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Microsoft Office Word / Online Bilingual Dictionary: Hyphenated.- (美國〕(公民)歸化的；關於歸化的美國公民的〔因歸化的美國公民常被稱為 German-Americans, Irish-Americans 等，原國籍與“美籍”之間用連字型大小連接，用時含有貶意〕。
The issue of "hyphenated citizens" became a topic of discussion in the political arena in 2005 when Ms. Hazel Blears, a senior minister in the Home Office of then Tony Blair’s government, proposed that the United Kingdom should officially identify those citizens whose ancestry is not British even though they might have been born and raised in the UK. The knee-jerk reaction was a response to the deadly subway and bus attacks by home-grown terrorists who are UK citizens but are apparently not "British" (Reference 1).
The proposal essentially would have attached official ethnic labels to UK's visible minorities, thereby creating a sub-class of citizens who are apparently not "laine pur" (pure blood) in the eyes of Ms. Blears. The controversial proposal also brings back unpleasant memories of:
(a) The colonial policy of the pre-1997 Hong Kong Government that considered Chinese holders of British passports second-class citizens; and,
(b) The use of the Star of David by the Nazis on Jews and their properties during World War II.
I think a government policy is on a slippery slope when there is an official requirement to attach ethnic labels to the identification documents of a sector of the society
I respect the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and am supportive of Canada's diversity policy (Reference 2). At the same time, I also believe that inclusiveness is very important to bring about social cohesion in the post-911 world (Reference 3) and would submit that any official ethnic labeling of a society's members may do more harm than good to the country in general and the targeted communities in particular. And, for the record, my Canadian passport does not show a hyphenated nationality.
Reference 1: Weinreb, Arthur. Associate Editor, Canada Free Press. "Ethnic labeling - a step backwards" August 11, 2005 http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/weinreb081105.htm
Reference 2: Government of Canada/PCH. "Canadian Multiculturalism Act 1985" http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/multi/policy/act_e.cfm
Reference 3: United Nations. "UNESCO's Urban Development Program / Inclusiveness, Social cohesion and Local Democracy" http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=5606&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html)
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22 comments:
I totally support the Canadian's melting pot culture. I am also a Canadian. I am Chinese but definitely don't want to be labelled Chinese-Canadian. It's not because I think being labelled Chinese-Canadian is second class, but just think it doesn't help at all to build a more cohesive society while treasuring diversity.
唉~~~
估唔到如今仲有人咁諗嘢,
就算咁諗都唔洗講到出口,
仲話要改例添,
唉~~~~~
世界大同 -烏托邦是也!
Back in the old days, many American immigrants were so eager to assimilate to so-called melting pot, they did every to dissociate their origins. Nowadays, it is more like a salad bowl than melting pot. African Americans are proud of their heritage though they don't even exactly which part of Africa their ancestors came from. Irish Americans celebrate St Patrick's Day every year. Native Americans suffered a lot, but they are proud of their heritage. So are Japanese, Indians, Mexicans, ...and so on.
Chinese American is not a derogatory term by itself unless someone have prejudice mind to it. Daniel Tsui, Yo Yo Ma, Connie Chung, Amy Tam and many others are not ashamed of being chinese Americans, neither am I.
Perhaps Keith may be right that Hyphenated-citizen is not a derogatory term by itself. But, it is a term that is going to be used by "oneself" not "itself".
It brings in unnecessary competition and excessive identity to individuals.
When a country really cares about your ethnic group, I guess one should be very awake.
If someone wants to disparage a Chinese American, there are words for it, and it is not Chinese American.
I met a Korean American girl who came to this country when she were 10. Her father took the melting pot idea wholeheartedly; she speaks perfect English but no longer spoke Korean when I met her at college when she weere about 18. In fact it is typical for many earlier immigrants in U.S. She envied me knowing lots of Chinese (so I told her :-).
Now I work in a hi-tech company near New York City area. When we have a meeting, it is like an general assembly at UN. I enjoy working with people with different cultural backgrounds. We all take pride of our heritages and our ethnic foods--especailly the ethnic fodds. Would you prefer a bowl of salad with distinctive favors of nuts and berries or would you prefer having them melted in a pot?
