Anniversaries of Change

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What are these?

• 100th anniversary of the 1907 anti-Asian riots in Vancouver, B.C. The riots began in Bellingham as a movement to drive Punjabi Sikhs out of the lumber industry. On September 7, a white supremacist crowd marched to Vancouver city hall to demand a “White Canada”. Many proceeded to attack Chinatown and then the Japanese community around Powell Street. Rioters were challenged by Japanese Canadians, who had taken up arms while windows in Chinatown were being broken. The riots were not only a landmark in the rise of racism in Canada, they signalled the beginning of systematic federal intervention to prohibit Asian immigration to Canada through the imposition of quotas on Japanese emigration, “continuous voyage” regulations and a $200 landing fee to exclude those from India, the enforcement of “head-tax” laws against the Chinese and, when that proved ineffective, passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1923. Despite Asian Canadian efforts to fight these measures, the period was marked by escalating injustices, including the infamous Komagata Maru case of 1914 and the uprooting, dispossession and dispersal of Japanese Canadians during and after World War II.
• 60th anniversaries: A sea change began in 1947 when peoples of Chinese and Indian descent won the franchise in B.C. and the Japanese Canadian community established the pan-Canadian National Association of Japanese Canadian Citizens Associations (now the NAJC). Japanese Canadians remained severely restricted but over the next two years, the federal franchise would be won for all Asian-Canadians and the final restrictions against Japanese Canadians lifted. It was a period where allies from other communities actively supported Asian Canadian efforts to end discrimination. These communities began a period of recovery and rebuilding. The Canadian Citizenship Act also came into effect in 1947, and anti-Asian measures such as the1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, the1885 Chinese Head Tax, and the Continuous Journey Act were overturned.
• 40th anniversary of the 1967 Immigration Act: The revised legislation opened Canada to trans-Pacific migration from Asia. The points-based system reformed the process of immigration, allowing new migrants to come and families to reunite. The new waves from Asia and other developing countries transformed Canada. The year 1967 also marked a new sense of Canada as a multicultural nation willing to embrace a wide array of different peoples, beginning a rejuvenation of Asian Canadian communities.
• 10th anniversary of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China, an event that triggered the aspirations of B.C. and Canada to engage with the rising economic prowess of the Asia Pacific region. In the decade prior to the handover, new waves of Chinese migration from Hong Kong as well as elite migrants from all around the Asia Pacific region responded to changes in federal immigration policy designed to attract wealthy migrants, bringing remarkable changes to Canada. The influx of Asian entrepreneurs and investors has remade Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Toronto, but has also presented new challenges in terms of social justice and equality. Not only did these new migrations spark resentment against the “Asianization” of the city (prompting the popular usage of the term “Hongcouver”), but it also augured a new era of global connections in which we still find ourselves in the midst.

Goals

To commemorate these anniversaries of change, a broad-based consortium of Asian Canadian institutions, groups and allies has come together. Our goals are to underscore the Asian Canadian contribution to diversity in Canada, to reach across generations and cultures to create a broad discussion about how Canadian society achieved diversity, and to learn and apply the lessons of fighting racism. Because 2007 is such a unique year of anniversaries, we see this as a special opportunity to commemorate them individually and in conjunction with each other. We will remember these important historical moments, honour those who suffered and those who fought against racism, and learn and apply the lessons of the past so that history shall not repeat itself.

Strategies

Flexible cooperation: Communities of Asian Canadian heritage, with their allies, will work together on certain central elements of the campaign, while allowing respective communities to develop it based on their specific historical experiences. For example, all or most communities might want to participate in a reconciliation dinner to commemorate the September 7 race riots. And we should be able to co-ordinate work to have a central website and list serve. Developing a Canada-wide, Asian Canadian research and education network may also be multi-community, coordinated activity. In other cases, communities may want to emphasize an event more specific to their own community, i.e. 10th anniversary of repatriation of Hong Kong in the Chinese Canadian community of Richmond, 30th anniversary of Powell Street Festival in the Japanese Canadian community, and so forth.

Collective responsibility and reconciliation

For too long, Asian Canadian communities have had to take it upon themselves to try and right the wrongs of the past. Often under-funded and with limited resources, these efforts have achieved some success (redress) but problems of overt and systemic or indirect racism remain. It is time to ask those institutions that were responsible for wrongs to take on the responsibility of reviewing their history, drawing the lessons, and re-informing equity and anti-racism programs. This is both fair and possible. For example, the Vancouver and District Labour Council has already committed to reviewing its past actions in relation to the Vancouver race riot, to identifying those who fought racism in the labour movement and to reviewing anti-racism programs. Others should be encouraged to follow this example including the federal government, the B.C. Legislature, City governments including Vancouver and Victoria, business organizations such as the Vancouver Board of Trade, educational institutions including school boards, and so forth. We also see this process of commemoration and reconciliation as the only concrete way to understand the progressive gains we have made over the last century.

Cultural communication

In today’s world, we need effective communications strategies to put this project on the radar screen. Key to this is using the Internet through the creation of a dynamic website, nurturing an electronic network of members, and creating multiple cultural moments that will create a diverse yet harmonious message. In that regard we need an emblem and an image that reflects an emerging Asian Canadian identity.

Organization

Network: All organizations and individuals that endorse the campaign will be members of the network. This will mainly be a virtual network that will operate through the web site and through a moderated list-serve. The founding meeting of the network took place on January 21, 2007. Working groups: Specific communities may want to form a working group to focus on the development of the campaign in their community. For example, groups in the Japanese community (Tonari-gumi, Japanese Language School, Nikkei Museum, society, The Bulletin, National Association of Japanese Canadians, Greater Vancouver JCCA, etc) may want to hold caucuses to see if there are specific issues around which they might co-operate. Steering Committee: A steering committee formed of representatives from the respective communities (and perhaps allies) will oversee coordination of the campaign. It should be composed of two or three members each from the respective communities.

Schedule of Activities (tentative):

February 18:	Lunar New Year
March 15-18:	Refracting Pacific Canada Conference (UBC)
March 21:	International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
May:	Asian Heritage Month
June 15-16:	Graduate Student Symposium (UVIC)
August long weekend:	Powell Street Festival
Sept. 07:	Reconciliation Banquet and Cultural Evening

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