In Tuesday’s issue of the Journal, a full page advertisement for Queen’s Multicultural Festival appeared on the inside back cover—and we’re baffled by it. Not only is it impossible to understand the advertisement, which states, “I am unique because … I started a Tony Danza fan club in high school,” it also seems to be mocking itself. Perhaps the message is that culture is whatever makes one unique? If this is the case, the Queen’s Multicultural Festival (QMF) is trivializing the fact that there are serious cultural issues on this campus, and ignoring deeper issues of racism and prejudice. Or maybe it’s some crude joke, made to draw awareness to the “culture of whiteness” by mocking what it means to be different?
At best, the advertisement is inarticulate and clumsy; at worst, it’s insensitive and counterproductive.
The festival is being organized by the Queen’s Multicultural Festival Committee, a new education awareness committee under the AMS Social Issues Commission (SIC), and according to the SIC website, “The Festival will be a week-long celebration of the variety of groups represented at Queen’s. [It] will be an extremely inclusive event that will invite all different types of cultures to participate … religious, cultural, queer and beyond.” Unfortunately, the festival’s advertisement that was published and posted around campus will only further exclude those students at Queen’s who already feel like they are marginalized.
Although this is a small committee, their actions reflect on the entire University—especially since the lack of ethnic diversity at Queen’s is such a hot-button issue. Regardless of the committee’s intentions, this advertisement reflects poorly on all members of the University, and frankly, is pretty embarrassing.
This festival requires a more substantial exploration of cultures and problems at Queen’s in order to avoid stereotyping and trivializing the issues, or reducing them to items like food and clothing. It also must avoid putting a fixed definition on people’s cultures and in turn ignoring the challenges of ethnicity that cannot be categorized.
Celebrating multiculturalism at Queen’s is extremely important, and if done properly, can be an excellent way to introduce students to different groups on campus. Hopefully this festival will prove to be more sensitive than their advertisements have been, and will showcase cultures in a way that will do more than just reinforce existing stereotypes.
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