"Goron Ki Jannat" (White People's Heaven)": How Whiteness Informs Perceptions of 'Canadianness' For Pakistani-Newcomers


Hammad Khan, University of Toronto

Drawing from 52 topical life-history interviews with Pakistani-newcomers (< 5 years) to suburban Greater Toronto Area, I show how internalized narratives of whiteness as authentically Canadian (re)produce a model of inherently white ‘Canadianness’ that remains out of reach for Pakistani-newcomers to Canada. Through direct accounts of lived experiences, I find that perceptions Canadianness (i.e. national identity and belonging) for Pakistani-newcomers are limited, and informed by a logic of ‘whiteness as authentic’ in Canada. Consequently, national belonging and becoming Canadian are contingent on coming to terms with this limitation. The rhetoric of Canada as an authentically white space also extends transnationally to ambiguously defined notions of the ‘West’. The implication of these perceptions is that Pakistani-newcomers, and racialized newcomers from post-colonial settings more broadly, exist as perpetual outsiders in Canada. Perceived limitations to authentic ‘Canadianness’ as white reify racializing mechanisms of inequity, and function as a latent form of discipline. I conclude by discussing the implications of this discipline in the context of ‘Canadianness’, and citizenship more broadly.

This paper will be presented at the following session: