Andreescu isn’t an ‘immigrant’ success

Bianca Andreescu’s recent victory at the U.S. Open was truly historical. She beat Serena Williams. She is only 19. This is Canada’s first Grand Slam singles win. This is Bianca’s first Grand Slam win. She is a young woman

(it matters). She beat Serena Williams.

But while Canada rejoices at having made a global mark in tennis — the most recent celebration having taken place in her hometown of Mississauga on the weekend — certain quarters in the media and elsewhere seem to be trying to capitalize on Bianca’s status as an “immigrant success story” rather than as a superior sportswoman who was determined to win.

The Canadian Press has openly pointed to her immigrant roots as a source for her determination, hailing her parents’ choice to move to Canada. The Globe and Mail ran a headline (among many) stating “Bianca Andreescu’s cool, hard-working demeanour comes from the example set by her Romanian parents.” Even the New York Times has gone as far as calling her “a fair bit of an immigrant story as well, with her family being from Romania.”

The clincher came in a National Post analysis claiming her as “the ideal of the immigrant success story, one repeated the world over: The parents leave in search of a better life, and they find it in a new country. In this case, they have a child, and she has opportunities to grow and nurture her talent in a way she otherwise might not have had.”

While a lot of this may be true in essence, as a statement it is rather condescending, particularly from the receiver’s perspective. By origin, Bianca hails from Romania but was born in Canada where her parents moved well before her birth. She moved back to Romania as a child for a few years with them, but her life has been firmly ensconced in Canada, as she herself notes.

In a time when immigration has captured the world’s attention and an election looms in Canada, framing this remarkable win as one of immigrant origins makes sense for those who choose to use the topic as a campaign header.

But as an immigrant myself, who moved to Canada at a much later stage in life, I don’t see Bianca’s story as one of immigration. It is simply one of a young woman who had a skill and passion her parents saw, honed it, and eventually, owned it.

Using immigration as a narrative when it suits us, will not help the cause of immigration. In fact, it plays dangerously into stereotypes that pit us against non-immigrants. Stereotypes made famous by the Asian tiger moms whose drive for success feeds into their children’s educational attainments anywhere in the world. Stereotypes that have framed Syrian refugees who have found their calling in Canada’s restaurants, as bornagain chefs and entrepreneurs, but thanks to Canada. Stereotypes that perpetuate the myth that immigrants are more determined because it’s somehow in our blood.

If true credit must be given, and to a large extent it has been, it must be to Tennis Canada, Bianca’s coach, her parents and most of all, to Bianca herself. She won because she was strong, determined, skilled and had the support she needed — not because Canada gave her a chance that Romania perhaps could not have.

The National Post makes sure to cover its bases from those it claims will be “too smug ” about Bianca’s positive response about growing up in Canada, as she cannot speak for everyone who has tried to make a new life in a new country. In my own “smugness,” I can relate to that assessment.

But I can also relate to the fact that immigrants and refugees are not selling points or business cases for Canadian immigration or for Canada as a whole. That our “success stories” should not be highlighted as Canadian successes, while our failures are hidden away, lest we embarrass our new home.

Bianca’s victory should not be seen as a victory for Canadian immigration, but as a victory for Canada. And her. End of subject.