Strangers Entertained: A History of Ethnic Groups in British Columbia ed. by John Norris (review)

94 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW memorywasfresher, and, sometimes, internal evidencesuggests, he wasworking h'omdocuments. Someof the descriptions in Chapter •2 of interviews with various persons(eg, Mr Diefenbaker)are probablybasedon memorandaof the conversations .Here thebookwill berather moreusefulto the future historian.Heeneywas deeplyhurt bythe receptiongiventhe Merchant-Heeney ('quietdiplomacy') report of •965, but he quotessolittle of that documentthat the casualreader will have difficultyunderstandingwhatalltheshootingwasabout. On personalities thebookisdisappointing; wegetglimpses ratherthanportraits. On the whole the outsiderscome off worsethan the Canadians; Eden and Evatt, for instance,get hard words.Heeneyjoins the lengtheningline of closeassociates of MackenzieKingwhomakeit evidentthathewasanunpleasant man,buthetellsus little wedidn't knowbefore.On L.B. Pearson thereisan extract[¾om a diarycontributed by the editor,not the author- refbrringto him as'a deeponewhose secretselfverytbw,if any,canknow.'This maysurprisesomepeople,but Heeney knewPearson well.LikeVincentMassey beforehim,Heeneynotedtheunwillingness of CanadianCabinetministers to speakout franklytoeminentforeigners. Iu mattersof detailtheeditingisexecrable. It maybetoomuchtoexpectaneditor to producehistorical accuracy; but surelysomebody couldhavecheckedthespelling ofpropernames. Also,somebody mighthavereadtheproofs.There wasatimewhen the Universityof Toronto Presshad a high reputationlbr itseditorialwork. If this bookisrepresentative, thatdayisgone. C.P. STACEY Uuiversity o['Torouto Strangers Entertained: A History qfEthnic Groups in Briti•'h Columbia. EditedbyJOHN NO•IS. Vancouver, Evergreen Press, •97•- PP.254,illus.$6.95. Stranger. sEutertaiued isa seemingly inappropriatetitlefor a provocative bookon the historyof forty-sixethnicgroupsin BritishColumbia.Historically,the Chinese, Japanese, and Doukhoborsin •c haveno collective memoryof being'entertained.' Certainly the anti-Oriental riots in Vancouver in •9o7 or the relocation of Japanese-Canadians duringWorldWarn canhardlyberegarded as'entertainment.' However,the title istakenfrom the biblicalinjunctionto welcome strangers, and suggests boththe prejudicewhichmanygroupsencounteredand thecontribution thesesamegroupshavemadeto •c society. Sponsored by the •c CentennialCommission, eachchapterwaswrittenby a memberof a different ethniccommuuityandeditedby Norris whoalsoaddedan analytical introduction. The bookthushastheadvantages of in-depthresearch into particulargroupstogetherwith an editorialunderstandingof Canadianand Europeanhistoryandthe sociology of interethnicrelations. Norris regards British Columbiaas neither a melting pot nor a mosaic.Some meltinghasoccurredin allgroups,althoughthenormof assimilation shiftedduring thetwentiethcenturyfroin aBritishto'North Ainerican'norm. Butfor Norrisethnic diversityhasnot been completelyeroded. The author seesethnicdiversityas a positive asset, whichpreserves a nationalidentityseparate from thatof the United States, andmaintain,'individualism' incontemporary urbanindustrialsociety. REVIEWS 95 The chapters on individualethnicgroupsare almostuniformlyexcellent. They combine basic informationwithsuggestive analysis andfirmlyplacethetopicwithin thecontextof provincialeconomic history.For example,theadventof refrigerated trucksledtothedeclineof Chinese marketgardeningwhichin turn ledtotheeclipse of Chinatowns in the interior of Bc.Unfortunately,the chaptersare not asfirmly relatedtoprovincial politicalhistoryandonlyscant attentionispaidtothepolitics of minority groups.Individual chaptersare sensitiveto ideologicalcleavages within ethnicgroupsandthereissomediscussion of class differentiation withinethnic groups;but,neglecting the challenge ofJohn Porter,Norrisoffersusnoextended discussion of therelationship between class andethnicityin BritishColumbia. Chapterscombineajudiciousbalanceof the broad historicoverviewwith short sketches of particularlyinteresting or importantindividuals.Norrisisableto avoid the 'who'swho'approach,whichhasplaguedethnichistorians, but hedoesprovide amplesource materialfor a suggestive account of entrepreneurshi15 in BritishColumbia .Norrisisalsosensitive tosocial changes withingroups- thereisnoviewhere of static minoritygroupsconfronting anequallystatic dominantsociety. Oneof the criticismsthat mustbe made of thesechaptersis that in a few pagesone cannot possibly dojusticetosuchcomplexgroupsastheDoukhobors or Mennonites. In anareawherelittleresearch hasbeendone,it isdifficulttoisolatenewinsights. Almosteverythingisnew.But Norris'discussion of thedisorientation encountered bytraditionalrural immigrants(notonlyin thecities, butwithinthecontextof rural pioneer BritishColumbia),the attitudeof immigrantstowardlabour unions,the effect of isolatedfrontier campson ethnic identity, the changingrole of ethnic organizations, the impactof Britishimmigrants on the labourmovement,and the involvementof Scandinavians in the prohititionmovementand in utopianfarming ventures, areparticularly interesting. Hisdiscussion oftheinterrelationship between economic competition, racism,and nationalism isequallypenetrating.The longstanding tension in BritishColumbia between theneedfornon-British labourers and thedesiretomaintaintheprovinceofBriti•hColumbiaisfullyexplored. Approachingeach group separatelyin the book has its disadvantages. The chronological perspective of bothBritishColumbia history andCanadian immigration historyis lost.We missdiscussion of interethnicrelations;Chinese-Japanese relations,and Russian-Doukhobor relationswould provide particularlyinteresting areasfor research.By approachingeach group separatelyNorris alsomakesit difficulttocompare groups,although heattempts toremedypartof thisproblemin the introduction. The introductionfocuses onthetensionbetweenthepreservation of ethnicityand integration.Norrisrelateswhatheregardsasa preservation-integration continuum to the causes of migration- socialbackground,language,and education,family patterns ofimmigrants, settlement patterns, theworksituation, immigrantorganizations ,and attitudestowardminorityethnicgroups.The discussion isinfusedby a soundgraspof how theseprocesses have changedthrough dift•rent wavesof migrationandwouldbeappropriate readingfor anyone providingservices tominorityethnicgroups .Norrisassumes, however,acontinuumwherebyethnicidentityis graduallyerodedandassimilation eventuallyoccurs. Whileheidentifiesthewaysin whichthisprocess differsfromgrouptogroup,hedoesnotseem toquestion thefact 96 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW that it is predominantly a one-waycontinuum.The rejectionof ethnicityby the second generationanda returnin thethird, assuggested byMarcusLeeHanson,is certainly nota universal phenomenon, butit doesoccurfrequently enoughto call into question the ideaof a continuum.The return to ethnicity,whichseems to be occurringamongsomegroupsin bothCanadaandthe United States, ismorethan just a generationalphenomenon.It hasspecifichistoricroots- a reactionto the aggressive reassertation byAmericanblacks andFrenchCanadians of their distinctivehess , andasearch forsecurity, identity,androotedhess inresponse tothecultural malaise of urbanindustrialsociety. Whateverthecauses...