By Samia Islam and Mahazib Showmik
BCS celebrated Canada Day with a slogan of combating racism and discrimination together. The event started at 11 am where everyone gathered at Dentonia Park’s Shohid Minar for the Canada Day parade. The parade was led by the EAP Team along with Dr. Nasima Akter (Executive Director of BCS), Jannatul Islam, and Qazi Islam. It was very successful, as there was a great sense of enthusiasm from event participants. The EAP youth ambassadors’ presented their workshop after the parade on embracing multiculturalism to combat racism and discrimination. The presenters for the workshop were Nureen Eidee, Abdul Kaiyyum, Kashifa Nahar, and Nashwan Ashraf. The workshop was designed by dividing in three parts.
Part 1: Presentation on Canada
● The presentation started with a couple of general questions on Canada, such as the number of years since its independence, its national animal, its first capital city, and its number of time zones.
● Geographical and national features:
○ Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world in North America, consisting of 10 provinces and 3 territories
○ Canada is home to abundant lakes
● Canada is known for its great level of multIculturalism with people of diverse races and ethnicities living here.
● With English and French being the official two languages in Canada, there is a high level of bilingualism in Canada with several languages being spoken and embraced.
● Government and politics:
○ Canada consists of three levels of government, including municipal, provincial, and federal
○ Canada is a parliamentary democracy, with Justin Trudeau being the current Prime Minister of Canada
○ There are several political parties in Canada, including the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and many more
● Canada has several tourist and attraction spots, such as the CN Tower, national parks, and musical festivals.
● History of Canada:
○ The First Nations are a diverse group of people who have adopted distinct community structures and traditions, and ways of living
○ European influence of First Nations people has led to the destruction of unity of First Nations people, as they were taken from homes and put into residential schools for several years
● After the presentation on Canada Day, we did an icebreaker wherein we discussed with people around us on the similarities and differences between cultures.
○ Feedback: Several groups talked about differences within the Bangladeshi culture, such as dialects and family structure. We also discussed similarities in our culture, such as traditions and holidays, and seasons.
Part 2: Presentation on Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism
● Cultural diversity refers to the existence of a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within a society. It encompasses differences in race, ethnicity, language, and others.
○ Ex. a city wherein people from different ethnic backgrounds live together
● Multiculturalism refers to a system of beliefs and behaviours that recognize and respect the presence of diverse groups within a society
○ Ex. policies that support the inclusion of different cultural groups
● Cultural differences can be seen in values and belief, communication styles, social norms and etiquettes, and nonverbal communication (ex. Doing the thumbs up gesture in Bangladesh is insulting, whereas it is deemed normal in Canada).
● There are several benefits to diversity including:
○ Increased creativity and innovation
○ Enhanced problem solving skills
○ Improved decision making
● Celebrating cultural holidays and traditions allow for more recognition of the diverse communities that we live in Canada with and creates a sense of belonging for individuals. In additions, the celebration of cultural holidays creates immense benefits, such as:
○ Enabling for cultural exchange to occur wherein individuals gain insight on each other’s cultures
○ Building a more harmonious and inclusive workplace in which mutual understanding between colleagues is fostered
● Open and respectful communication foster an inclusive society celebrating the cultural diversity of this country.
● Other ways in which we can foster inclusive environments include implementing programs that teach individuals on cultural differences and establishing mentorship programs that address the challenges of people of diverse backgrounds
● Unconscious bias is a form of bias wherein individuals are not deliberately aware that their attitudes are biased. This can influence our perceptions of the people around us.
○ Some examples of unconscious bias that were shared in the room include feeling a sense of danger around Black individuals and saying that Bengali people are always late
○ What are some steps we can take to address unconscious bias?
■ It is important to identify and challenge our biases to create a more equitable and inclusive community
■ Promoting diversity and inclusion can not only reduce our biases, but more importantly, it can expose us to different perspectives and break down the negative stereotypes we tend to believe
■ Developing empathy and active listening is crucial
Group Discussion:
● What are some cultural practices unique to your background?
○ Feedback: Someone mentioned cultural practices that are present in Bangladeshi culture, such as an emphasis on academics, a sense of sacrifice for family, and a greater care on family than oneself (individualistic vs collectivistic culture).
● What are some common challenges when embracing cultural diversity?
○ Feedback: Several participants shared their insights, such as difficulty in jobs and career-related activities, language barriers when adopting a new language, the large difference in weather and temperature, and differing mannerisms.
● How can we address and overcome these stereotypes?
○ Feedback: We discussed the importance of getting the right education to change people who think down on others. We also shared the importance of having opportunities to learn languages when it comes to overcoming language barriers.
● How can institutions and schools promote more cultural diversity?
○ Feedback: Several youth talked about introducing and educating the youth on the many cultures and backgrounds and how to respect them. One of the presenters shared their school experience with having numerous spirit weeks and cultural celebrations in their school. We also talked about the importance of having different associations in schools that represent different cultures to engage others in our culture.
● How do the media play into the perception of culture?
○ Feedback: Social media damages our way of thinking through a narrow way of getting information. On the other hand, it promotes cultural diversity sometimes because 50/50 since everyone has an agenda they propose (hard to understand what agenda exactly).
● What can we do to become more culturally aware and sensitive about other cultures?
○ Feedback: There were a lot of insightful ideas, such as increasing our participation in events which are respective of other cultures and interacting through other functions and means so we break the ice between communities. One youth mentioned the importance of connecting with people who have similar hobbies as you to better engage with people of different cultures.
Part 3: Conclusion
After the presentation on multiculturalism, the most active participants were given an award. We celebrated Canada Day by taking group photos with everyone wearing national red and white colors and sharing a decorated cake. Then, Dr. Nasima Akter acknowledged and rewarded individuals in the EAP team for their blog posts. Finally, the event ended with flyers for the upcoming event on July 6th being distributed to everyone. Lunch boxes were also distributed to all volunteers and participants on their way out.
There was a lot of good feedback from participants on the outcome of this event, as people really enjoyed the presentations and socialization.
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