Months after the City of Toronto launched a campaign against anti-Asian racism, locals are still looking for ways to combat the ongoing issue
As the Chinese Lunar New Year approaches, Torontonians are using online resources to address the surging racism, especially Anti-Asian sentiments, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
This comes just a few months after the City of Toronto launched a social media campaign in Oct. 2020 in response to rising anti-East Asian racism in the city amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a 2020 report by the Chinese Canadian National Council, there have been numerous instances of anti-Asian racism. Of over 600 reported anti-East Asian racism incidents in Canada, 26 per cent of them occurred in Toronto.
Not only are instances of racism soaring, but the pandemic has also disproportionately affected racial minorities. A report released by Toronto Public Health in July 2020 found that 60 per cent of minorities make up four out of the top five neighbourhoods with the highest COVID-19 cases.
On Jan. 31, an organization called the Toronto East Anti-hate Mobilization hosted an online workshop, called “COVID, Racism, & the Far Right,” to explore ongoing racist behaviour. This included panellists such as Elder Catherine Brooks (Peduhbun Migizi Kwe), Nigel Barriffe from the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, Beaches-East York MPP Rima Berns-McGown, and Kingsley Kwok from the Chinese Workers Alliance.
“Asian-Canadians and Chinese-Canadians have reminded us all that there is a shadow pandemic alongside the COVID pandemic and that shadow is racism. We have to understand that behaviours and words have consequences that are harmful and we have to speak up,” said Kingsley Kwok during the panel.
Anti-Asian racism is also soaring in the Canadian political climate. Just a few weeks ago, MP Derek Sloan was removed from the Conservative caucus after party leader Erin O’Toole issued a public statement calling out his “destructive behaviour”. This includes recently accepting a donation from a white nationalist and an April 2020 attack on Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam who was born in Hong Kong.
Nigel Barriffe, a TCDSB elementary school teacher and President of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations said that racism is also occurring in the classroom. “As a school teacher, I see how systemic racism can detrimentally affect children and their families,” said Barriffe in a phone interview. “The response from the health system and response from the government hasn’t and continues to not address those issues so, systemically, we see how race, specifically during this pandemic, makes these conversations so important.”
On Feb. 9, the Toronto District School Board and Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario released a resourced guide called “Addressing Anti-Asian Racism: A Resource for Educators” to help approach the topic with students.
Thanika Poobalasingam, a York University teacher’s college student, detailed in an email a recent racist encounter she had in a Costco where a man said that Canada deserves this “third-world virus because it keeps importing third-world immigrants”. Poobalasingam said that she wants to see classrooms bring more awareness to racism. “Educators need to set an example by being role models and helping students unlearn racism so that oppressive structures aren’t perpetuated,” she wrote.
Barriffe said that with racist incidents “exploding”, he wants to see social media companies held responsible for their facilitation of online violence and an increase in police investigations. “Quite simply, we need the government just to enforce the hate laws that are already in the books. The police have been very reluctant to even lay charges in most situations,” he said.
“This is a problem of our lifetime,” MPP Rima Berns-McGown said during the panel. “No one should sit this out.”