Toronto's Obsession With Diversity?

[Cooool]

I just read a horrible article in the Toronto Star about how truly diverse Toronto is as a city (as if we haven't heard this one before). The basis for his arguement was that on a visit to London, everyone on the subway was speaking English (God forbid). I guess every city should feel like one big ESL class.

The truth is, London is a much more important city on the international stage and has almost the exact same level of racial and ethnic diversity as Toronto. Not to mention many other cities are diverse such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

So Toronto needs a much better claim to fame than diversity, when so many other cities are just as diverse. Everytime I read an article about diversity I cringe.

Why is Toronto so fixated on diversity and multiculturalism?

 

[OttoSchloss]

I agree, it is an obsession, that could abate on some level. However, it's this drive toward diversity which transformed the city from a WASPY backwater to the city we know and sometimes love today. And we should remember (which that article didn't) that diversity doesn't always mean another language or skin color.

 

[Blovertis]

The basis for his arguement was that on a visit to London, everyone on the subway was speaking English (God forbid). I guess every city should feel like one big ESL class.

From that comment, you seem ambivalent, if not hostile, toward cultural/ethnic diversity, whereas I agree with the Toronto Star and others that it is one of our greatest strengths.

I do agree with you, though, that the extent of our diversity is often overstated. The cities you mention seem at least as "diverse" as Toronto.

 

[Hipster Duck]

The basis for his arguement was that on a visit to London, everyone on the subway was speaking English (God forbid). I guess every city should feel like one big ESL class.

Looks like somebody else is more obsessed with diversity than the average Torontonian.

 

[Coltaine79]

I believe that the "diversity" of Toronto is overrated.

I find that some of the biggest boosters of diversity are people who don't actually engage in diversity themselves. They may live in neighborhoods which are 90%+ WASP, but make little to no attempt to reach out to those few non-WASPs in their midst.

It's a strange sort of elitism.

That said, I'm not one of those people who is going to "blame" the whole thing on the WASP community of Canada. It's actually the prevailing attitudes of various Canadian governments which has for many years allowed various ethnic groups to form their own ethnic blocs and not done enough to foster integration.

In my opinion, this has led to a sort of social stratification in some places.

For instance, in 2007, when I lived at Yonge/Eg, I tended to frequent the pubs in that area quite often. In many cases, I noticed I was the only brown man having a drink at those pubs; the only other brown individuals were the kitchen staff! It struck me as a bit odd; during my university days, me and my buddies would all go drinking together and we were a rather Technicolor bunch. Why then, was a neighborhood with such a "young and eligible" reputation so devoid of color?

Now, I may be coming across as curmudgeonly - I assure you that I am not, and I do like living in Toronto, but I also do wish the cultural integration here was more akin to what I've observed in other cities.

 

[Roy G Biv]

Why is Toronto so fixated on diversity and multiculturalism?

Because it doesn't have much else going for it, relative to other worldly cities.

 

[GraphicMatt]

It's not as if Toronto tried really hard to get a diverse population. It happened over the course of decades. And embracing it and celebrating it is far better than whatever the alternative is.

Some neighbourhoods are still prett WASPy, if that's your cup of tea.

 

[dahusbandofbath]

We can't disregard how much diversity has changed this city since the war. It's been awesome in terms of the variety of everything that is available in Toronto. On the other hand, it probably hasn't contributed much to a sense of shared city experience. As of yet, I think that being a New Yorker or a Londoner means more than being a Torontonian in terms of a recognisable identity. However, I have no doubt that this is changing as new-arrivals intigrate into the cultural life of our city -- and make no mistake: they do. For all the talk of multi-culturalism, there isn't a teenager on Earth from anywhere that doesn't want desperately to fit in and belong. The contents of our pot are melting just as fast as south of the border, I have no doubt. I witness this as a high school teacher every day.

Another thing I witness is the germination of a unique Toronto accent! Even kids whose grandparents were born here are, in some cases, speaking with purer (almost Spanish-sounding) vowels. I hear it in words like "no" (spoken as if you're from Woodbridge) and "can't" which lacks any trace of nasalness (think of someone from Ohio saying "Canada".)

 

[HHC]

For those wondering why we're not as racially integrated as American cities such as SF, Chicago, NY is simply because non-white's have only been coming here since the late 60's. Chicago/NYC have had historical black populations for centuries. Goes the same for Chinese in SF. The European population of Canada 45 years ago was at 97%, now it's 80...

So don't expect to find indian and filipino immigrants in a historically WASP neighbourhood; chances are these indians/filipinos are recent immigrants and barely know the language themselves. They're more focused on getting an affordbale place to stay rather than scurrying to the most WASP neighbourhoods in town for the sake of diversification.... take a step back and get real.

 

[Cooool]

I believe in diversity, not so much multiculturalism. The idea is, immigrants are supposed to come to Canada and within a certain amount of years, they will gradually assimilate into Canadian life. Ideally, immigrants are supposed to hold on to small components of their culture while embracing Canadian culture more than anything else.

I think what Toronto SHOULD be proud of is how well immigrants are integrated within the region. Not the lack of WASPS (which often seems to be the case).

