‘Don’t be a bystander’: Vaughan councillor warns of rising anti-Asian racism

Thestar.com
April 16, 2021

Vaughan Coun. Sandra Racco has urged people not to be mere bystanders amid an uptick in anti-Asian racism as Ontario experiences its third COVID-19 wave.

“Don't be a bystander, do something about it,” Racco, whose own daughter and son were victims of anti-Asian racism, told the Vaughan Citizen.

On April 12, Racco’s motion, which condemned the rise of anti-Asian racism, was passed unanimously during a committee of the whole meeting. The motion showed disturbing figures of how nearly 30 per cent of anti-Asian incidents in Canada were assaults, representing a 50 per cent increase for the same category in early 2020.

“Verbal harassment -- in the form of name-calling, racial slurs, threats and swearing -- are the most common type of discrimination, representing 65 per cent of reported incidents,” the motion read, citing data from the government of Canada.

Women are also “disproportionately impacted,” making 60 per cent of all of the reported incidents.

Indeed, Racco’s daughter was verbally harassed while she was at a Tim Hortons drive-thru.

A man across from her daughter’s car, “rolled down his window, told her to go home, and gave her the finger,” Racco shared.

“The funny fact is, she (my daughter) is born here in Canada; she is a full Canadian,” Racco added.

This isn’t Racco’s first motion on anti-Asian racism. The ward 4 councillor passed a similar motion in February 2020. During the first wave, she said, her son was questioned over why he was in Canada.

The statistics shared in her new motion show that anti-Asian incidents continue, and Racco has taken notice of it locally in her ward.

“I've had a number of emails that have come to me in different circumstances that explained (incidents) to me, and asking what we can do,” Racco said. “Unfortunately, as a municipality, we don't have much that we can do.”

The councillor said she told them to contact York Regional Police, which is expected to release new data about anti-Asian racism soon.

In one case, she said, a woman told Racco that her father, who recently moved in to one of the new condos in Vaughan’s emerging downtown core, was told to “go back to China” at an elevator.

“Whoever made the comment doesn’t even have a clue whether this person is actually Chinese or Korean,” she said.

“I think it boils down to real ignorance. A lot of it is really ignorance; people not being educated and informed, and make remarks without really thinking it through.”

The councillor also explained how at least 80 per cent of people living in Vaughan are immigrants or “people from all over the world coming together.”

“We should be living in harmony,” she added.