Correctness

I received a very hurtful, but perhaps well intentioned forward today, and I'm not really sure what to do about it. Looking down the back links its been forwarded from friend to friend down a chain of born and bred Canadians. So perhaps as an immigrant I'm a bit touchy on the subject of what is and should be expected of people moving to countries like Canada, America and Australia. ie. English speaking colonies founded in the past 300 years largely by Christians and neo-Christian politicians looking to change and reshape European values. I had an easy time, having moved from and English speaking country with very close values to Canadian values, and having moved at a young age that I did most of my growing up in Canada.

The main belief supported by the forward (and alleged speech by John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia...though a quick google will show it is a highly edited shoddy fabrication of sound bites and clipped together and given under the name J.H.) is that because the colonies were founded by WASPs that it is good and right that the main moral, legal and cultural code should be that of the former WASP. It lays claims such as "We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society. Learn the language!" and "It is immigrants, not Australians that need to adapt."

When did the rules change? Did the founding immigrants of our countries adapt? Did they learn the language of the land they came to? Did they even speak English? (in the case of Canada) Did those who wrote our constitutions and who continue to REVISE our constitutions adapt to their setting, or bring about and insist on change? Change is the most necessary and most exciting part of life. And especially for those of us who live in the new world--in countries whose cultural legacy can be remembered in its entirety, whose countries are a diverse fabric of people bringing to that table what they can--it is our identity.

As Canadian working in South Korea, helping students practice and learn to speak English, and as a Canadian who had to take those painful 10 years of French classes, I have a sence about learning a language. 1. it takes time. 2. its not easy. 3. Its not necessary to function in a society. Our three countries have the amazing benefits of having people from all countries in the world living in them, this means we may well have speakers of close to every language in the world. We have amazing knowledge in that, amazing power for communitcation and community. So how can we be so pig-headed as to insist all new immigrants be fluent in English? Especially when there are ways to function in a native language through family, friends and community. Granted, I'm only a migrant worker and not an immigrant here, but I've learned to function in a society that speaks mainly Korean, that there are many ways to function without being able to speak, or with only the most rudementary knowledge. Its a matter of support and networks.

And this question of adapting. If Australians don't want to adapt anymore thats for them to decided, I for one hope i never stop adapting, I hope that those adaptations are mostly for the better--for the improvement of my condition and of those around me--I hope Canadians and Americans and Australians and Saudi Arabians, and Sri Lankans and Koreans and Indians and Pakistanis and Mongolians and Brazillians and Europeans (as a whole and in their individual cultures) and Eritrians and Kenyans and all the rest of everyone continue to change and adapt to the many new and exciting posibilities that are presented to them.

Now the root of the problem. Sharia Law. And I agree here with the position Australia took, with the position Ontario took and with the position that you obey and follow that law of the land. WHATEVER that law is. If that means no pot in Korean, that is the law, and we must obey it. If that means I cannot enter Libya until I'm married or without my father, that is the law I must obey. If that means I must cover my body entirely in Saudi Arabia, that is the law and I must obey. If that means I can pay for sex in Amsterdam but not in Sweden, so be it. Those are the laws of that land, and I am obliged to follow them. That's what a law is, we agree to follow them, that is how they help all of us. Also that as a citizen of a country you have the right to challenge, ammend, rewrite the law, to introduce new law and to have old laws removed. A great example of this is the announcement today that women in Saudi Arabia can now stay at a hotel alone. Recognizing the great limits on women in this culture this is an exciting move towards recognizing the road to gender equity. It seems small but its how we go about making our countries better places. The government also allowed that it would consider allowing women to drive. Again, bit by bit we see who a government is moving to adapt to changing times, to better serve its citizens and to allow its citizens to better serve the government.

If there are laws in Sharia Law that can be used by all Canadians then it is for those citizens best versed in these laws to help bring them to legislation. Where we as a nation can decided if this is a law for our nation. But yes, in a country there is only one law and it applies in the same way to all citizens in that country. But that doesn't mean that we turn our backs on everything immigrants bring to their new homes.

Its scary how the rhetoric of things like this so easily sweeps us up, makes us forget to think for ourselves, to reflect on how much we owe our immigrant parents/grandparents who put up with the racist shit, so that we could have an easy life in these countries.

Which brings me to the title of this entry: correctness. Not political correctness. Political Correctness is not saying what you mean so as not to offend or exclude anyone. While its a practice that upsets many people because it reduces our ability to express our feelings and opinions, its a dangerous practice because it marrs the more important practice of correctness. That is speaking in ways that are considerate of the fact that we don't know everything, we can't take everything into account all the time, its also a way of speaking that is forgiving of difference, that helps us to recognize that we are all strangers trying to build this dream of a world that works, fully. I think it is blind, selfish and pig-headed to insist that the way things have been is the way things always will be. Instead of spending our energy writing and propegating hate speech, we should be working on solutions; rather than laying blame on the new guy, we should be working to recognize the problem; rather than engaging in empty rhetoric that affirms division of societies, that insists on the continued antagonism of different cultures, we should be opening our hearts and minds and affirming our beliefs while listening to new beliefs.