There have been scattered reports of members of the Asian community in Metro Vancouver, B.C. and Canada being discriminated against in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
One big reason is the fact that a certain orange stain of a president continues to incorrectly refer to COVID-19 as the “China virus.”
It’s just blatant racism and it’s brought out, once again, some people’s latent racism towards the Asian community. White people shouting threats and racist jokes in parking lots, on SkyTrains, and on social media.
I’ve written about a few instances of this in Burnaby and received a note from a NOW reader named Terry about how the Asian community is regularly “scapegoated” on a variety of issues – COVID-19 just being the latest.
“I have read your articles in the Burnaby NOW and wanted to write and thank you for supporting the Asian community when you feel it's been wronged,” Terry wrote. “I am a Chinese Canadian who grew up in Vancouver and have felt and experienced the thinly veiled racism and discrimination throughout my life. It has continued in recent years with the resentment over Chinese money in the economy and the jealous, ignorant people looking for scapegoats. Please continue to voice your opinions to help minorities against the rednecks and bullies in the Lower Mainland.”
Yeah, I know this is a bit of a brag, but I’m simply reprinting this to show how desperate people in the Asian community are to not be bullied over this and other issues.
We are all in this together. We need to be allies. We need to stand up to racism.
It’s a simple message. Try listening to it.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
