Younger, lower-income Asian Canadians hardest hit by racism: study
A recent study has found that younger, lower-income Asian Canadians are likely the hardest hit by racism.
The findings come from a survey conducted by Angus Reid Institute in partnership with the University of British Columbia. It surveyed 580 Canadians who self-identify as Chinese, 77 who identify as East Asian or Southeast Asian, and 1,877 respondents who identify as non-Asian.
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One of the main findings was that Canadians of Asian descent between 18 and 34-years-old were most likely to have experienced or been affected by anti-Asian racism and bigotry over the past year.
Anti-Asian Discrimination Index by age and gender (Angus Reid Institute)
Additionally, nearly half (47%) of Asian Canadians identified discrimination aimed at them as a problem in their own communities. The majority (58%) of Asian respondents say they’ve experienced at least one occurrence of anti-Asian discrimination over the past year, while one-in-four says they’re exposed to these incidents “often” or “all the time.”
(Angus Reid Institute)
In both instances, the most common display of racism came in the form of offensive anti-Chinese or anti-Chinese messages.
Well over one-third (39%) of Asian respondents also said they have changed their routines at least once to “avoid potential racism or discrimination.”
(Angus Reid Institute)
When it comes to how Asian Canadians handle discriminatory or racist actions, a combined 53% say that it’s hurtful and stays with them.
(Angus Reid Institute)
When questioned about the source of discrimination, there were few Asian Canadians that said they believe anti-Asian racism to be institutional.
“The vast majority (86%) say they have not received poor or unfair treatment by institutional organizations such as local police, the health care system, banks, or the justice system,” reads the study.
According to a recent report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism (CHSE) at California State University San Bernadino, Vancouver saw more anti-Asian hate crimes than any other major city in North America last year.
“The largest increase (717% from 2019 to 2020) was in Vancouver, British Columbia, the nation’s third-largest city,” the report said.
“Overall hate crime totals for the multi-city Canadian sample found a 74% increase in hate crimes overall from 2019 to 2020.”