By: Niveja Assalaarachchi, News Writer
I was 11 years old, walking down the street with my mom. We were chatting while heading back home from a game of cricket. Suddenly, three people in a car driving by began yelling obscene racial slurs directed at us. While that may be an individual example of racism, it’s also a reality that’s experienced by many others. I think these experiences capture a broader truth: to be a person of colour in Canada is to face the hollers, the snickers, the judgmental, sly looks, and blatant racism itself — head-on. However, for many South Asian Canadians, this reality of being discriminated against has only gotten worse, with a recent rise in anti-South Asian racism in public and online spaces.
According to CTV, hate crimes that were perpetrated against South Asians have risen by 227% between 2019 and 2023 in Canada. The same article points out that there’s a 1,350% increase in racially disparaging remarks against South Asians on social media platforms like X. These numbers make clear that racism is not only confined to a minority hiding in the dark corners of the internet.
I think this rise challenges the idea of Canada being a cultural mosaic — revealing how quickly this country slides back into old habits of scapegoating. Furthermore, it reveals Canada as a hotbed for racial intolerance; a place which actively harms the well-being of people, simply for their skin colour. As a society, we must take an immediate stand against the damaging mental and physical effects of racism by standing up to bigotry, ensuring it has no place in our community.
The origins behind the current rise in hate are complex. The South Asian population in Canada has nearly quadrupled since 1996. However, issues like the housing crisis and the high cost of living, among others, have also been prominent as of late. These socioeconomic pressures have pushed some to try to find a scapegoat. Due to the rapid increase in population, South Asians became that scapegoat. Since that branding, South Asians have been regarded as job-stealers, despite the nuance of immigration’s impact on the economy.
It has not helped that many of these stereotypes have been repackaged into an easily understandable meme format shared across many social media platforms. I think I speak for most South Asians when I say that we are sick and tired of the AI slop, as well as sick of the relentless use of harmful stereotypes in memes. The fact is, it’s not funny, it’s sick and has caused real-life damage. A recent incident in Ontario saw a group of teenagers harass a young Indian couple, calling them racial slurs and telling them to go back to their country. The incident, which had left the couple traumatized and fearful, is one of many that have rendered South Asians hesitant to leave their houses.
The situation for South Asians has gotten so bad that in 2023, India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a travel advisory, telling its citizens to reconsider travel to Canada, further complicating the strained relationship between our two countries. As humans, how can we tolerate this? How can we tolerate blatant discrimination and not stand up? There might be those who are shocked, but the truth is, Canadians have been down this road before.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the anti-Asian sentiment that was already prevalent against Chinese and Japanese immigration began to be extended against Sikhs and other South Asians who were starting to immigrate to British Columbia. This motivated the implementation of immigration policies in 1908 specifically designed to deny entry to Indians. The policies required newcomers not to stop on their journey to Canada (which was impossible at the time) or to have $200 (which was a lot of money). These discriminatory policies were used to deny entry to the Komagata Maru, a ship carrying 376 South Asian immigrants in 1914. The passengers stayed on the ship at Vancouver’s harbour for two months as they were denied water and food. Many attempts were made to prevent them from taking their case to court. Why? Because of their ethnicity. Non-white immigrants were branded as a threat to Canada’s white man’s sanctuary. A state that sees its economic prosperity reserved for its European settlers only. Doesn’t this rhetoric sound familiar?
It seems whenever difficult socioeconomic circumstances arise, this country’s natural reaction is to scapegoat a vulnerable demographic. Perhaps it’s not too surprising, considering this country is founded on stolen Indigenous land.
It appears no matter the risk it may pose to people, we embark on this horrific campaign of dehumanization. Perhaps this institutionalized discrimination forms the essence of what it means to be a Canadian, especially a racialized one. Therefore, if we are ever to change this reality, to rid ourselves of bigotry, we must identify it — ensure racism will not have any place in modern society. Because, to disappoint the racists, we South Asians will continue to exist and progress.