Wednesday 10 April 2013
SS St Louis
When the passengers on the SS. St. Louis were rejected by Cuba, they thought that they could come to Canada. The problem was, was that most of the passengers were Jewish. At this time, Canada's population was largely anti-Semitic so letting a boat full of Jewish people stay and live in Canada was not appealing to them. The government stayed silent. Canada, just like Cuba, rejected them as well. This reveals that Canada during this time was not as accepting to other cultures and religions as we are now. Jewish people were thought of as a minority and Canada didn't want them. The immigration policy was split into three categories, the last being where they put Jewish people. Why didn't Canada accept the fleeing Jewish people from persecution? Maybe they were trying to protect jobs from being taken during these times of hardship, who knows really, but maybe Canada was just racist, and could not see past the fact that even though they were likely going to be persecuted, they were Jewish.
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Do you think that Canada made a good step in making their independence by sending the boat away or did Canada take a step back and become a bad country at that time by saying no to the passengers? Oveall great points and summary of the st. louis
ReplyDeleteCarley, I never thought about Canada using the decision as a way to assert its independence. I think, though, Canada would have showed greater independence (as well as moral strength) if they had done the opposite of other nations and accepted the refugees.
DeleteSami, you have given a concise overview of the situation. I like the questions you posed. What answers can to suggest to respond to your questions?
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