Cultural Identity and Expression Among Ghanaian Immigrants in Toronto, 1967-2000
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Cultural Identity and Expression among Ghanaian Immigrants in Toronto, 1967-2000 by Desmond Oklikah Ofori A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Desmond Ofori Oklikah, May, 2021 ABSTRACT CULTURAL IDENTITY AND EXPRESSION AMONG GHANAIAN IMMIGRANTS IN TORONTO, 1967-2000 Desmond Oklikah Ofori Advisors: University of Guelph, 2021 Professor Femi J. Kolapo Professor Susan Nance This research investigates the identity and culture of Ghanaians in Toronto between 1960s and 2000—a visible minority group in Canada whose experiences are often categorized within other identities and whose history have engendered little investigations.1 The accounts of thirty-one Ghanaian immigrants who live(d) in Toronto between the 1960s and 2000 were examined to understand the influence of gender, age, race and culture on Ghanaian immigrants’ identity and cultural practices in Toronto. The project traced transnational relations among Ghanaians and Ghanaian associations in Toronto from the 1960s to 2000. The study also considers whether Canada’s multiculturalism has contributed to the autonomy of Ghanaian culture in Toronto. In interrogating the concepts of culture, identity, diaspora, multiculturalism and transnationalism, the study observed that Ghanaian immigrants in Toronto (1960s-2000) (re)negotiated and (re)defined their identity, cultural needs, individual and group relations and place in Ghana and Canada. 1 Margaret Peil, “Ghanaians Abroad,” African Affairs, Vol. 94, No. 376 (1995): 345-367, https://www.jstor.org/stable/723403.; Wisdom J. Tettey and Korbla P. Puplampu, “Continental Africans in Canada: Exploring a neglected Dimension of the African Canadian Experience,” in The African diaspora in Canada: Negotiating Identity and Belonging, eds. Wisdom J. Tettey & Korbla P. Puplampu (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2005), 5.; Kwadwo Konadu-Agyeman and Takyi K. Baffour, “An Overview of African Immigration to U.S. and Canada,” in The New African Diaspora in North America: Trends, Community Building, and Adaptation, eds. Kwadwo Konadu-Agyeman et al. (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006), 6. iii Figure 1. Toronto and its environs. Source: Google Maps, accessed: January 2021, https://tinyurl.com/555hutxx. iv DEDICATION I dedicated this work to Africans/Ghanaians (and their struggles) in global dispersion. I also dedicate the project to the Oklikah and Ametepey families and all who believed in me and never gave up on me. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the support of my supervisors, Professor Femi James Kolapo and Professor Susan Nance whose recommendations and critiques made this study a success. I also appreciate the support that came from the Department of History, University of Guelph. Finally, I would like to thank all research participants, the Ghanaian community in Toronto and friends for their contributions to the study. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract........................................................................................................................................... ii Map................................................................................................................................................ iii Dedication...................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................... v Table of Content............................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables................................................................................................................................ vii List of Figures.............................................................................................................................. viii List of Appendices……………………………………………………………...……………..… ix List of Nomenclature...................................................................................................................... x Chapter One Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1-21 Chapter Two Literature Review…................................................................................................................ 22-41 Chapter Three Characteristics of Ghanaian Immigrants in Canada................................................................ 42-56 Chapter Four Aspects of Culture/Identity Retention among Ghanaians in Toronto (1967-2000)................ 57-74 Chapter Five Ghanaians Cultural Identity in a Multicultural Canadian Context ……...………...…...…… 75-85 Chapter Six Conclusion and Recommendations………………………………………………...……..