Be frank, but fair, addressing cultural issues
By Justin Jalea
Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership
CALGARY, AB, Nov. 5, 2010/ Troy Media/ – Recent incidents of so-called honour violence against women in Canada illustrate the difficulties some new Canadians have adapting to our values of individual liberty and gender equality.
Addressing problems such as this requires open and respectful discussion about our differences, especially as they widen in an increasingly diverse population. All of us have to be able to talk publicly about contentious issues related to cultural and religious diversity.
We are fortunate in Canada to have the institutional framework to make such open discussion possible. We cannot let this be eroded even in the name of promoting or protecting cultural diversity.
How can we work through our differences if we can’t talk about them?
Stifling potentially offensive speech is not an option. No one has the right to be shielded from reasonable criticism.
Such criticism should not aim to offend through hurtful name-calling or deliberate misrepresentation of another’s position. Moderate language avoids unnecessary provocation. Our discourse is ethical if our intention is to say what we think needs to be said, but not if it is to be harmful or malicious.
Tell it like it is
We can say what we think needs to be said in an ethical way by being open and truthful about the facts of the situation, even if those facts are uncomfortable.
Aruna Papp wrote about one such uncomfortable admission in her report, Culturally-driven violence against women: A growing problem in Canada’s immigrant communities.
“To suggest violence against girls and women arises from specific cultural values implies some cultures are better than others where treatment of women is concerned – an uncomfortable admission,” she said.
Many would say the South Asian community is worse overall on gender equality than certain other cultures, and we must not be afraid to acknowledge this fact. But, in doing so, we must resist the temptation to paint with broad strokes – not all South Asians support the oppression of women and the community as a whole is not responsible for the actions of a few.
Empathy and patience
Conversations about culture and religion can be highly personal and can elicit visceral emotions.
For example, much has been written about the death of Aqsa Parvez, a young Ontario woman who perished at the hands of her brother and father in what is now called an “honour” killing.
Some commentators responded with unjustified attacks on Islam, provoking equally heated retorts from Muslims defending their faith. One person wrote on a Facebook page dedicated to Aqsa, “How come no one blames Christianity or Judaism when something happens within those religions? This [Aqsa’s death] has nothing to do with religion . . .”
All Canadians must be able to discuss a case like Parvez’s respectfully without condemning Muslims.
We can help the dialogue by being encouraging and patient with those who make a concerted effort to adopt our shared civic values. At the same time, we must have no patience for those who insist on acting on values that run contrary to our established values and legal norms. We should respectfully spell out the limits to patience and accommodation of cultural differences.
Our shared values cannot be compromised for diversity’s sake.
Our success in dealing with diversity-related challenges will be measured by our commitment to open and respectful discourse. While citizens must avoid abusive and emotional outbursts, they should never shy away from leveling fair criticism for fear of causing offence.
