Abstract
In the Anglican Communion, the legacy of colonialism touches the lives of worshippers in sometimes surprising ways in a multicultural setting. Like all Christians, they are called to hospitality. Yet, this is not an easy matter, for welcoming the other who happens to be also Anglican in Canada requires understanding issues of multiculturalism and “white privilege.” In this chapter I examine contradictions within Canadian Anglicanism in relation to issues of race and cultural difference. My starting point will be to view these contradictions through the lens of two congregants of an Anglican parish in Toronto. The discussion then places these specific experiences into the wider context of the church in multicultural Canada. It will be argued that the Canadian state has framed multiculturalism in ways that often exclude visible minorities and at the same time privileges an invisible white majority. Similar processes occur in the Anglican Church of Canada. In order to rectify this problem in the church and the society it is proposed that the church moves from understanding itself as a multicultural church, and actively work toward being a justice-based, multicultural church.
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Notes
Barbara Myrvold, The People of Scarborough: A History (Scarborough, ON: City of Toronto Public Library Board, 1997), p. 43.
Hyuk Cho, “‘We Are Not Alone’: Historical Journey of the United Church of Canada’s Response to Become an Intercultural Church,” International Review of Mission 100, 1 (April 2011): 48–61.
Carl James, Seeing Ourselves Seeing Ourselves: Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Culture, 4th ed. (Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing 2010), p. 131.
Karen Lynn, “White Privilege: What’s in It for Me?,” in Carl James and Adrienne Shaad, Talking about Difference: Language and Identity (Toronto, ON: Between the Lines, 1994), p. 154.
Peggy Mclntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Independent School 49, 2 (Winter 1990): 31.
Traci West, Disruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women’s Lives Matter (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2006), p. 117.
Mercy Oduyoye, Introducing African Women’s Theology (London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2001), p. 73.
Marion Kirkwood, “The Privilege of Being White,” in Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng (ed.), That All May Be One: A Resource for Educating Towards Racial Justice (Toronto, ON: United Church of Canada, 2004), p. 4.
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© 2014 R. Drew Smith, William Ackah, and Anthony G. Reddie
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Hinds, S. (2014). Churches, Multiculturalism, and Justice in Canada: An Anglican Perspective. In: Smith, R.D., Ackah, W., Reddie, A.G. (eds) Churches, Blackness, and Contested Multiculturalism. Black Religion / Womanist Thought / Social Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137386380_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137386380_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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