Anti-Chinese Racism in Canada Under the Shadow of COVID-19 By Lanlin Bu B.Sc., Southeast University, China, 1993 M.Sc., Southeast University, China, 1999 A Master’s Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT in the School of Public Administration ©Lanlin Bu, 2021 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. Defense Committee Client: Harmony Foundation of Canada Supervisor: Dr. Kimberly Speers School of Public Administration, University of Victoria Second Reader: Dr. Jill Chouinard School of Public Administration, University of Victoria Chair: Dr. Bart Cunningham School of Public Administration, University of Victoria [1] Acknowledgements Almost every year during spring break until 2020, I took my son back to China. It was the opportunity for him to experience Chinese culture – the food, the landscape, the people and their dialects, even the smells in the air. It was also a reunion with my parents, time for me to take care of them so that my sister could have a break. When China started to lock down the city of Wuhan in January 2020, I worried about my family and friends in China, but I thought it would pass in a few months, like SARS some years ago. Unfortunately, I still cannot enter China with my Canadian passport. I immigrated to Canada almost 14 years ago and became a Canadian citizen in 2015. It has been a good decision, and I have successfully built my new life. But at times it feels that I am not fully accepted as either Chinese or Canadian. In Canada, I am Chinese; in China, I am Canadian, or at best, “foreign” Chinese. The struggle for identity became stronger in 2020 when the Chinese diasporas were scapegoated for causing and spreading COVID-19. When I saw reports on racial harassment of Chinese people around the world and in Canada, this research came to my mind instinctively. The year 2020 has many reasons to be remembered. COVID-19 was only one of them. This research counts as a major one for me. I believe this project is truly meaningful to me, to my family afar, and to the Chinese community and the broader society in Canada. There were many challenges during the process. Sometimes it was academic or technical, but more often emotional, because I was both an observer and a participant in this project. I truly appreciate the support from my family, my friends and my instructor, Dr. Kimberly Speers. Especially, I am grateful to Michael Bloomfield, my colleague and my client, for his continuous encouragement and support; to Dr. Kimberly Speers, for her great guidance in developing and completing this project, and her cheerful reassurance; to my son, David, for sharing his thoughts on his identity as a Chinese Canadian and for occasionally chatting with me about my paper while he quietly struggled with online learning as a first year university student; particularly to my sister for her dedicated love and support for my parents without any complaint about my absence when my parents needed me more than ever. [i] “Identity consciousness for the Chinese in Canada invokes many contradictions and interpretations, and it presents a minefield – each misstep can provoke division and scorn from all sides, and, worst of all, self-doubt … You build a cultural identity by being aware of your place in history and in staking your claim of belonging. This is not an easy task. The dominant society tries to assimilate your mind; it denies your race, your culture [,] and your language. To fight back, you want the right to know your race, your culture [,] and your language. You want the right to be proud of your cultural heritage. This is when that self- doubt becomes self-awareness and self-affirmation.” (Dete, 2019, pp. 179-180). [ii] Executive Summary Introduction Racism in Canada has a long history and remains a challenge to overcome in its political institutions and civil society. European settlers adopted many different types of practices and laws that discriminated against Indigenous people and non-white, non-Christian immigrants. From their first arrival in the 1850s, Chinese people were subjected to harsh discrimination in every part of life, which was intensified by the Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act. After multiculturalism was adopted by the Government of Canada in the 1970s, Chinese immigration began to rise, and now Chinese people comprise one of Canada’s largest ethnic groups. The history of Chinese people in Canada is a long and complex story of the resilience of Chinese Canadians, discriminatory policies against them, and their endeavors to overcome prejudice, bias, and hatred. With the onslaught of COVID-19, the progress to overcome direct and indirect forms of discrimination seemed to come to a halt. As demonstrated throughout this report, COVID-19 brought a shadow pandemic of hate directed at people of Chinese ethnicity or appearance in Canada. This project examined the experiences of Chinese Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic with the intent to help people better understand the causes and impacts of racism. The ultimate goal is to stress the importance of standing up to racism through education, legislation, public policy, and collective actions so that no group will suffer again what the Chinese community experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology and Methods The methodology used in this research was a literature review and a current state analysis, and the method applied was a document review. Key Findings Peer reviewed research papers published in academic journals and books were used for the literature review. Key search terms to identify research papers and books included “racism in Canada,” “racial inequality and multiculturalism in Canada,” “racism and public crisis,” “media and minorities in Canada,” and COVID-19, etc. The key findings from the literature review were: Racist ideology coexists with democratic principles in Canada. There has been systemic racism against Chinese people since they first came to Canada in 1850s. Chinese Canadians had previously experienced racial discrimination associated with infectious disease such as Leprosy and SARS. Canadian media has been criticized for misrepresentation and underrepresentation of racialized people, including Chinese Canadians. Two stereotypes of Chinese people [iii] in Canada have co-existed since the beginning of Chinese immigration to Canada - “Yellow Peril” and “Model Minority”. While social media provides a powerful tool for its users to create, manipulate, and share content online, it also enables widespread misinformation and disinformation, especially during pandemics. Official census and other statistical data, journal articles, recent news and survey reports, as well as information found on organizational websites were reviewed for the current state analysis. The key findings of the current state analysis included: The Chinese community has become one of the largest ethnic groups in Canada with a population of almost 1.8 million in 2016; almost 80% of 1.8 million were Canadian citizens. While most Chinese Canadians have a strong sense of belonging to Canada, only 13% of them believe others view them as Canadians. After 2011, Chinese immigrants increasingly entered Canada under the business category than under the worker program. Meanwhile, most recent Chinese immigrants under the skilled worker category were international students in Canada who applied for immigration after graduation, due to the new requirements in the current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2001). While these two trends contributed to improved overall financial and educational status of Chinese Canadians, many of them suffered substantial earning disadvantage despite higher education than the national average. While western countries are increasingly concerned about China’s growing power in global economic and political systems, Canada-China relations have also deteriorated, especially after the arrest of Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou in Canada and China’s detention of two Canadian citizens as a leveraging response to Meng’s arrest. Public opinion towards the Government of China have reached historical lows in Canada and other countries after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. There was an upsurge of racism against Chinese people in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 1150 racist incidents were reported online from March 10, 2020 to February 28, 2021. British Columbia had the highest number of incidents per capita in Canada, which was also higher than California and New York. Most victims of racist incidents were females and people who were 19-54 years old. Vancouver and Toronto had more incidents than other cities in Canada. Most incidents happened in public spaces such as streets, stores, and public transit. While the most common incidents involved verbal harassment with racial slurs, name calling or swearing, more severe behaviour included spitting, coughing, pushing victims to the ground, and even stabbing. The Chinese community in Canada took a proactive approach to preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals organized voluntary support groups through the Chinese social media platform, WeChat. Organizations donated funds and [iv] medical equipment to local hospitals and facilities, provided online resources with health tips, organized programs to help people cope with isolation and mental health issues, and offered training to build community resilience. To fight against racism, Chinese organizations initiated campaigns such as the Stop the Spread Campaign and the FaceRace campaign. In addition, online petitions were utilized to protest news reports that presented inaccurate information and prejudices against Chinese people. Meanwhile, numerous organizations offered training and education to help people respond to racial discrimination. Two news reports received especially strong reaction from the Chinese community in 2020. One was a frontpage headline of The Province on February 5, 2020; the other was a report on Global News on April 30, 2020 by Sam Cooper.