The other mornng I approached one of the staffers of the gym I attend who is of Asian background and speaks with an accent, suggesting that she is an immigrant. I began with "you don't have to answer my question if you don't feel comfortable" and then asked if she experienced much racism in our town.
She laughed and said she had no problem with my question. She said that she rarely did, other than some people acting a bit superior when it came to her English skills. Since we were both wearing masks and my hearing isn't what it once was, I was terrified I might need to ask her to repeat herself, but I didn't. Phew. We chatted for a bit and she told me that she came on her own to Canada -- Digby, Nova Scotia -- for education 15 years ago and decided to stay. As with so many immigrants her story is impressive.
I asked my question of her because of yet another grim mass murder in the United States which took the lives of 8 people including 6 women as Asian background. There is also a report about the rise in the number of anti-Asian incidents in Canada, more than 1,100 since the Coronavirus pandemic began a year ago. I don't want to assume that our community is not racist. Our local optometrist was born in China and her family emigrated to Toronto when she was young. She has experienced a number of racist incidents here, something she shared during an appointment at least three years ago.
In Canada we've been willing to apologize for past injustices against those of Asian background, including the Chinese workers who built our railroads and the Japanese Canadians who were displaced and incarcerated during World War II. Yet anti-Asian racism abides and surfaces alarmingly quickly at any excuse.
It was in 1960 that the United Church of Canada declared racism a sin, an official acknowledgment of what should have been obvious. Just the same, during the past 60 years United Church participants of different backgrounds, including Asian, have contended with racism, whether blatant or more subtle. A colleague in ministry has wondered whether her Asian background has impeded her career.
The staffer at the gym said that she is an outgoing person who doesn't let incidents such as the comments and jokes about her English get to her. We agreed, though, that it is perplexing how people who speak only one language will mock those who speak two or more, because of an accent.
In 2020 the United Church decided to be more intentional about becoming an anti-racist denomination. It is an important commitment. All of us can be vigilant about our own attitudes and challenge racism when we hear it or see it.
Here is the link to the United Church website which includes our anti-racism statements, worship materials, and personal stories.
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