If you’ve lived in Richmond long enough, it’s likely you’ve witnessed at least a handful of ignorant, throw-away jibes tossed in the direction of apparent immigrants.
But two very recent incidents in busy, shopping centre parking lots in the city — one of which attracted the attention of the RCMP — is giving cause for concern that racism is on the rise in Richmond.
The most recent happened on Saturday afternoon, as mom-of-five Din Martin began reversing into a parking spot in Blundell Shopping Centre.
Martin, who is of Filipino ethnicity but is Canadian-born and has lived in Richmond all her life, said she was at least halfway into the spot when another driver — a Caucasian man in his 40s, ironically with a thick Eastern European accent – launched into a vile, racist tirade.
“From nowhere, he started yelling profanities at me,” said Martin, who was heading to the nearby meat shop with her sister-in-law.
“I asked, calmly, if he would like me to stop. He screamed ‘do you even know how to speak English?’ I thought ‘what’s the problem here?’
“Something clearly upset this guy, but I couldn’t understand what.
“He had his wheel cranked, so if he had moved, he would likely have hit me, as he didn’t appear to see me at first.
Martin said the irate man had about five people in his minivan, most of whom looked like young kids.
“He continued screaming at me and I asked again if he would like me to move forward,” she recalls.
“He shouted ‘**** you, you ****ing immigrant, you don’t ****ing belong here.’”
Ironically, Martin has lived all her life in Richmond.
“I have every right to be here,” she added.
Martin, who describes herself as a “compassionate person,” suggested that the ranting racist was perhaps “just having a bad day, or something.”
“Maybe something bad had just happened to him, I don’t know,” she said.
“I guess I feel kind of sorry for him…and his kids. But there is a line to cross.”
Understandably angry and upset herself, Martin said she rolled up her window and followed her sister-in-law’s advice to calm down and not say anything else.
“He eventually pulled out and almost took out two cars in the process of leaving the parking lot,” added Martin, who laughed that her two youngest kids are half Scottish, half Filipino.
“A lady close by filmed it all on video and said she would send it to me if I needed it. I was a bit upset. But I was thinking I was thankful that people are not allowed to carry guns in this country.”
Unfortunately, it’s not the first time Martin has been on the thick end of racist comments in Richmond — and she said it’s becoming routine.
“I’ve even had a couple of incidents inside of stores,” she said.
“’You ****ing shop like you drive,’ in reference to my cart being in the middle of the aisle or something, is one I’ve heard a few times.
“Then they hear me open up my mouth and they’re shocked.
“At some point in my life, I’m sure I’ve said something I regret, but it has become so bad now in Richmond. It’s almost every day.”
Martin said she would have gone to the police if she had accepted the witness’ offer of the video.
“I would have reported it, as he’s probably done this before.”
One person who did report a very similar incident two weeks ago, albeit slightly more sinister, was on the receiving end in Costco’s parking lot on Bridgeport Road.
Pablo Kim, who gave the Richmond News a pseudonym to protect his identity, said a relatively normal Thursday afternoon, while waiting for an in-demand parking spot, turned into a fearful experience.
Kim — who was born in Asia, before immigrating to Canada as a teenager — told the News how he was subjected to death threats during an unprovoked outburst by a fellow Costco shopper.
“I was waiting and signalling for the nearer spot to the store, as the folks (in the spot) were finishing up their loading,” explained Kim.
“A blue Ford F150 truck pulled up on the opposite side, signalling for the same spot. After the outgoing car backed out, I quickly pulled in.
“It was clear to me that, right off the bat, the driver in the blue truck was intent on creating controversy, as he started to motion into the spot as well.
“Once I parked and walked out of my car, the white, middle-aged driver started hurling racist expletives at me, as if he had the runs, except coming out of the wrong end.”
The “F bomb” was dropped a few times by the truck driver, in relation to Kim’s ethnicity, while claiming that Kim was nowhere near the spot.
“The good old ‘go back to China’ (was mentioned) a number of times, as if he really knew that I came from China.
“I wondered, if I was white, where would he tell me to go back to? I also didn’t waste my time reasoning with him…I repeatedly called him out for what he was: a racist and for him to grow up.”
Kim decided to walk away, not wanting to inflame the situation further.
But when he returned to his car after doing his shopping, Kim said the same man walked towards him, now in the company of a woman.
“As expected, the diarrhea of racial expletives started again, this time in stereo.
“And again, without going low, I did not argue back with expletives. I stood my ground and kept calling them racists and sarcastically pointed out what fine examples of civilized humans they were,” said Kim.
“(He) looked at me and said ‘I’m going to kill you…I’m going to kill you right now, Chink.’ Knowing that I could defend myself, with folks around as potential witnesses, I said ‘go right ahead.’
“He repeated his death threats multiple times and started to walk up close to me right to my face. The hate in his eyes was very evident.”
According to Kim, the man told him that he knew where he lived and would be coming after him.
In the face of such provocation, Kim admitted that he “finally lowered” himself and called them “racist white trash.”
“It seemed like that hit a bit of a nerve, as they were both taken aback, especially the female racist.”
He said, once he started to video the pair, they backed away, all the while still launching racist abuse.
Kim said, on the urgings of his wife, he reported the incident to the police later that day.
Richmond RCMP confirmed that it has received a complaint and it was investigating “racist slurs and threats” made from one individual to another.
Police tracked down and made contact with the alleged offender and are still investigating.
Kim said, after the incident, he has felt “anger, sadness and mostly disappointment” that these type of “racist flare-ups are happening on a more regular basis.
“We, as a community, need to stand up to this unacceptable way of thinking and behaviour.”