Keith, you are such a nice guy. :)
Ruth: Your point is well taken. The issue is whether social cohesion and diversity can co-exist and compliment each other.
新鮮人: 同樣原理,中國「憤青」排外,杯葛歐美公司,外國亦可以立例排華,抵制中國進口貨。偏激行動,对任何一方都沒有益処,。社会之內需要social cohesion,國家之間外交政策需要有長遠眼光,世界大同能否逐步推行,就在乎每國的領袖人材料,和群众的敎育思想了。
Keith: Things sure have improved a lot since the late 60's and early 70's. Still, more work need to be done !!!
C.M.: You hit the nail on the head !!! There is a big difference between voluntary labeling as opposed to being labeled officially by authorities for unclear reasons.
Keith: I sure had my fill of disparaging remarks while studying at university and working as a laborer in the restaurant, railway, forestry, pulp and paper, and mining sectors. I don't blame the previous generations (such as the father of the Korean girl you mentioned) who desperately tried to blend in. Some even anglicized their family names and encouraged their children to assimilate. When one's own society was openly hostile to one's family, camouflaging is one of the survival instincts. Thanks to the efforts of civil-rights activists, such as Martin Luther King Jr., we now can have a choice of eating our mixed salad freshly tossed, or purée.
C.M.: Re "... Keith is such as nice guy ..."
And, with a sense of humour too, may I add :)
Haricot:
Right on.
At first I wish to make an extreme example to illustrate the seamy side of the proposal, say...
"My mom always says she is old and fat. That's alright. But if I agree with her by saying 'You o~~ f~~ woman', I guess it's going to be my doomsday."
Excessive identity (involuntarily) may wreak havoc.
Yeah, I agree. It's one thing for her to make comments abt herself, but not from you or other people.
The discussion went further and further off track. You wrote: "German-Americans, Irish-Americans 等，原國籍與“美籍”之間用連字型大小連接，用時含有貶意". I was saying as a Chinese American, I have never known the term is disparaging: neither will anyone in the Chinese American Association (where I was a member) think so.
Moreover, I have a more positive view of assimilation. Many of the earlier immigrants were eager to Amerianize not because they were discriminated against but because they believed in the melting pot idea. I lived in Minnesota once and happen to know quite a few German Americans in the state where half of the state population are of German origin. Unlike Chinese Americans, they keep little of their German heritage. However they are proud of their ancestry.
Racism is one of the worst human vice. U.S. government is still paying the price for its sin of slavery and the Indian policy a century ago. (BTW, Indian is also a respectful term. Some people do not like the term native American and I hear indigenous people of America more often these days). By and large, the generation I grow up with, at least the circle of friends I hang out with, are color blind. I have plenty of Chinese friends. Unfortunately I can often sense bigotry from them. It always slips through their opinions, things like "... 在我有生之年，印度，絕不能取得經濟強國的稱號 ...". Living in a relatively homogeneous society, they are not likely to receive adequate diversity eduation.
Keith,
It's good to hear my voice is heard. I was right, Keith. You are a very nice guy, for sure. No other meaning behind.
Some of my very close bloggers stand against my view in my post ME (0) - 誰磨滅了誰的鬥志. 當中他們正反的意見或許都涉及這個“Hyphenated-Citizen” 的題目，很值得參考。
The real me, is a very bad person. I would make the best use of anything on hand to seek and destroy. This is the way I learn of the human vice - by putting it in practice. Therefore, I really want to draw your attention to be aware of what I had already gone through. I feel relieved to see you living in a melting pot as in US or like a UN general assembly. But I guess most people don't.
I embrace assimilation and mutual acceptance, for sure, because I have been both the victim and the benefited.
