South Asian Population In Canada Outnumber Chinese
- By Sam George
- Published 05/30/2010
Sam George
Sam George is the Executive Director of PARIVAR International - a non-profit initiative to address the needs of youth and families of Asian Indian origin in North America and to the Asian Indian community worldwide. Parivar means family in many Indian languages. Sam George also serves as one of the founding directors of Urban India Ministries
www.UrbanIndia.org Sam George and his wife, Mary have spoken at premarital and family events in many countries. They are parents of two boys and make their home in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Sam is the author of the book “Understanding the Coconut Generation: Ministry to the Americanized Asian Indians." Check out this website www.CoconutGeneration.com Coconut (brown on the outside, white on the inside) is a metaphor for the Americanized Asian Indians. Sam George can be reached at sam@coconutgeneration.com
1,262,900 individuals identified themselves as South Asian, a growth rate of 37.7 per cent from 917,100 individuals in 2001. They represented one-quarter (24.9 per cent) of all visible minorities, or 4.0 per cent of the total population in Canada.
Chinese were second largest group with 24 percent of the visible minority, while Black with 18.4 percent came in the third place. Filipinos made 8.1 per cent, Latin Americans (6.0 per cent), Arabs (5.2per cent), Southeast Asians (4.7 per cent), West Asians (3.1per cent), Koreans (2.8 per cent) and Japanese (1.6 per cent) of the visible minority in Canada.
Yet stories of racism and discrimination abounds in Canada. Mere rise in numbers are not going to solve the problems. Many think, Indians are going to take away jobs to India through outsourcing, much like what happened in the US. In spite of the fact that so many South Asian have been elected to public offices and seats of power, widespread discrimination continues. Other minorities have it even harder!
Being a minority is not easy anywhere in the world, when you possess knowledge and skill that is much needed in the world. Majority communities also do not know how to handle this dilemma. To maintain the economic edge and progress ideologies that they have bought is not possible without social implications. Mere multiculturalism ideals cannot ensure integration without adequately engaging moral and spiritual issues.
Coconut Generation
