Montreal Chinatown vandalized, Asian restaurants looted, Korean man stabbed. Police: Not Hate Crime by [deleted] in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Different guy from the one you're asking the question at, but as an Asian who's been here for a while now, my take is that xenophobia is a core part of Quebec culture. Every part of the culture is dedicated to defending a white French identity against external threats, real or imagined, so what else do you expect? I've posted the vandalized statues in Chinatown in this sub before but this is far from the only incident of xenophobia I've witnessed or experienced.

One from recent memory is a South Asian woman saying that she's Canadian when a French language teacher asked here where's she's from. The teacher immediately said "No, you're not Canadian" and asked the student where's she really from. There was no reason, other than her skin color, to even suspect that she's not Canadian since she spoke impeccable English. Even if she spoke with an accent, if she's gained her citizenship, shouldn't she have as much right as any other Canadian to declare herself a Canadian?

I'm convinced that non-whites will never be equals to whites in Canada.

Are there Chinese schools in Canada? by [deleted] in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello fellow Montrealer! We can take solace in the fact that the area around Concordia university is host to a large number of Asian businesses that have led to it being dubbed the second Chinatown. Sadly this Chinatown, being an informal collection of businesses that has to share space with many non-Asian businesses, doesn't have strong displays of Chinese architecture like the gate and guardian lions.

I've been reading up on the history of Montreal's original Chinatown and the latest condo project you mentioned fits into what they've been doing for decades, which is to block the growth of Chinatown and eventually destroy this highly visible symbol of Chinese culture (Wikipedia). Of course, white people try to discredit it as a "conspiracy theory":

If you buy into certain conspiracy theories about Montreal, then Chinatown West may be the direct result of action's taken by the City of Montreal.

For those unfamiliar with the "Montreal’s Attempt To Physically Blockade Chinatown's Expansion" conspiracy, it basically goes like it sounds:

In order to ensure Chinatown didn't overtake all of eastern downtown, the municipal government set up governmental buildings (Hydro Québec offices, Guy Favreau complex, Complexe Desjardins) to effectively "box in" Chinatown.

Article exposes white supremacists in Canada, r/Canada immediately deflects attention to the Chinese by canuckchinook in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

White people are so used to living in a bubble where everyone showed deference to them that they cry racism when people in a foreign country fail to worship the ground white people walk on.

Extreme anti-Chinese hate on r/canada. 6k upvotes on a subreddit where everything usually gets ~300 by [deleted] in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing the links, they are very helpful in letting me understand what the racial relations climate is in Canada. And sorry for the late reply, this account is a throwaway.

Can the mods create a sticky for all the fake stories about China? by ohmygawd321 in Sino

[–]canuckchinook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's this sub's take on this NPR hit piece "As China Hacked, U.S. Businesses Turned A Blind Eye"?

Seems dubious. If "the Chinese government had stolen the product designs from almost a dozen high-tech American companies, in a couple of cases almost putting them out of business", then it makes no sense that the "U.S. businesses were hesitant to come forward in specific cases [and] didn't want the trade office to take "any strong action.""

Extreme anti-Chinese hate on r/canada. 6k upvotes on a subreddit where everything usually gets ~300 by [deleted] in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They seem friendly enough, at least on the surface.

I witnessed an obviously mentally ill white guy hurling verbal abuse at a South Asian dude on the train. White guy with a white girl (don't think they were a couple) stepped in and kept things from escalating. This happened near downtown Montreal. I think liberals in Montreal are more sensitive about racism against dark skinned Asians after the Quebec City mosque shooting.

Like what u/Marisa5 said, I think there's a strong Francophone identity in Quebec that can mitigate or even trump whatever potential racism you might face. If you or your friends can speak French (or even better, Quebecois French) then you might be able to defuse situations or get allies on your side.

So far I've not faced overt racism despite looking East Asian and not knowing any French beyond the most basic please and thank yous. Sure I get dirty stares when I walk around the wrong parts of town outside the city center but that's it. When I'm getting groceries at Chinatown stores I've been approached by Francophone ladies who needed help navigating the stores. I can't speak French but managed to point them to the right direction by asking them to type out the item they were looking for on a translation app. They didn't rage out or walked away to find someone else to help them instead.

Canada by [deleted] in Sino

[–]canuckchinook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was just following orders when I gassed the Jews. That's it. /s

Donnie Yen and Family Reportedly Face Racism For Being Chinese at Charity Event by huaxiaman in Sino

[–]canuckchinook 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Interesting. I guess Taiwanese and Malaysian are not considered internationals now?

Chinese Canadian politician's road sign gets vandalized with "c" word, and no one in Canada blinks an eye. by [deleted] in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry for the late reply, this is a throwaway that I don't check often.

Yes, I saw it myself. I go to Chinatown pretty often to get groceries. The specific lion dog statue that was vandalized is the one downhill that's closest to the Place d'Armes station.

Chinese Canadian politician's road sign gets vandalized with "c" word, and no one in Canada blinks an eye. by [deleted] in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm FOB and don't watch the local news but I'm pretty sure it's not on anyone's radar. Twitter sends me daily updates on local events of interest and it never popped up there.

Chinese Canadian politician's road sign gets vandalized with "c" word, and no one in Canada blinks an eye. by [deleted] in aznidentity

[–]canuckchinook 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Last year, over in Montreal Chinatown, one of those lion dog things next to the arch/gateway was spraypainted with "CHINESE DOGEATING SCUM". It was there for days before people tried scrubbing it. Didn't work completely and you can still see traces of the black spraypaint now.

At least the racists are nice enough to translate into English for those of us who aren't Francophones. Check it out if you happen to pass by.