… 86-90 Bibliography.......................................................................................................................... 91-105 Appendices……………………........................................................................................... 106-111 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Distribution of Immigrant Arrivals to Canada and the US, by Region, 1960- 2000 …………………………………………………………………...……………..………..…. 8 Table 2. Ghanaian Immigrant Associations in Toronto……………..………………..……….… 71 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Toronto and its environs………………………………….………………………….… iii Figure 2. Place of Birth of Black Immigrants, Canada, 2016…….……….…………………….... 9 Figure 3. Blacks in Canada, 1961-2001………….……...………………….…………...………. 13 Figure 4. Census Tract Average Individual Income, 2015, Black Population Percentage, 2016, City of Toronto………………………………………………………………………...…………...… 14 Figure 5. Political Map of Ghana……………………………….…………………………...…... 44 Figure 6. Ghanaian Immigrant Location and Churches in Toronto…………….……………...… 50 Figure 7. Ghanaians in Toronto celebrating the Homowo Festival……………...………….…… 64 Figure 8. Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario dressed in Ghana style………...……….... 73 Figure 9. Foreign-born population in Canada, by selected regions of birth, 1951 to 2011.……... 77 Figure 10. Components and Linkages in Canadian Multiculturalism Policy……...………….…. 79 Figure 11. Cultural Identity among Ghanaians in Toronto…..……………………...……...……. 85 ix LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A. Recruitment Text for Social Media………………………………………….…… 106 Appendix B. Demographic Questions (E-Survey/Email Questions) …...…........………… 107-110 Appendix C. Research Ethics Board Certificate………………………….………..………….. 111 x LIST OF NOMENCLATURES GTA CMA Kente Twi Fante Asanti Ga-Adangbe Mole Dagbani Fufu Banku Waakye Dondo Shekere CHAPTER ONE 1.1 Introduction This study investigates the cultural experiences and identity (re)negotiations among Ghanaian immigrants and associations in Toronto between 1967-2000. The 1967 to 2000 timeline for the project was influenced by the literature on African diaspora which agreed that the 1950s/60s began the movement of a recent wave of non-European immigrants to North America (including to Canada), among whom were Ghanaians. 2 The project considered the year 2000 as the concluding year for the study because it ended and began a new century (21st Century). This study took inspiration from scholars' argument that the African diaspora is heterogeneous because of its diverse cultural and ethnic affinities and must be treated as such for a finer categorization of Africans in North America.3 It likewise focused on scholarly assertions that continental Africans have not been a serious focus of research in Canada unlike other immigrant groups such as Asians, Latinos, Caribbean immigrants, and Europeans.4 This study 2 Samuel A. Laryea and John E. Hyfron, “African Immigrants & the Labour Market: Exploring Career Opportunities, Earning Differentials, & Job Satisfactions,” in The African Diaspora in Canada: Negotiating Identity and Belonging, eds. Wisdom J. Tettey and Korbla P. Puplampu (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2005), 113.; Edward Opoku-Dopaah, “African Immigrants in Canada: Trends, Socio-demographic and Spatial Aspects,” in The New African Diaspora in North America: Trends, Community Building, and Adaptation, eds. by Konadu-Agyeman, K. et al. (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006), 69.; Takyi Baffour and Kwame Safo Boate, “Location and Settlement Patterns of African Immigrants in the U.S.: Demographic and Spatial Context,” in The New African Diaspora in North America: Trends, Community Building, and Adaptation, eds. Kwadwo Konadu-Agyeman et al. (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006), 50.; and Adam McKeown and Jose C. Moya, "Global Migration in the Long Twentieth Century." in Essays on Twentieth Century History, ed. Michael Adas (US: Temple University Press Philadelphia, 2010), 35. 3 Peil, “Ghanaians Abroad,” 345-367.; Joseph Mensah, Black Canadians: History, Experiences, Social Conditions (Halifax, NS: Fernwood Pub., 2002), 232; Laryea and Hyfron. “African Immigrants & the Labour Market: Exploring Career Opportunities, Earning Differentials, & Job Satisfactions,” 114.; Edward, “African Immigrants in Canada: Trends, Socio-demographic and Spatial Aspects,” 74.; Thomas Owusu, “Transnationalism among African Immigrants in North America: The Case of Ghanaians in Canada,” in The New African Diaspora in North America: Trends, Community Building, and Adaptation, eds. Kwadwo Konadu-Agyeman et al. (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,