Ingrate Twenty-something bashes Canada for racism

Vincent J. Curtis

17 Feb 2017

RE: Time to end the myth of Canadian Exceptionalism

Sarah Adjekum is a twenty-something social activist who graduated from Hamilton's McMaster University with a Bachelor's in Social Work.  While there, she was a member of Communist Youth Association.  That hasn't stopped her from working for a Catholic Social Outreach organization called The Good Shepherd.  She is one of the principle organizers of Hamilton's Anti-Racism Initiative.  She describes herself as a long time Hamilton resident.

This date saw an article she wrote published in my home town newspaper.  It was grievance-mongering at its worst.  She set up a straw man and then tore it apart.  She set up this myth of Canadian exceptionalism, and then tore it apart with by arguing the case that Canada was rife with racism.  (Islamophobia being one example, but that's a proof of stupidity that's been discussed elsewhere.)

It is a failure of Canadian universities that students of grievance studies are not required to become educated in the Western Enlightenment as part of the core curriculum.  That's the only explanation I have for people like her spewing uninformed hatred into the public domain.  She doesn't even understand the Canadian mentality in which she has been immersed for a long time.

Below are my comments to the newpaper:

The article is just the sort of sophomoric argument that is drearily common nowadays, and that it comes from a young activist trained in grievance-mongering is not surprising.

Let this old-line Canadian help Ms. Adjekum out.  Exceptionalism is an American thing, not a Canadian.  To the extent that a Canadian thinks his country is exceptional, it is that it is different from America, and better in a way.  We don’t feel a need to compare ourselves to cultures in Africa, Asia, South America, or even Europe.

Ms. Adjekum’s thesis is that Canadians should stop thinking of themselves as exceptional because our culture is shot through with hatred, racism and Islamophobia.  Since we modestly don’t think of ourselves as particularly exceptional, except perhaps with respect to America, her thesis falls to the ground.  But her argument that the culture which Canadians like myself bear is shot through with hatred, racism and Islamophobia, and for that reason is unworthy, deserves further analysis.

Since Canada is committed to a policy of multiculturalism, why would an immigrant assimilate into Canada’s domestic culture when it is shot through with hatred, racism and Islamophobia?  If they had any moral sense, they wouldn’t.   They would cling to the old ways and resist the attraction of the thing that brought them here is the first place.  (People don’t come to Canada for its delightful climate.)

This is the sort of thing that gives life to the “Canadian Values” campaign of Dr. Kellie Leitch.  Ms. Adjekum is arguing the same thing as Dr. Leitch, except from the other side.  Ms. Adjekum says that Canadian culture is, on the whole, unworthy of being assimilated into by immigrants, while Dr. Leitch argues that Canada should not take in immigrants who think that way.

If a country is going to hold itself together, it needs to have some unifying theme.  Perhaps Ms. Adjekum can reflect upon the argument of the other side, and see what unifying theme she can come up with.  That is if she can overcome her moral revulsion of Canadians like me.

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