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Second-Generation Connections Marginalizing Identity

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
DOI10.1177/002070200806300111
AuthorChristopher Stuart Taylor
Date01 March 2008
Published date01 March 2008
Subject MatterArticle
Christopher Stuart Taylor is a fourth-year student at the University of Toronto.
What does it mean to be Canadian? Or rather, what does it mean to have a
Canadian identity? I cannot speak for every second-generation Canadian,
nor do I want to. I can only speak of my experience as a second-generation
Canadian of Barbadian descent and how it has shaped my identity.
Here’s my checklist of a
typical
Canadian: he or she was born in
Canada, speaks English and/or French, celebrates Christmas, is Christian,
plays hockey, owns a snow shovel, drinks Canadian beer, has a barbeque
on Canada Day, watches hockey every Saturday night, is friendly and
polite, has liberal views, dislikes American hegemony but watches
American TV shows, loves thy neighbour, and generally cares about the
wellbeing of others.
It’s an incomplete list, but it’s safe to say that I fit the criteria of what I
believe to be a Canadian. However, in my experience, most people would
argue that I’m not.
I may think that I’m Canadian, and inherently and consciously do the
things that a Canadian is supposed to do, but if you took one look at me
none of that would matter. Why is that? I forgot to add the most important
element of Canadian identity: you must be white.
| International Journal | Winter 2007-08 | 127 |
Christopher Stuart Taylor
Second-generation connections
Marginalizing
identity
The Iand the other of a second-generation Canadian

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