Inequality after immigration. A personal experience

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Sociology - Politics, Majorities, Minorities, York University, course: social work, language: English, abstract: After immigration, I feel people could hardly remember my Chinese name; I had to have an English name "e;John"e; for people in Toronto to call me conveniently. I am a Chinese citizen, non-religious, and heterosexual male. I am disadvantaged by my age, just stepped to fifty. I have a Bachelor of Art degree majoring in English language and literature in China. Before I immigrated to Canada in 2007, I had a career in business in China. At my job and in my place in Chinese society, I benefited from privileges like never worrying about my race, being able to have a middle class standard of living and not having my competence questioned. Outside of work, my interests lied in learning languages: classical as well as modern Chinese and the English language. However, things became quite different when my family and I landed in Toronto in 2007 as skilled immigrants. We lost all of our previous positions, friends, and connections in China. People here regarded me, my wife, and my son as new immigrants from China.