The global pandemic in 2020 and prolonged local shutdowns have put pressure on all of us, but especially East Asian communities – who are being scapegoated because of the coronavirus and facing increasing incidents of anti-East Asian racism and discrimination. Toronto’s motto – “Diversity Our Strength” – has been put to the test. Resilience must be our response.

While we all share mutual and common identities of being both Torontonians and Canadians, the City of Toronto is asking allies in the fight against racism to acknowledge and learn about our diverse histories within the context of living in this city.

Anti-Asian racism is not new. It is entrenched in our systems and is intertwined with local and national narratives. Here are some ways you can help us to grow, thrive, and contribute:

  1. Learn about East Asian diversity and the unique identities of those with family origins and heritage from East Asia or those perceived to be East Asian.
  2. Abandon the myths of the “perpetual foreigner” and “model minority” in thinking and language (i.e. “Where are you from? Where are you really from? All Asian Canadians are engineers, accountants, doctors or lawyers.”)
  3. Explore, celebrate, share, and accept East Asian stories in Canada.
  4. Know that racism hurts the collective efforts of East Asian communities to build a thriving and prosperous Toronto and Canada.
  5. Call out and challenge racism when you see it.
  • According to the 2016 federal census, there were 299,465 people (11.1 per cent) identifying as visible minority Chinese living in Toronto. The city was also home to 41,640 residents (1.5 per cent) of Korean heritage, and 28,045 (0.5 per cent) of Japanese descent.
  • East Asian stories are mirrored in Canada’s national narrative and migration history.
    • Chinese pioneers followed gold rushes to the Fraser River in British Columbia in 1858, then many Chinese labourers were contracted to build the transcontinental railway. Discrimination followed and was marked by Canada’s Head Tax for Chinese residents, and later by the Chinese Exclusion Act (Road to Justice: Tarnished Dreams). Canada did not officially apologize for this unequal treatment until 2006.
    • Filmmaker Karen Cho travels from Montreal to Vancouver to undercover the stories from the last survivors of Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act. Through a combination of history, poetry and raw emotion, her documentary, “In the Shadow of Gold Mountain,” sheds light on an era that shaped the identity of generations.
    • In 1877, six years after Confederation, the first documented Japanese immigrant arrived in the province of British Columbia, but suffered disenfranchisement in 1895 under federal statute, and then further discrimination during and after the Second World War (1942-49), when they were sent into internment and exile from the west coast. All those of Japanese descent, including naturalized Canadians and those born in Canada were banned from living in the city of Toronto between 1942 and 1945.
    • The first Korean migrants to Canada were seminary students sent here by Canadian missionaries. Korean migration to Canada boomed in the late 1960’s and continues today.
    • An award-winning video by Justice Maryka Omatsu, the first female, Canadian Judge of East-Asian descent. The video details the injustices of racial discrimination faced by Japanese Canadians for over 60 years culminating in the unjust use War Measures Act.
  • How learning history builds resistance to hate. University of British Columbia (UBC) history professor Henry Yu critically rethinks Japanese Canadian history and its impact on today’s society. Reconsider Chinese Canadian history within a changing social context, to strengthen our national values of multiculturalism and diversity.
  • A documentary about Raymond Moriyama, world-renowned architect, whose works include the Toronto Reference Library, the Ontario Science Centre, Scarborough Civic Centre, Bata Shoe Museum, and the Canadian War Museum. He discusses his family’s experience with the extremities of racism he and his family endured and how he transformed these experiences into an architecture of inclusion and democracy.
  • Anti-East Asian racism is disturbingly common in Canada’s largest cities (Richmond News – April 28, 2020)
  • Historian Henry Yu describes the experience of racism in Canada during COVID-19: “White supremacy historically has relied on defining non-white ‘races’ as abstract categories that generally are not coherent and blaming non-whites for things that aren’t their fault.” Chinese people have been blamed for spreading the virus but targeting those who are mistaken for Chinese but aren’t is still wrong. “It’s never a ‘mistake’ to ‘get the wrong non-white,” Yu explains. Whether or not the target is actually Chinese or not, harassment and mistreatment of others should never be warranted.
  • Hate incidents during the pandemic
  • The numbers tell the story of anti-East Asian racism in Canada:
    • A telephone poll in April 2020, comprising 1,130 respondents in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, conducted by the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice found that one in five people do not think it’s safe to sit next to an Asian or Chinese person on a bus if they don’t wear a mask, while a quarter said they “don’t know” if it’s safe. Four per cent said they believed that all Chinese or Asian people carry COVID-19, and 10 per cent were uncertain.
    • Nearly 80 per cent of Chinese Canadians surveyed by pollster Angus Reid and the University of Alberta said they think that others do not view them as Canadians “all of the time.”
    • Since the pandemic began, more than 400 incidents of racial bias, from micro-aggressions to hate incidents and hate crimes, have been collected through the “Fight COVID Racism” tracking tool.
  • A report to the United Nations on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance documents the increase of racism and xenophobia as a result of COVID-19. This report highlights stats, key issues, and recommendations.

