Assimilation means fully becoming like the people of the country in every public way. If you want to pray in some foreign language or wear foreign garb in your own home, whatever, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
You have a lot to learn about Canada. Every major city and most mid-sized cities have churches, mosques, and temples. It's considered NORMAL. I don't care what language people pray in, as long as they don't impose it on me or public school students or force it on the courts or in hospitals or other public buildings. That goes for *any* religion, in *any* language. The one exception I personally make is for Remembrance Day. It's a multi-faith, multi-lingual ceremony on Parliament Hill, and it was a pleasant surprise some years ago when the Catholic chaplain acknowledged non-believers. Up to that time we were ignored, as though we couldn't possibly have any reason to participate in this. Later on they added an indigenous component, in which the Act of Remembrance is not only in English and French, but also in one or another of the indigenous languages (ie. Inuktitut or Cree).
It's nice that the anthem was changed to get rid of the sexism. Now if they'd change the wording that suggests that only Christians are patriotic, I could finally sing it again with a clear conscience (that change was put in a mere 40 years ago).
Tell me what, in a multicultural country, constitutes "foreign" languages or garb. Sikhs wearing turbans is NORMAL. There are women living in this building who wear saris and various other garb from whatever country they came from. It's NORMAL. Hearing half a dozen different languages on the bus is NORMAL. I do admit that the manager and I were a bit nonplussed by my neighbor who came from North Africa, as he continued to wear his accustomed clothing well into winter, and our reason for being nonplussed was due to wondering at what point this man would realize that he was courting frostbite or even hypothermia by not wearing pants (trousers). I guess it finally did get cold enough for him, as eventually he did start wearing them.
Funny thing about "when in Rome, do as the Romans do"... Rome was a multicultural empire, with many languages and faiths (tolerated by some of the emperors, though of course we know of the ones who considered themselves to be divine and that anyone praying to other god/desses was committing treason). There were different dialects of Latin, and some of the aristocracy considered Greek to be a more cultured language than Latin. So when you're "doing as the Romans do" I guess it depends on which Romans you want to fit in with.
Yes, the Royal Family isn't perfect, but they're a lot less culturally liberal than an elected head of state would likely be. I mean, surely, you've heard of the many legendary remarks Prince Philip (RIP) made about other cultures. No elected head of state could do that and keep their job.
Yes, of course I've heard of the multiple bigoted remarks made by Prince Philip. His rank evidently didn't prevent him from expressing his bigotry and coming off as an uncivil jackass. I get that the Queen loved him. I just can't figure out why.
As for cultural appropriation, another ridiculous double standards. If they don't want us wearing their clothing, they should stop using our alphabet, our technology, our roads, our medicine, etc...
I confess I've had similar thoughts at times. It usually comes when a white person gets screamed at for their hairstyle by a black person whose hair is obviously dyed blond. It's like nobody else in the world ever wore braids.
Lately it's "my culture is not your Halloween costume." Okay, I get that it's incredibly disrespectful to wear an indigenous headdress for a costume. Those are part of religious and political ceremonial regalia and should not be worn as a costume. But it should go both ways. My ancestral culture isn't *their* Halloween costume, either.
Ditto for art. Indigenous artists are quick to point fingers at anyone copying their designs, and of course they have the legal right to call out anyone committing fraud or copyright infringement. But it needs to go both ways. Sorry, but Baby Yoda was NOT created by Inuk artists, and those who gleefully started using Baby Yoda designs in their items need to show proof of a license from the actual copyright holders of Baby Yoda, or cease and desist.
I mean, you will notice that the Royal Family has assimilated, not just culturally, but also genetically. The Queen Mother was the first ethnic Brit to marry into the Royal Family in centuries. Prince Philip had virtually no British ancestry (less than 1%), but Princess Diana was ~7/8 British, making the future King William V the first monarch in centuries to be mostly British by blood. The erstwhile Kate Middleton is also overwhelmingly British ancestrally, meaning the future King George VII is ~80% British.
They also don't speak German any more, keep German customs, or dress like Germans.
They're not saying which senior member of the Royal Family was "worried" about what the color of Meghan's then-unborn son's skin would be, but I'd bet it was Philip. It's exactly the sort of disgusting thing he would say.
You do realize that everyone in the UK had ancestors who originally came from somewhere else, right? Go back far enough and you reach East Africa (yes, I know your opinion about that, and reject it in favor of the available evidence).
About modern English... do you not realize just how much of this language was borrowed from other languages? There are words commonly used in Canada that I've had to explain to non-Canadians, because they're indigenous words that became part of our everyday language.
