Video by Julia Sacco
Multimedia by Tristan Day
By Nishat Chowdhury
Asian Canadians faced racism during both World Wars but their histories are not taught inclusively in schools.
According to Professor Adrian Ma, there were many ways Asian Canadians were discriminated against. This includes the refusal of allowing young Chinese and Japanese men to enlist in the First World War, The Chinese Immigration Act in 1923 banning Chinese immigration to Canada, and the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
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Associate professor Stephanie Bangarth in the Department of History at King’s University College at Western University who teaches a Canadian history course, says that many of her students are knowledgeable about wars and military history. But, aren’t exposed to the diverse experiences of Canadians in those wars.
“Asian Canadian history, those kinds of experiences are often taught as footnotes, if at all, in high school education,” said Bangarth.
The gold rush on the Pacific coast in 1858 marked the beginning of Chinese immigration to Canada. According to the 2016 census, Chinese people were the second-largest visible minority group, with 1,577,060 individuals, representing 20.5% of the visible minority population.
“If people were properly taught about the discrimination that racialized Canadians endured during the wars, maybe they would be able to better appreciate what the generations before us went through, including myself,” said Connie Zhang, a second-year health studies student at the University of Waterloo.
Diverse educators can help to embrace the diversity of Canadian history, according to Ma.
“I’d like to believe that if I had more educators in my life that were of Asian heritage I might have learned about this sooner and more in-depth,” said Ma.
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