Some may think that an apology doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but it does. It recognizes a wrong. The way the media and some politicians have framed and blamed the pandemic on “the Chinese” in particular have such parallels to the persecution of Japanese Canadians during WWII, it is frightening. It matters...Continue reading
Tag: Contemporary issues
Intermarriage
I know my parents and certainly my husband’s parents didn’t want us marrying “out.” They were quite happy that both my sister and I married Japanese. But when it came to our children, my parents never said anything. I don’t know what the future is going to bring. I don’t know why there is such...Continue reading
How the children / grandchildren relate to JC culture and traditions
Jean: The food mostly. I take them to the Buddhist Temple for special occasions like Obon and Shotsuki (Memorial) services. I think it’s important to introduce them to as many Japanese experiences as possible. Also, the Nikkei Centre is very helpful in this way. Janice: I think the food for my kids. Also, they all...Continue reading
How do you self identify? Issues around language
Jean: I identify as Japanese Canadian Janice: I would say the same. I think for me growing up in Winnipeg, I identified more as Japanese and I was different from my friends and classmates. Jean: There weren’t many Japanese people, especially in school. We were the only Japanese or Asian people in school. Janice: We...Continue reading
History matters
Our history matters. We can still see the same systems, the same attitudes, the same rhetoric in place today directed at other marginalized communities. We can replace “Japs” with racist slurs for Muslims, Indigenous peoples, Blacks and on and on. We personally may not face the same overt levels of racism of our parents and...Continue reading
What wisdom do I want to pass on?
I’ll pull out the tropes now. Representation matters. I was responsible for marketing the University of Toronto’s Continuing Studies program in the 1980’s. I produced 300,000+ program calendars and distributed them through the Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto. It had pretty wide reach. This was a time before the internet. I would make sure...Continue reading
Japanese Canadian legacies
To me, the Japanese Canadian story is most meaningful as a story of social justice. Growing up, I often felt alienated from my Japanese ancestry, “less Japanese” than peers whose parents were born in Japan. What eventually made me feel able to claim my identity as a Japanese Canadian wasn’t anything about Japan, but rather...Continue reading
The Importance of History
I knew nothing of my family and community history until I was in university and had joined the Asian Canadian Coalition. We Japanese and Chinese Canadian students were encouraged to connect with our communities’ and families’ histories by going through our family albums, learning photography and mounting a photo exhibit that explored our history through...Continue reading
The present
I have always felt that there will always be an undercurrent of racist attitudes and this is sparked by events such as the arrival of the Vietnamese “boat people’, the influx of Hong Kong ex-pats etc. Whenever there is an influx of visible minorities, this sparks a backlash against these persons of color. I would...Continue reading
Is the current rise in hate crimes similar to what happened to JCs during WWII?
Racism is racism then and now. I think to a huge extent racism against JCs is now minimal as compared to times past. Institutional racism is almost gone but bad apple racism remains, driven by personal animosity from upbringing, economic stress or sometimes ideology. Things have changed. Things are much better now thanks largely to...Continue reading