nation where we have many things that unite us all, there is also room for the richness of diversity. The vast majority of Canadians view Canada as a beacon to the rest of the world, where we're welcoming of those that are willing to come here, contribute and feel as if they are a part of the Canadian fabric. No matter what anyone says in this debate, we should never lose sight of that reality. The xenophobes and the racist will never win this battle.
posted by Japnaam Singh at
10:42 PM
1 Comments:
Bull. I repeat. If you don't like it,leave.Don't bring your problems to Canada. No more turbans on mounties.No turbans on motorcycles. No more bombings and murders.
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