Talking About Difference: Encounters in Culture, Language and Identity

James S. Frideres is associate dean (research) in the Faculty of Social
Sciences at the University of Calgary and the author of A World of
Communities: Participatory Research.

This volume—a mixture of essays, short stories, letters, articles, and
poems—is divided into six sections that the editors feel represent the
major topics in the current debate on ethnic relations. Section 1
attempts to answer the question “Who is a Canadian?” The following
sections examine what it is like growing up as an ethnic minority in
Canada; identity construction; the response of white middle-class
Canadians to the national policy of multiculturalism; stereotyping and
its impact on minority Canadians; and strategies used by minority
Canadians to deal with racism and discrimination in the workplace, in
education, and in the community.

Unfortunately, the editors do not attempt any analysis or assessment of
the material presented. In addition, their emphasis on Toronto and
environs gives a distorted view of ethnic relations in Canada.