Hello friends,

I have been angered, upset by the two articles published last week. One on Wednesday, November 10, by Maclean’s on elite Canadian universities,such as Waterloo, the U of T, and UBC, being “Too Asian?” and one by the Toronto Star on “Asian students suffering for success.”

I am concerned not just about the reinforcing of racial stereotypes in these articles, but also of the way the media is creating fear about an "Asian Invasion", and conflates all Asians---be they international students, first generation immigrants, Canadian born, from multiple countries of origin and heritages---and reinforces the idea that we "Asians" do not belong here. There is a history of exclusionary policies against Asians in this country----I am so deeply disappointed to that this has not changed.

With the help of WPIRG and the International Student Connection, there will be a meeting on:

Friday Nov.19th at 4pm, in the WPIRG office, room 2139 in the Student Life Centre, Waterloo Campus.

I hope this will give us a chance to share concerns about the article, join a public dialogue in response that has started in Toronto and Vancouver, and brainstorm ideas for moving forward, and perhaps bring these concerns to UW administration.

Please invite others you know who want to join this dialogue.

I have compiled some of the responses, and historical information below.

-Kathryn

More information:

If you haven't seen them, here are links to the articles:

* Maclean’s link: http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/10/too-asian/
* Toronto Star link:http://www.thestar.com/article/888368--asian-students-being-forced-into-university-maclean-s

Waterloo Daily Bulletin, November 16th:

Printed copies of the “universities” issue of Maclean’s magazine started appearing on campus yesterday, with cover price of $6.95. That’s the one that, just like last year’s, shows Waterloo with a reputation as “best overall” university in Canada. Along with its rankings, the issue publishes feature stories, both about the top-ranked institutions and about what it considers newsworthy topics in higher education. The lead story this year is about “that mysterious substance guidance counsellors call ‘fit’,” the quality that makes one university right for one student and another one right for somebody else. But it’s the one starting on page 77 that has drawn the most comment over the past few days. “Too Asian” casts an eye on stereotypes about some campuses: “Discussing the role that race plays in the self-selecting communities that more and more characterize university campuses makes many people uncomfortable. Still, an ‘Asian’ school has come to mean one that is so academically focused that some students feel they can no longer compete or have fun.”
The article includes a comment from Waterloo president Feridun Hamdullahpur about universities’ leadership in bringing diversity to Canadian society. "There is a great tendency in our society to learn more about other nations and other cultures," he is quoted as saying. "Universities are the hotbed of these kind of activities. If you want to see more economic and political diversity, I think they star."

The Ontario government's recently announced program of Trillium scholarships for international students has generated a lively and at times heated debate. A number of university leaders have added their voices, including Waterloo president Feridun Hamdullahpur, whose opinion piece appears in today's Waterloo Region Record and Toronto Star

History:

A similar incident occured in 1979--CTV's W5 program wrongfully represented Chinese Canadians in an investigative story, titled “Campus Giveaway,” that claimed Asian students were eroding opportunities at getting a secondary education for “Canadian” students. Many of the students portrayed in the W5 program were naturalized citizens or born in Canada . In response to this, Canadians mobilized to form the Chinese Canadian National Council.

Redress Remix--Chinese Head Tax Redress Movement:
http://www.redressremix.ca/#/home/en

Komagatu Maru and the politics of Apologies
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2014

National Association of Japanese Canadians
http://www.najc.ca/

Some of the RESPONSES:

From the Chinese Canadian National Council
http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/article/888848--chinese-canadian-council-slams-the-star-and-maclean-s-for-story-about-east-asians-on-campus

The Chinese Canadian National Council- Toronto Chapter will be hosting a meeting on Wednesday to try to put some discussion into action.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167502949937195&notif_t=event_wall#!/event.php?eid=167502949937195

This is another facebook group with some good background information
(including youtube links to the community response/rebuttal to the CTV
W5 program "campus giveaway" that eventually resulted in the formation
of CCNC):
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167502949937195&notif_t=event_wall#!/pages/Too-Asian-TALK-BACK/175689619113941

Response from the Chinese Canadian National Council:

http://www.ccnc.ca/content/pr.php?entry=217

Below is a press release in response from several organizations and individuals in Toronto and Vancouver.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CANADIANS CONDEMN RACIAL STEREOTYPING

BY MACLEAN’S AND THE TORONTO STAR

TORONTO/VANCOUVER, Nov. 15, 2010 – Canadians today strongly condemned editorial decisions at Maclean’s news magazine and the Toronto Star that use racial stereotyping to promote their publications, calling for public apologies and equal editorial space to counter harm done.

