Race and Electoral Politics

[Orange Seeds]

I came across an interesting realization as i reached down to pick up my mail this morning.

We are currently in the run up to an election in my province and, typically, every media outlet is saturated with advertisements, messages and endorsements. The party that i support, which i will not name, is running an Asian-Canadian candidate in my riding and has for the last two elections as he has won both. However i am somewhat disconcerted that in this mornings flyer, English was not on the first page but relegated to the backside,as in, you had to unfold the flyer to get to the English. It also does not appear that the two sides have the same message printed, the pictures are different and the lengths do not seem symmetrical, nor do certain anglicized acronyms match the English print.

So my question is: is this appropriate? I'm going to hazard European posters from responding to this thread as the situation in Europe compared to the America's and Australia are very different. I would like to point out there there was never Italian printed in electoral flyers when Italian immigration was enormous in my region, nor Russian, Polish or German during their respective waves of immigration though the last century.

Is my concern an overreaction? I would like to point out that i am a staunch supporter or multiculturalism in my country and am not concerned about commercial signs or community newspapers. I seem to recall similar things happening in certain areas of California and Texas in respect to the Mexican population and the Cubans in Florida.

Is my concern unjustified? how would you react?

 

[oagersnap]

What language is on the first page?

 

[GoodGame]

Is my concern unjustified? how would you react?

Get an accurate translation made before you jump to conclusions.

 

[Orange Seeds]

What language is on the first page?

Is that relevant?

Get an accurate translation made before you jump to conclusions.

I didn't 'jump' to a conclusion. I tentatively inferred that the two pages appear to have different messages based on two indicators.



The argument revolves around several questions:
Firstly, is it fair to publish a message by a mainstream political party in an unofficial language when publicly distributed. My assumption is that it is.

Secondly, should people that cannot speak an official language be engaged in electoral politics?

Finally there is a question about multiculturalism: should language disparitiess remain intact and encouraged as part of that desired cultural flourishing, or should they be discouraged as they are exclusive?

We could also question as to how political messages in different languages leave groups open for manipulation. I know the situation already occurs where a politician or party sends a different message during a rally with a different audience, but is it dangerous if this extends into different messages to different cultural groups? To what extent has this occurred already?

 

[Cutlass]

On the surface it sounds more like an honest screwup than a racial thing. What percentage of the population of the district speaks that language?

 

[Orange Seeds]

On the surface it sounds more like an honest screwup than a racial thing. What percentage of the population of the district speaks that language?

A large portion, about 25-30%.

 

[Cutlass]

I'd try GG's suggestion and get a translation. But my gut says it's more clumsy politics than racist politics.

 

[BrendanM]

French? Some other language?

For laughs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6p_6wvByFg

 

[emzie]

The argument revolves around several questions:
Firstly, is it fair to publish a message by a mainstream political party in an unofficial language when publicly distributed. My assumption is that it is.

Fair? How would that be unfair?

Secondly, should people that cannot speak an official language be engaged in electoral politics?

I wasn't aware that the government only applied to English and French speakers. If I unlearn English, do I stop paying taxes?

Basic understanding of English or French is required to gain citizenship (unless you're born here) so I'm not sure how many people voting cannot understand the official language(s) at some level.

Finally there is a question about multiculturalism: should language disparitiess remain intact and encouraged as part of that desired cultural flourishing, or should they be discouraged as they are exclusive?

I think as an official policy, immigrants should be encouraged to learn the native language(s) and acquired citizenship should require it.

We could also question as to how political messages in different languages leave groups open for manipulation. I know the situation already occurs where a politician or party sends a different message during a rally with a different audience, but is it dangerous if this extends into different messages to different cultural groups? To what extent has this occurred already?

It happens, but it's not as if the people a candidate is running against aren't listening and waiting to pounce at blatant pandering.

 

[Kerozine]

I'd be very slightly annoyed because of its disrespectfulness towards non-speakers of the language (is it Chinese?). It is inconsequential to voting intent, though.

 

[Kraznaya]

It's not as if the language can only be understood by the race, or is coded. We say different things to different people too, so I don't see why politicians can't.

 

[Arwon]

Politics involves reaching the people who vote. Engaging with people politically: a bad thing?

Our Prime Minister speaks Mandarin and I'm damn sure he campaigned to Chinese groups in their own language. So what?

 

[REDY]

I see there problem. IMHO its alright if there are also other languages versions, but primary should be official ones.

 

[JollyRoger]

I don't see the problem. If you don't like the flyer, don't vote for the candidate. Perhaps you should learn the language on the front of the flyer so you can assimilate better with your more politically important neighbors.

 

[warpus]

I don't see a problem - a political party can print whatever the hell they want.

It's a bit stupid though - I can see them alienating a lot of voters who speak English as a first language.

Then again, maybe not? Are you still going to vote for this guy, because of his party affiliation? Maybe the PR people decided that the English vote was secure, but the Chinese vote still needed some nudging?

I wouldn't be surprised, also, if they made 2 (or more) versions of the flyer, one primarily English, the other primarily Mandarin... and that you happened to come across one of them, but not the other.