For more than 20 years in Canada, May is a time to celebrate the culture, arts and history of the Asian community and its many contributions to the country and the world’s creative scene. But with the rampant anti-Asian racism, this year’s celebration looks a little different
By: Meilin Ma
A group of dancers perform to the traditional Chinese song titled “Jasmine.” It shows how people enjoy and appreciate their wonderful life. (Zheng Hui Zhu/Golden Maple Leaf Seniors Association)
In honour of Asian Heritage month in Canada, the Toronto Community and Culture Centre (TCCC), a non-profit organization that has served the Mandarin community in the GTA since 1995, hosted a celebration on May 7 to fight against anti-Asian racism and to recognize the impact that Asian-Canadians have made within the country.
In December of 2001, the Canadian Senate passed a motion by Senator Vivienne Poy to officially designate May as Asian Heritage Month in Canada. Since then, celebrations have taken place across Canada every May, notwithstanding the last few years which bore the brunt of the pandemic.
The Toronto Community and Culture Centre (TCCC) , the organizer of this celebration, is a charitable, leading organization focused on serving the Mandarin-speaking community in the GTA since 1995. (Meilin Ma/CanCulture)
Simon Zhong, the executive director of the TCCC, says that Asian-Canadians have made great contributions to the development of Canada. The purpose of Asian Heritage Month is to recognize their outstanding contributions, create a more inclusive multicultural society and introduce various Asian cultures, arts and history to Canada.
"But unfortunately, as we all know, ever since the pandemic started, anti-Asian racism and attacks continue to happen, which is not acceptable,” says Zhong. "This year's celebration is very different because we want the people to know that they should act when that happens."
The TCCC has provided service to the Mandarin-speaking community since 1995 and has organized various cultural events for almost 30 years, including the Asian Heritage Month celebration. There were over 300 people that attended the event.
A Chinese ethnic minority dance that expresses the love of a young couple performed at the celebration. (Courtesy of the Golden Maple Leaf Seniors Association)
"I believe it is important for us to have moments like today where we can share our diversity to promote that understanding," said MP Shaun Chen, who attended this celebration to support the event. "That is so critical on that pathway to building a more inclusive society. So, these events are very meaningful, and we ought to continue to work together to build a better country."
There were 25 different types of programs featured in the celebration including Beijing Opera, Chinese classical dance, ethnic minority dance, modern dance, martial arts, Chinese instrumental performance and a variety of dynamic art forms.
More than 100 cast members performed at the celebration, with the oldest member being 86-years-old.
Zeng Yuan Ding, the chairman of Ruby Art Association, is one of the show's co-organizers. He intends to spread Chinese culture by actively participating in various community cultural activities with the hope of carrying forward traditional Chinese art in Canada.
"This is the 10th time that I am performing at the Asian Heritage Month celebration," said Ding. "All of us in the overseas Chinese community should play the role of bridging and linking in cultural exchanges and spread our fine Chinese culture to other groups in Canada, and enrich Canada's diverse culture."
Zeng Yuan Ding, 75-years-old this year, singing a traditional Chinese song at the celebration and hoping to introduce and promote traditional Chinese culture in this country. (Courtesy of the Ruby Arts Association)
Another performer, Ru Xie, the chair of Golden Maple Leaf Seniors Association, was also one of the co-organizers. Most of their members are retired seniors and are not professional performers, but they spent the past few months preparing several programs for this Asian Heritage Month, which received rave reviews from the audience members during the day's performance.
"The Canadian government is very concerned about the elderly," said Xie. "To repay society and perform this program well, we practiced for a few months and hired a professional teacher to teach us. We sincerely hope all walks of life see the beauty of our Chinese art and understand our Chinese culture."
Along with providing all the performers and programs for this celebration, the TCCC also hosted a youth focus group. The purpose of the group is to let the children talk about the anti-Asian racism around them, to let Asian youth be more aware of the hate crime occurrences in the community and to educate young people on how to protect themselves when these things happen.
Eddie Zhang, is one of the youths who joined the focus group and additionally volunteered in the event. He recalls experiencing racism since he was in elementary school, which is why he wanted to support the celebration and bring awareness to the anti-Asian racism in Canada’s fault lines.
"I feel like many children like me growing up in Canada with a Chinese background have experienced anti-Asian racism," said Zhang. "It took a lot of years for me to get through it. I'm very grateful to join today's event because I want to help my community. I want to help the other kids who might be going through the same thing as I did."
A very happy and festive Chinese-Korean national folk dance performed at the celebration. (Milk Tea/Ruby Art Association)
A study conducted by the University of Victoria surveyed 874 first and second-generation Chinese-Canadians and found that two-thirds had experienced discrimination. About one in three respondents said they had been personally threatened or intimidated, and more than one in four said they had been physically attacked.
In another survey, the Association for Canadian Studies polled 1,547 Canadians, 75 of which came from a Chinese background. Almost half of the Chinese-Canadians polled said relations with white Canadians had worsened during the pandemic. But for the 1,255 white Canadians polled, only 40 per cent indicated that their relationship with Chinese-Canadians got worse.
According to Amy Go, the president of the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice, this discrepancy indicates that white people's privilege prevents them from seeing the experiences that Asian-Canadians live with and creates a barrier to change.
"COVID-19 has amplified anti-Asian racism,” said Go. “I have heard so many friends and family members telling me about the xenophobia they've experienced because misinformation and stereotypes run rampant during the pandemic.”
Go's council partnered with other advocacy organizations to create a portal for Asian-Canadians to report hate crimes. Live data from the Fight COVID Racism portal shows, as of May 26, that there have been 1,167 reported incidents of anti-Asian hate crimes across Canada.
The federal government website says the theme for Asian Heritage Month 2022 is "continuing a legacy of greatness." This month is a reminder for all Canadians to come together to combat anti-Asian racism and discrimination in all its forms.
"That is why we did this event,” said Zhong. “We want to build confidence, and we want others to know our culture, to build a more inclusive society."
The TCCC will host anti-Asian racism workshops in June following this celebration with an aim to unite communities together to oppose all forms of discrimination and create a better and more harmonious social environment.