That's why I very much agree to the opening of your statement: "Living in a relatively homogeneous society... ". To me, it's still valid to point out "...they are not likely to receive adequate diversity eduation.". But in a homogeneous society, their focus of interests are homogeneous, what they encounter every day is homogeneous and even what they learn from each other is homogeneous. My point is any kind of diversity education will be too exhaustive for such a homogeneous society. Blending can make this kind of education more efficient. It's just like chemical reactions!
And perhaps my comment like "... 在我有生之年，印度，絕不能取得經濟強國的稱號 ..." be as offensive as "... 在我有生之年，中國，絕不能達到完全遠離災難的境界 ...", but you see, it is just as easy as people slip through the mere presence of the 'ethnic hyphen' being captured by their eyeballs. Here, I see the destructive power of discrimination lies on the "refusal to know more" (Nothing personal). Perhaps you may have also experienced well, when you know a person more, you would feel he may not be that nasty.
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Well, if you feel interested and wish to know more about me, please see below my reply to other bloggers (and Haricot):
關於「在我有生之年，印度，絕不能取得經濟強國的稱號」，雖然字眼略嫌為主觀，我也考慮計算多次，我還是使用了一個比較肯定的語氣，雖然我亦蓄意加上「如果這個情況繼續下去」。
我的理解（顯然若虛也明白）是，若印度的主流宗教不進行改革，那印度的 caste system 仍然會主宰社會流動。一個缺乏社會流動能力（Social Mobility Potential）的社會，並不能完全釋放一個社會的潛在經濟使用能力和經濟競爭力，無論是生產方面，還是消費方面，都受到很大的遏制。
從經濟學中的 Human Capital 的角度看，更能說明這一點。
這裡指："the ability to have mobility with regards to where people want to move and work is a part of their human capital. Being able to move from one area to the next is an ability and a benefit of having human capital. To restrict people from doing so would be to inherently lower their human capital."
為何印度人口眾多，成本比中國更低，但自後來還不能追上中國，甚至取代中國這個世界工廠？反而是由小小的越南或柬埔寨等可以？除了政制原因（也受社會階級影響），更因為印度的上等人不能/也不會做工廠工人，而下等人則不准做。也就是說，根本沒有足夠的人去做，沒有中國一樣的民工支持製造業，去填補各種職位的空缺。有心做又如何？根本想做也不准！
或有問，印度的 IT 人才又何來？其實道理一樣。下等人不能當 IT，於我的理解，IT 這個屬於新的行業，對於 caste system 大抵是屬於一個比較不明確的職業，所以能夠參與其中者可以為中高層人等，我相信若印度下等人也能做 IT，其經濟貢獻會更強勁。
除了接受非主流宗教甚至離開祖國的人士外，被扼殺了 Social Mobility 的人，根本難有為自己作主的一天。從經濟角度看，絕難有釋放強大經濟潛能的一天。
沒有足夠天然資源，加上眾多的人口，單靠社會少數的中高層人士去建立經濟強國，根本是妙想天開。
「如果這個情況繼續下去，我覺得，在我有生之年，印度，絕不能取得經濟強國的稱號」。
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Wish you could share your salad with me.
BTW, my above "reply to other bloggers (and Haricot)" had already been posted (here 1) referred by Haricot here 2
Keith: Having lived in N America for many years, I sure can relate to and understand where you are coming from !!! We are reading from more or less the same page (e.g. diversity, proud to be ourselves, etc). My only "hang-up" is abt the voluntary vs mandatory labeling of one's ethnic origin by authorities, as in the case of the use of Star of David by the Nazis. Otherwise, I am cool.
C.M.: I will let Keith respond to your somewhat winding comments and the salad question, if he wishes.
C.M.
Thank you for putting in the links !!
I suppose there must be something I don't understand since I have been living most of life in suburb, I joined the Chinese American Association when I was a student and have been working in enivronment where diversity is a sacred idea that drives progress. People from inner city would have different American experience, or Canadians would easily associate French-Canadian with secession.
Keith: Breaking news ,,,,
A report will be released officially this Thursday to address the issue on "Reasonable Accommodations" of visible minorities and immigrants in general by Quebecois/Quebecoise in la Belle Province.
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