British and Quebecois integrationist ideas
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British integrationist ideas are very similar to Quebec’s. Kundnani writes about how many British people believe in a “set of core values” that hold Britishness together. Immigrants, especially Muslims, allegedly separate themselves from British society. They do not want to assimilate and live by their values, leading to extremism. Therefore, because of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks, Muslims are the target of British society. Anti-immigrant racism that emerged in the 1990s is normalized. Racism seems to be a core value of Britishness, even if they claim that equality and freedom are. It is the responsibility of Muslims to integrate themselves, and integration is one-sided. Mixing is encouraged only in places with a majority of Muslim people.
All problems related to segregation, immigration, and terrorism are understood as a result of too much cultural diversity. In Quebec, this idea is very present in the political discourse as well. Bakali, in “Contextualising the Quebec Charter of Values,” writes about the idea of interculturalism. There is a notion of a moral contract between newcomers and Quebec society. Quebec’s white culture is seen as the modern at the forefront culture, which immigrants need to adopt. Quebec adopted interculturalism instead of multiculturalism as its stance towards racial diversity. It is linked with the notion of self-preservation, which is very present in Quebec’s society. The government adopted an assimilationist approach to preserve Quebec’s culture. We can see it through language and culture. It promotes the notion of ‘one culture:’ the French white Québécois. It is the norm, more valued than other cultures, and stays the same; it is constant and stagnant. One example of these ‘common values’ is Hérouxville’s immigrant code of conduct, adopted in 2007. It is made of 11 points clearly addressed to Muslim immigrants: 5: Boys and girls can swim in the same pool whether Muslims like it or not, 7: No walking around with your face hidden except on Halloween, 11: women are even allowed to make decisions on their own. The aim here seems to be preserving Quebec's white culture, just like white Britishness in the UK. And they seem to be convinced that they are saving Brown women from Brown men, which allows politicians not to address sexist issues in Quebec.