Voices of the Multi-Hyphenate: Between Ancestral Legacy and Canadian Promises
Yesterday, I told my father, who is a refugee and survived state-sanctioned violence/pogrom in Sri Lanka in the 80s, that I've been receiving threats and hate for standing unapologetically in my values.
My father snapped to anger. Not at the people who were being hateful, but at me for centring other people’s human rights above my personal safety and well-being, “What if something happens to you,” he scolded.
In all my years of life, I've never so clearly heard the refugee in my dad come out. I know it isn’t that he doesn’t care, but it’s his experiences that inform him. He, and so many of our racialized parents, knows all too well what happens when a country turns on its own people.
I'm sharing this because it made me think about how so many racialized folks come to Canada, understanding that it's not their country, and they work so hard to ensure they ‘fit in.’ They are accommodating, changing their names, adapting to whiteness/European norms, and hiding or minimizing their “otherness” — they are grateful for a country that isn’t overtly trying to oppress them.
But then, these migrants have children who are born in the West.
We, the racialized children of migrants, are born with the blood of our ancestors in our veins and a Canadian birth certificate to our name.
Our existence is dual from the moment we are born. We have several hundred years of resilience and survival in our bones; our ancestors were warriors, healers, strategists, innovators, collectivists, scholars, and survivors. Our parents raised us to work hard; they instilled in us the need for financial security - not out of greed, but out of safety— after all, they know that fleeing a country requires some type of financial capital.
We spend our formative years with our parents whispering, “It’s fine, don’t cause any trouble” or “Don’t make a fuss” — which could have worked to ‘keep us in line’ and out of trouble if we didn’t grow up alongside white and other diverse peers. We sat and listened to the same lessons, and we were sold the same promise of a country where we are just as deserving of our rights and freedoms as our white peers — and that gave us the audacity to feel like this land was our home, too.
Ottawa Occupation ➡️ “Freedom of speech” | Anti-Trans Movement ➡️ “Freedom of speech” | Anti-Reproductive Rights ➡️ “Freedom of speech”
Free Palestine from 75 Years of Apartheid ➡️ “You’re a Terrorist”
And usually, this is all fine and lovely, especially when we consciously or unconsciously codeswitch for them — whiteness (not any one individual, but an intersectional system of oppression with unspoken cultural norms).
And the very white people and whiteness that will pride themselves in being inclusive, have diversity and equity specialists on their LinkedIn pages and will work really hard at correcting anyone for saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays are often the same ones to jump down your throat and condemn you for having an opinion they did not agree with.
That is what this week has shown me, and it has broken my heart. It’s become so abundantly clear to me that it’s okay when POC default to ‘whitenesses’ opinions and play by their unofficial and unspoken rules so they can maintain their carefully curated mirage of ‘normal.’
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But when we, the children of migrants, choose to do the work to heal and integrate the West with our ancestral roots, teaching ourselves how to show up fully in our values — just like all of them routinely do with little to no consequence — and then, we dare to go against what our parents whispered to us (“don’t cause trouble”) and have the audacity to publically disagree with their views, well, then it doesn’t matter that we were born here, or that we are citizens just like them.
It doesn’t matter that we have the exact same claim to this land as anyone else who isn’t Indigenous, and it doesn’t matter that we should, legally, be afforded the same charter rights as any of them —because, in their state of heightened emotions, their default setting kicks in, bringing to full force their ignorance and ancestral & present-day ineptitude for justice, suddenly it’s like their minds fade from colour to black and white and all they see is “other.”
From the 1995 Disney movie Pocahontas, they told us exactly what colonizers thought when they came to our land. — (and they still have the audacity to tell us that they aren't racist while — in the same breath — simultaneously telling us that we’re terrorists.)
Some of you will read this and deny it, but for those of you willing to sit with it - thank you. If you don’t want this to be true about you or our country, what are you doing about it? How are you - as either a white person (or a racialized person) with relative power and privilege - doing to use that unearned privilege for good?
After all, with great power comes great responsibility - not just for fictional superheroes, but for everyday people as well.
I ask you all to consider first that perhaps you aren’t an expert on the theory and complexity of intersectional systems of oppression – and that’s completely okay, provided that you trust that there are people, perhaps even people with different coloured skin than yours, who are more equipped to speak to this than you are and that you choose to listen with curiosity, compassion, common sense and critical thinking (instead of anger and defensiveness).