“How can a headline, ‘Too Asian’?, not be racist? This is irresponsible journalism that relies on spreading racial stereotypes to sell magazines and newspapers,” says Avvy Go , clinic director of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (MTSALC).

“It pushes us back 30 years to the ‘W5 incident,’ when CTV portrayed Asian Canadians as ‘foreigners,’ taking away places at universities from white Canadians, and now we are being blamed for bringing up the academic standard to their disadvantage,” adds Go. “If this is not racism, then I don’t know what is.”

“Thankfully, readers and viewers today are much more educated and recognize racial stereotyping when it occurs,” says Harbhajan Gill, president of the Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation in Vancouver . ”Not only do they recognize this as an insidious form of racism, they also are quick and determined in their condemnation of it.”

The 20th anniversary edition of national news magazine Maclean’s university rankings, which hit newsstands Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010, carried an article that was headlined, ‘Too Asian’? This article creates and promotes a false perception that ethnic Asian students are limiting opportunities for non-Asians at certain Canadian universities and offers up a litany of stereotypes as proof.

The Toronto Star’s main headline story on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, made advance reference to the Maclean’s article, seemingly without any editorial consideration that they were also spreading the racist views contained within the Maclean’s article.

“Rather than dealing with the true issues of meritocracy, the role of universities in screening for the rewards of professional careers, and whether higher education means more than just a higher income later in life, Maclean’s obscures any insights it might make with its racist profiling of ‘Asians’ and ‘whites,’” says Henry Yu, history professor at the University of British Columbia.

“The title ‘Too Asian’? draws upon over a century of racist politics using the term ‘Asian’ to flatten everyone who looks ‘Oriental’ in the eyes of bigots into a single category, which is somehow threatening to ‘white’ Canadians.”

Indeed, commentary on Maclean’s own website by its readers is more articulate and intelligent than the writers and editors themselves, and in many instances dismisses the article as being pointless and inflammatory.

“Maclean’s and the Toronto Star need to issue public apologies for their treatment of Canadians,” says MTSALC’s Go. “These apologies should appear in their print and online editions as well as in other national and local media.”

Community groups across Canada will also seek public consultations with both Maclean’s and the Toronto Star, as well as pursue remedies in the form of changes to policy at both media groups that result in preventing further racial stereotyping and racial profiling.

“‘Too Asian’? is a question asked-and-answered by Maclean’s in a story that seems to be deliberately contrived to create controversy,” says Neethan Shan, executive director of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA) in Toronto . “However, the question itself is irrelevant, irrational and even discriminatory in today’s Canadian society, which strives to value diversity and promote multiculturalism.”

“Making people into foreigners starts with the media,” comments Anthony B. Chan, professor of communications at University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa .

“In 1979, CTV's W5 program portrayed Canadians of Chinese heritage as foreigners and the Canadian government said nothing about it,” Chan recalls. “In 2010, Maclean’s and the Toronto Star portray Canadians of Chinese ancestry as outsiders, as people who don't fit into the European culture, as non-drinkers, as foreigners, as aliens.”

The so-called “W5 incident” in September 1979 gave rise to the Chinese Canadian National Council, which formed the following year. CTV wrongfully represented Chinese Canadians in an investigative story, titled “Campus Giveaway,” that claimed Asian students were eroding opportunities at getting a secondary education for “Canadian” students. Many of the students portrayed in the W5 program were naturalized citizens or born in Canada .

“One of the first lessons I learned when I was working was how important it is to change the stereotypical thinking that newcomers have about who Canadians are,” says Winnie Cheung, former director of international student services at UBC. “After chipping away at these myths for the last two decades, there is now a better understanding, at least in a city like Vancouver, that someone who looks ‘foreign’ may be a fifth-generation Canadian.”

– 30 –

RESOURCES:

W5 Incident backgrounder:

“The idea that if you’re not white, you’re not Canadian, or in some way, you’re less Canadian, is racist, divisive and deplorable.” (4:55)

– Stephen Lewis in An Audio-Visual Analysis of W5 – “Campus Giveaway”

Available online on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS-PBKXJbhs&feature=related (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR8M-haYfPk (Part 2 of 2)

FOR FURTHER COMMENT, MEDIA PLEASE CONTACT:

Avvy Go, clinic director, Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, 416-971-9674

Harbhajan Gill, president, Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation, 604-763-1736

Henry Yu, history professor, University of British Columbia , 778-895-5088

Neethan Shan, executive director, Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, 416-932-1359

Anthony B. Chan, communications professor, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, 647-343-9178

Winnie Cheung, former director of UBC international student services, 604-836-8838

Brad Lee, media co-ordinator, 416-399-9850

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