The very idea of their child dating someone that is does not have the same customs, religion, values, or mother tongue is unfathomable. The likelihood that their children will meet and fall in love with someone that is not from their community is very high, and for many parents the prospect is terrifying. In the cultural mosaic that is the great white north, the dating pool is larger and the cultures more diverse. No matter who they chose back home or within a similar community, there was a general sense of familiarity and a set of rules by which all of the parties played.
In the old country, there was not the same diversity of race, religion or culture. The most contentious issue of them all was dating. Sometimes it would be the spicy home cooked dishes in my thermos at school, other times it would be the rules surrounding the way my non- West Indian friends must act when they visit. These clashes manifested themselves in a variety of ways. Being the son of parents that immigrated to Canada from the West Indies, I have had my fair share of culture clashes with my parents. They have one foot in their parents’ chosen home and another in the customs that these same parents imported. Few understand the conflicts of raising children in a new country than the children of the immigrants themselves. One of the most challenging aspects of this transition is one that seems to never end: raising children. Such a transition is fraught with challenges: language barriers, a difference in customs, new laws, and the list continues. Making the brave decision to walk away from the safety and security of everything one has ever known to cross over into a strange place that in most respects is alien to one’s native land is life-altering. One of the most difficult and frightening experiences that anyone can undergo is that of a new immigrant.
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