Chinese Canadian Touchpoints to Black Issues
For Increasing Awareness to Black Issues as Chinese Canadians
Black History Month Canada promotion image (Black History Month digital toolkit, Government of Canada)
Following my earlier post on “Chinese Canadian Touchpoints to Indigenous Issues,” for Black History Month in Canada this year, I thought I’d try to put together a similar article but for Black Canadians.
My awareness to Black issues started in 2020 with the Black Lives Matters protests after the murder of George Floyd in the United States. The backdrop for my awareness included the anti-Asian racism here in North America, and the 2019 Hong Kong protests. Having mostly been ignorant of the anti-Black racism in the past, I’ve had to take some time to educate myself. And I’m thankful for the availability of educational resources which have guided me along the way.
Without diving into the wealth of the resources out there, I'd like to put together a few arguments which have been helpful to me, to help fellow Chinese Canadians pay attention to anti-Black racism in Canada:
The wealth Canadians share today is in part due to how Canada has benefited from the contributions of Black Canadians, including Black slavery, both within and beyond the borders of Canada
The social justice activism of Black Canadians has benefited Chinese Canadians, including changes to Canadian immigration policies with the “points system” introduced in 1967, which has been to the benefit of Black Canadians and Chinese Canadians
The Chinese have participated in continuing oppressive colonial legacies on Black workers around the world
The prevalence of anti-Black racism among Chinese Canadians
Racism discriminates against Black Canadians as well as Chinese Canadians, with both being racialized peoples, see Toronto’s St. John’s Ward as an example
Further Reading:
Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC). “Statement on Anti-Asian Racism in the Time of COVID-19,” May 18, 2020. https://www.asianamericanchristiancollaborative.com/read-statement.
BBC News 中文. “喬治·佛洛伊德事件:抗議發生的五大社會背景” June 5, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/world-52934591.
CBTU Webinar: Black History in Canada, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdh7QMeu_Ig.
Ibbitson, John. “‘Heaven Was the Word for Canada:’ Race in Martin Luther King’s ‘North Star.’” The Globe and Mail, August 24, 2013. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/martin-luther-kings-north-star-got-the-message/article13941449/.
JS, and Promise Li. “The Hong Kong Movement Must Stand with Black Lives Matter.” Lausan, June 2, 2020. https://lausan.hk/2020/hong-kong-must-stand-with-blm/.
Kappler, Maija. “Racism In Canada Is Ever-Present, But We Have A Long History Of Denial.” HuffPost, May 29, 2020, sec. Life. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/racism-canada-anti-black_ca_5ecd6c6cc5b670f88ad48d5c.
Lorinc, John, Michael McClelland, Ellen Scheinberg, and Tatum Taylor. The Ward: The Life and Loss of Toronto’s First Immigrant Neighbourhood, 2015.
Oyeniran, Channon. "Black History in Canada: 1960 to Present." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published October 20, 2020; Last Edited July 20, 2021. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/black-history-in-canada-1960-to-present.
Ryrie, Alec. “How We Learned That Slavery Is Wrong.” Gresham College, November 5, 2015. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/how-we-learned-that-slavery-is-wrong.
The Toronto Star. “‘Racism Exists in Canada:’ These Are the Stories from People Who Have Lived It as Eyes Turn on U.S. After,” June 1, 2020, sec. GTA. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/06/01/racism-exists-in-canada-these-are-the-stories-from-people-who-have-lived-it-as-eyes-turn-on-us-after-george-floyd-death-in-minneapolis.html.
Triadafilopoulos, Triadafilos. “Dismantling White Canada: Race, Rights, and the Origins of the Points System.” In Wanted and Welcome?, edited by Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos, 15–37. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0082-0_2.
Waters, Rosanne. “African Canadian Anti-Discrimination Activism and the Transnational Civil Rights Movement, 1945–1965.” Journal of the Canadian Historical Association 24, no. 2 (May 15, 2014): 386–424. https://doi.org/10.7202/1025083ar.
陳啟睿, and 周永康. “如何理解 Black Lives Matters?暴動是不被傾聽者的語言,” June 2, 2020. https://matters.news/@ckysamuel91/bafyreidvj2pu3qo3ota7r6ctrla2rrcjfnycbvxmjr5whyhkkbeciylvf4.