Take It to the Group Chat, Ep. 2: What If We’re Not Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams After All?

According to a recent study, second-generation racialized people in Canada will number between 4.8 million and 6.3 million by 2041, more than double their population in 2016 (2.2 million). But, the study says, these people, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the ‘Canadian dream’ their parents sacrificed to achieve, aren’t doing as well as you’d think. They were born and raised in Canada, benefit from the local education system and are usually fluent in either English or French, meaning they ostensibly face fewer barriers than their parents—but they’re not seeing the financial success you’d expect.

So, in episode two of Take It to the Group Chat, policy analyst and political firebrand Chloe Brown and Rupa Banerjee, professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and co-author of the study, dig into why this is happening (read: racism), what it means for diasporic people, practically speaking, and the emotional impact of not being able to give your parents a return on the investment they sacrificed to make.

Is there anything more immigrant coded than the group chat? More than just a way to stay in touch with far-flung family and friends, group chats are a social space where things get complicated, nuanced and even a little heated. And season 3 of Friday Talks, Take It to the Group Chat, is bringing some of that energy to your computer screen. Hosted by Friday Things founder and editor Stacy Lee Kong, Take It to the Group Chat is a six-part video series that tackles different aspects of the immigrant experience through thoughtful conversations with a panel of experts.