Download creative to share on your social media channels:

Facebook/Instagram Stories

Perpetual foreigner myth carousel 1, 2, 3, 4

Model minority myth carousel 1, 2, 3, 4

People of East Asian Descent in Toronto

Racism and harmful phases have no place in Toronto

Facebook/Instagram In Feed

Perpetual foreigner myth carousel 1, 2, 3, 4

Model minority myth carousel 1, 2, 3, 4

People of East Asian Descent in Toronto

Racism and harmful phases have no place in Toronto

Simplified Chinese

Michael Chan Toronto For All creative for Facebook/Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“如果你看到反东亚种族歧视, 请指证出来 。 帮我们阻止它的发生。 如果你的生活中有东亚人
,请与他们联系。 他们需要你的 支持 。” – Michael Chan

反东亚种族歧视是一个系统性问题,它需要被 克服 。你会成为盟友吗? 支 持 我们 使 多伦多 成为
大家的 多伦多 #TorontoForAll.
toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism

 

Nobu Adilman Toronto For All creative for Facebook/Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“自疫情开始以来,反东亚种族歧视的事件发生不断上升。这不仅仅局限于城市中——它反映了
整个国家的上升趋势 – 攻击、口头威胁,和种族歧视涂鸦、现在这些必须停止。” – Mister Nobu

反东亚种族歧视是一个系统性问题,它需要被 克服 。你会成为盟友吗? 支 持 我们 使 多伦多 成为
大家的 多伦多 #TorontoForAll.

toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism

Traditional Chinese

Michael Chan creative for Facebook/Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“如果你看到反東亞種族歧視, 請指證出來 。 幫我們阻止它的發生。 如果你的生活中有東亞人
,請與他們聯繫。 他們需要你的 支援 。” – Michael Chan

反東亞種族歧視是一個系統性問題,它需要被 克服 。你會成為盟友嗎? 支 持 我們 使 多倫多 成為
大家的 多倫多 #TorontoForAll.
toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism

 

Nobu Adilman creative for Facebook/Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“自疫情開始以來,反東亞種族歧視的事件發生不斷上升。這不僅僅局限於城市中——它反映了
整個國家的上升趨勢 – 攻擊、口頭威脅,和種族歧視塗鴉、現在這些必須停止。” – Mister Nobu

反東亞種族歧視是一個系統性問題,它需要被 克服 。你會成為盟友嗎? 支 持 我們 使 多倫多 成為
大家的 多倫多 #TorontoForAll.
toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism

Twitter

Simplified Chinese

Michael Chan Toronto For All creative for Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

“如果你看到反东亚种族歧视, 请指证出来 。如果你的生活中有东亚人,向他们伸出援助之手”
– @michaelcwchan

反东亚种族歧视是一个系统性问题,它需要被 克服 。成为盟友。 支持我们建立一个 大家的 多伦
多 #TorontoForAll.

toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism

 

Nobu Adilman Toronto For All creative for Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

“反东亚种族歧视的报导不断增多。 攻击、口头威胁、 种族歧视涂鸦、这些必须停止” –
@mister_nobu

反东亚种族歧视是一个系统性问题,它需要被 克服 。 支 持 我们 使 多伦多 成为大家的 多伦多
#TorontoForAll.

toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism

Traditional Chinese

Michael Chan Toronto For All creative for Twitter - Traditional Chinese

 

 

 

 

 

 

“如果你看到反東亞種族歧視, 請指證出來 。如果你的生活中有東亞人,向他們伸出援助之手”
– @michaelcwchan

反東亞種族歧視是一個系統性問題,它需要被 克服 。成為盟友。 支援我們建立一個 大家的 多倫
多 #TorontoForAll.

toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism

Nobu Adilman Toronto For All creative for Twitter - Traditional Chinese

 

 

 

 

 

 

“反東亞種族歧視的報導不斷增多。 攻擊、口頭威脅、 種族歧視塗鴉、這些必須停止” –
@mister_nobu

反東亞種族歧視是一個系統性問題,它需要被 克服 。 支 持 我們 使 多倫多 成為大家的 多倫多
#TorontoForAll.

toronto.ca/AntiEastAsianRacism