The murder of six Asian women in Georgia spas by a white gunman last week has only highlighted what is an alarming increase in horrifying xenophobic violence towards Asian Americans across the United States.
We recognize and stand alongside our fellow Asian Canadian members as we collectively mourn the pain from recent events and vow to work against this hate in whatever way we can.
The first step is to recognize that white supremacy and anti-Asian hate are very much present here at home in Canada. The RepresentASIAN Project has put together a concise resource with facts and figures on anti-Asian hate in Canada, along with some great first steps on how to combat it.
Here is some of the text from that resource:
Anti-Asian racism isn’t just happening in the United States — it is very much alive in Canada, too.
In fact, Canada has a higher number of reported hate crimes per capita than the United States, with anti-Asian hate crimes in Vancouver rising by 717% in just one year.
While there is more reporting of anti-Asian racism lately, it isn’t something new or novel. Canada has a long history of xenophobia and “Yellow Peril” was manifested in various ways, from the Chinese Head Tax in 1885 to the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1923. In 2003, during the SARS epidemic, Asian communities in Canada faced racism at many levels; according to the Ontario government’s post-SARS commission, Chinese workers were getting terminated from their jobs and Chinese tenants were unlawfully kicked out by landlords.
Click here to learn more about Canada’s anti-Asian racism problem, along with actionable steps you can take to #StopAsianHate. Resources for reporting anti-Asian hate crimes, bystander intervention training and alternatives to calling the police are also included.
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Sources: Amy Chung via HuffPost Canada, Isabelle Docto via Chatelaine and Katherine Singh via Refinery29 Canada.