 

[Redroom Studios]

for reference, from Wikipedia:

The last complete census by Statistics Canada estimated there were 2,503,281 people living in Toronto in June 2006,[1] making it the largest city in Canada,[68] and the fifth most populous municipality in North America.[69]

The city's population grew by 4% (96,073 residents) between 1996 and 2001, and 1% (21,787 residents) between 2001 and 2006. Persons aged 14 years and under made up 17.5% of the population, and those aged 65 years and over made up 13.6%. The median age was 36.9 years. Foreign-born people made up 49.9% of the population.[70] The city's gender population is 48% male and 52% female.[71] However, women outnumber men in all age groups over 20.[72] As of 2006, 46.9% of the residents of the city proper belong to a visible minority group,[73] and visible minorities are projected to comprise a majority in the Toronto CMA by 2017.[74] In 1981, Toronto's visible minority population was 13.6%.[75]

According to the United Nations Development Programme, Toronto has the second-highest percentage of constant foreign-born population among world cities, after Miami, Florida. While Miami's foreign-born population consists mostly of Cubans and other Latin Americans, no single nationality or culture dominates Toronto's immigrant population, placing it among the most diverse cities in the world.[70] By 2031, Toronto's current visible minority population will have increased to 63%, changing the definition of visible minority in the city.[76]

In 2006, people of European ethnicities formed the largest cluster of ethnic groups in Toronto, 52.6%,[73] mostly of British, Irish, Italian, and French origins. The five largest visible minority groups in Toronto are South Asian (12.0%), Chinese (11.4%), Black (8.4%), Filipino (4.1%) and Latin American (2.6%).[73] Aboriginal peoples, who are not considered visible minorities, formed 0.5% of the population.[73] This diversity is reflected in Toronto's ethnic neighbourhoods, which include Chinatown, Corso Italia, Greektown, Kensington Market, Koreatown, Little Jamaica, Little India, Little Italy, Little Portugal and Roncesvalles.

Christianity is the largest religious group in Toronto. The 2001 Census reports that 31.1% of the city's population is Catholic, followed by Protestant (21.1%), Christian Orthodox at (4.8%), Coptic Orthodox (0.2%),[77] and other Christians (3.9%). Due to the city's significant number of Methodist Christians, Toronto is often referred to as the Methodist Rome. Other religions in the city are Islam (6.7%), Hinduism (4.8%), Judaism (4.2%), Buddhism (2.7%), Sikhism (0.9%), and other Eastern religions (0.2%). 18.7% of the population professes no religion.[78]

While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, many other languages have considerable numbers of local speakers, including French, Italian, Chinese, Punjabi, Spanish, Hindi, Tagalog, Urdu, Portuguese and Tamil.[79] Chinese and Italian are the second and third most widely spoken languages at work.[80][81] As a result, the city's 9-1-1 emergency services are equipped to respond in over 150 languages.[82]

 

[ladyscraper]

Why is Toronto so fixated on diversity and multiculturalism?

It's because our diversity and multiculturalism caused a deformation of space time to create a 35km-wide black hole that is slowly sucking the rest of the world into it. This is precisely the reason that Toronto has become the centre of the universe and why diversity has become so important to us.

 

[kool maudit]

From that comment, you seem ambivalent, if not hostile, toward cultural/ethnic diversit.

i agree. as you have spoken in an ambiguous (rather than a laudatory) way about diversity it is now evident to all that you are a detestable bigot of the lowest order.

 

[TrickyRicky]

P.S. the underlying assumption in several comments about comparative cultures of diversity and racial integration seem strange to me. To me there truly is a general difference in how these issues are perceived in different cities. This is an issue cities in all modern western cities are grappling with. So in this sense it is not unique to Toronto. However, what is truly unique to Toronto is how we specifically tackle and perceive this issue. This uniqueness is not a mirage and should not come as a surprise. That it is unique does not mean it is superior, although public opinion suggests that Canadians are far more accepting or at least not annoyed by, diversity and immigration relative to our peers in the US or Europe.

As I've mentioned in previous threads there is a difference between being OK with diversity and having a positive bias. A positive bias is a bias for something (as opposed to against something). It is entirely consistent and likely intrinsicly human to prefer one thing to another. Computer models show that given only a 10 percent bias, alike populations will begin to populate the same area within 3 iterations. A bias could be cultural, ethnic, sexual, age, breeding non-breeding, socio-economic etc. So my point being it is not inconsistent for a city with a high degree of tolerance and acceptance of others to be also highly segregated.

 

[JayBee]

I believe that the "diversity" of Toronto is overrated.

I find that some of the biggest boosters of diversity are people who don't actually engage in diversity themselves. They may live in neighborhoods which are 90%+ WASP, but make little to no attempt to reach out to those few non-WASPs in their midst.

It's a strange sort of elitism.

That said, I'm not one of those people who is going to "blame" the whole thing on the WASP community of Canada. It's actually the prevailing attitudes of various Canadian governments which has for many years allowed various ethnic groups to form their own ethnic blocs and not done enough to foster integration.

In my opinion, this has led to a sort of social stratification in some places.

For instance, in 2007, when I lived at Yonge/Eg, I tended to frequent the pubs in that area quite often. In many cases, I noticed I was the only brown man having a drink at those pubs; the only other brown individuals were the kitchen staff! It struck me as a bit odd; during my university days, me and my buddies would all go drinking together and we were a rather Technicolor bunch. Why then, was a neighborhood with such a "young and eligible" reputation so devoid of color?

Now, I may be coming across as curmudgeonly - I assure you that I am not, and I do like living in Toronto, but I also do wish the cultural integration here was more akin to what I've observed in other cities.

Yea, I completely agree. It's pretty overblown.