This paper explores how second-generation Ethiopian and Eritrean youth in Toronto, Canada, are perceiving and forging their identity in a society increasingly influenced by forces of globalization and by how cultural diversity in the host society is defined, implemented, and maintained.

From the analysis of 20 in-depth interviews, two major categories of interrelated concepts emerged: (1) developing cultural capital and “ethnic” identities—with factor “ethnic” heritage maintenance and cultural values—and (2) becoming Habesha, a supra-national/ethnic term—with factors (a) recognition in private vs the public space and (b) experiences of racial exclusion.

Findings suggest that the conflation of ethnicity, race, and culture as labels created for administrative purposes (i.e., multiculturalism policy) indicates a minority status in relation to the dominant white, thus taking on a racial and inferior meaning despite being applied to Canadian-born individuals. This has significant implication for second-generation youth in how they understand, experience, and form responses to the proscribing nature of policy that methodizes the borders of a nation at geographic and socio-political levels. The significant implication for social work practitioners is the importance of organizing and grounding practice in a solid understanding of how ideological practices institutionalized in policies like multiculturalism organize personal experiences.