18-09-2012, 01:34 PM
White America
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Racially and culturally, America has no closer kin than Canada. In fact, nearly a quarter of English-speaking Canadians trace their roots to British loyalists who left the United States following the War of Independence. These steady supporters of the Empire have built a nation whose history of peace and prosperity makes it the envy of the world. Today, however, Canada is in peril: the Canadian government is undermining the foundation of Canada’s tranquility by importing millions of Third World people. Because the two nations have such close links, Canada’s immigration problem is very much America’s business; any conflict there can easily spill over the border. The most severe cultural dislocations caused by immigration are occurring in Vancouver, a short cultural and geographical distance from Seattle, Washington.
Vancouver, British Columbia is one of Canada’s finest jewels. The sparkling city is set alongside the Pacific Ocean and the Fraser River, and residents can enjoy spectacular views of the Coast Mountains. While the climate in Vancouver is rainy, the moderating influence of the sea protects the city from the bitter cold typical of the rest of country. Year after year Vancouver ranks high on various lists of the world’s most livable cities. However, Vancouver also has a darker side. It is home to a substantial community of Sikhs, the city’s most troublesome minority. Not only are Sikhs responsible for a very disproportionate share of crime, but they are culturally incompatible with white Canadians and flex their political muscle in ways that harm white interests. Canada’s Sikhs also have a history of vicious terrorism.
The Sikhs are a religious sect originating in India that follows the teachings of the “Ten Gurus.” According to Sikh theology, the first guru, Nanak Dev, repudiated Hindu polytheism and called for his followers to worship one god. The Sikhs also abolished the Hindu caste system in favor of social equality, although some social stratification remains. Baptized Sikh men, called “Khalsa,” are required to leave their hair uncut and always wear a turban, a wooden comb, cotton undergarments, and a dagger, called a kirpan. The Sikhs originated India’s Punjab region, which has found itself in the middle of invasions and wars for thousands of years; consequently, the Ten Gurus guided their followers towards martial virtues. The name “Singh,” common among Sikhs, means “lion,” and baptized Sikhs have a duty to be soldiers for their faith, continuously prepare for a fight, and participate in armed conflict when called upon. When the British ruled India, the Sikhs were the backbone of the Raj Army.
In theory, anyone can become a Sikh, but the faith is essentially racially based. Sikhs are overwhelmingly Punjabi South Asians so the term Sikh can refer to a practicing but unbaptized adherent, a baptized, turban-wearing Khalsa, or a non-practicing ethnic Punjabi with a Sikh extended family. In Canada, Sikhs are often somewhat inexactly called Indo-Canadians, “Desis,” Punjabis, South Asians, or Indians.
The Empire’s Color Question
Since Canada was a part of the British Empire, and imperial policy theoretically allowed for a free movement of all people throughout the Empire, Canada and the other white dominions started to receive an influx of Indians at the turn of the 20th century. Indian migrants to Canada, who began arriving in 1907, were predominantly Sikhs,.
Indian immigration caused immediate and explosive racial conflicts in Canada, as well as many other parts of the empire. The worst conflict was in southern Africa’s Natal colony. Under the leadership of Gandhi, Natal’s Indian laborers participated in strikes and civil disobedience campaigns. There was even a 1913 “invasion” of the Transvaal by 4,000 striking Indians. As a result of this unrest, the white dominions in the British Empire enacted variants of the “Natal Formula,” or superficially non-discriminatory laws that were used specifically to keep out Indians and other non-whites. Australians required all potential immigrants to be fluent in a European language. Since the precise language was unspecified, immigration officers could give South Asians a test in Lithuanian or Finnish! Canadians kept out Indians by requiring all immigrants to take a direct journey from their country of origin. Since there were no direct routes from India and Canada, Indians could not immigrate. When Indian activists chartered a Sikh-filled ship, the Komagata Maru, to make a direct run in 1914, the Royal Canadian Navy towed the ship back out to sea after it had docked in Vancouver.
Sikh Crime
Overall, Canada has been good to Sikh immigrants. Although they are not particularly prosperous relative to the rest of Canadians, they are not impoverished. Many Sikhs are employed as taxi-drivers and truckers. While most Sikhs just eke out a respectable living, some have achieved great prosperity. There is now a class of Sikh professionals who serve the needs of the community. The second largest lumber company in British Columbia, Doman Industries, is Sikh owned.3
Despite a respectable place on the social ladder, many young Sikh men turn to crime. Between 1991 and 2004, 76 young men in the Vancouver area have been killed in gang-related violence, and authorities think most of the crimes were committed by well-to-do young people of Indian descent. Upper class whites in British Colombia are, of course, barely on the radar when it comes to crime, but Sikhs do not follow the same trend. Sikh culture is steeped in confrontational, warrior values, and those values are imbibed by young men with their mother’s milk. “Eventually,” says Indo-Canadian Reporter Renu Bakshi, “a young boy will become a young man and step into a community that thrives on bravado—a world where everything is a grudge match, a fight to the finish.”
This warrior spirit has made Greater Vancouver first among Canada’s cities in gun violence. In 2008 Metro Vancouver’s gun crime rate was 45.3 per 100,000. By comparison, Toronto has a gun crime rate of 40.4 per 100,000, and the national average is 27.5. Crime is particularly bad in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver that is home to 76,000 Sikhs, 19 percent of the population. In fact, in 2006, Surrey had the highest overall crime rate of any Canadian city. (In 2008, Saskatoon beat out Surrey, possibly due to a spike in crime by American Indians.) The Canadian government goes to great length to not report crime rates by race, but ordinary Vancouverites know the score. Nearly two-thirds believe some ethnic groups are more responsible for crime than others, and Indo-Canadians and Asians are at the top of the list.