Ask yourself why it was that when the ‘freedom’ convoy terrorized Ottawa and its citizens for weeks or when it was a cross-country anti-trans march under the guise of “parental rights,” it was ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘right to an opinion’ —but when Palestinians take to the street to protest apartheid and fight for their people to be free, to celebrate the bulldozing of part of the Gaza prison wall, why then is it suddenly, “too soon” or “they’re all supporting terrorism”?
Why is it that when it’s a person of colour disagreeing with you, you routinely fail to see our nuance, our diversity and our humanity and fail to give us the benefit of the doubt?
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The concept of human rights stand unwaveringly on the principle that every individual—regardless of their identity, beliefs, or actions—is endowed with certain inalienable rights simply because they are human.
This universality means that even if someone's beliefs or actions are in stark contrast to our own, or even if we harbor negative feelings toward them, their fundamental rights remain intact and must be respected.
Upholding the rights of all individuals, even those we might vehemently disagree with or dislike, is not just a moral obligation but a testament to a genuine commitment to universal human rights.
It affirms that justice, dignity, and fairness aren’t exclusive or conditional but are steadfast principles that we uphold consistently, even when it is challenging. In this way, we protect and reinforce the collective moral and ethical fabric of our society, ensuring that rights and dignity are preserved for all.
What’s wild is our position isn’t actually controversial - it’s aligned with our world's most prolific human rights advocates, leaders, and scholars- Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and so many more.
And yet, despite our and other people’s justice and human rights-centered stance, our DMs are filled with screenshots of people being fired, reprimanded, and punished for speaking up about how both Palestinian and Israeli lives matter.
(OCP as an organization have faced significant consequences for our decision to show up in our values, too, and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t scared; read more here.)
But each and every one of us children of colour knew it was a risk; despite generations of survival through systemic oppression, instincts in our bodies, and our parents’ whisper to not make a fuss in our ears, so many of us are still choosing to speak up.
Not because it’s easy, not because we thought it would be popular, but because we believe, fundamentally, in the actual definition of human rights - and because we grew up next to you in class and paid attention when they said all of our human rights must be upheld.
What became clear to me this week is that, sure, my family should be grateful to be in Canada, but Canada and white people in it should be grateful to have my family (and those like us), too. Because in this moment, it isn’t actually people with official power (politicians, media, massive organizational leaders) that are speaking up for the values this country claims to believe in; it’s people like us.
It is because we are born with both the blood of our ancestors and a Canadian birth certificate to our name, raised with our values of collectivism (and practicing what yoga actually stands for), that we are able to selflessly do the work at this moment.
And we will continue to do so; after all, your ancestors didn’t thank us for our labour and sacrifice when they pillaged and stole our ancestral lands, lives and resources — so don’t worry, we aren’t holding our breath on it now.
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In pursuit of our collective liberation, and with profound love to all the amma’s, appa’s, and generation of migrants for somehow raising us with the values of our ancestors in a land that was never designed for us.
#FreePalestine
Author’s Notes/Disclaimers
When I discuss whiteness/them/etc., I’m not referencing any one person - I am privileged to know so many white folks who fight the fight for justice alongside me and other systemically oppressed communities. What I’m typically referring to when I write are systems, patterns and behaviours. Making this about you as an individual is your own fragility, and in the iconic words of Kourtney Kardashian, “There are people that are dying”, so can you just not?
You don’t have to be white to uphold white supremacy. Do you know how Women can uphold the patriarchy while being oppressed by the patriarchy? It’s because those of us systemically oppressed by white supremacy, like Jewish and BIPOC folks, can also uphold that system.
Not all Palestinians support Hamas; some Palestinians do support the Hamas. Not all Jewish/Israeli people support Israel’s systemic oppression of Palestinians, but some do, too.
In many Western countries (now and historically), Jewish individuals face discrimination as a religious minority. However, in the Israel-Palestine context, Jewish Israelis, supported by state structures, live with way more security and rights compared to Palestinians who face systemic oppression and live in a chronic humanitarian crisis. It's vital to grasp these power dynamics within their specific contexts.
Our lived and ancestral experience is valid, but experiencing racism is not the same as understanding a system of oppression.
Disinformation is knowing something is not true but either directly or indirectly presenting it as a fact. Misinformation is when you genuinely believe something that is wrong to be true and spread it.
Systems of oppression, whether capitalism, colonialism, or patriarchy, are interconnected. Power and privilege are relative. All systems of oppression utilize similar tactics to control, dominate, and maintain the power of a privileged few.
