I was wondering how long it would take before we started hearing stories about Russians living in Canada experiencing hate and harassment.
No, we don’t have a story about that in today’s paper, but that may just be because no one has come forward yet. With the horrific death and destruction happening in Ukraine at the hands of the Russian military, I suspect a number of Russians here are keeping a low profile.
That said, we know it’s happening elsewhere. Currently on our website we have a story about a mother telling a reporter about her latest experience.
Speaking in a low voice to avoid her Russian accent being overheard, she said she was recently in a Coquitlam playground where she regularly takes her children when an angry woman approached her and told her she “should burn in hell.”
It feels a bit like of deja vu.
The habit of blaming individuals of a certain race or ethnic group for a situation completely out of their control appears to be a hard one to break.
My own grandmother had trouble accepting my sister’s “German” boyfriend despite the fact he’d never even been to Germany and his parents were children during the Second World War. (She came around, by the way, and made a lovely tribute to him at their wedding.)
In the last federal election, former MP Kenny Chiu paid a price for his criticism of the government of China. It fueled concern among some residents here that they would be targeted if the sins of the Chinese government were exposed. And the sad thing is, they’re not entirely wrong.
Obviously, it’s essential we be able to speak candidly and critically of foreign governments. But it’s also essential for that that criticism doesn’t lead to a kind of “open season” on anyone from one of those countries. We can never justify hatred and prejudice in the name of freedom and justice.
We’ve seen it numerous times when people are caught on video behaving badly, going on a racist rant or expressing homophobia. The video goes viral and people call the ranter out — fair enough.
But too often what follows is a pile-on of hate and vitriol that far exceeds the original offence. It’s ridiculous to hear someone claiming to be standing with a victim by viciously victimizing another — ridiculous, but depressingly common.
Presumably, by telling a mother with a Russian accent in a Coquitlam playground to “burn in hell” the woman thinks she’s standing with the people of Ukraine.
She’s not. She’s standing with bigotry and prejudice. The same goes for those who vandalized the Russian Community Centre (RCC) in Kitsilano, or those who splattered red paint on the front doors of the St. Sophia’s Orthodox Church in Victoria just days after another Russian church was vandalized in Calgary. These are all echoes of the Islamophobia that followed 9/11.
And while we can point to a few bad actors, some are also pointing to the media and opportunistic politicians for fueling “Russophobia.”
I don’t believe the Western media is engaged in a misinformation campaign set out to demonize Russians everywhere. However, war coverage often falls into an us-versus-them narrative that can lead to exactly what we claim to be fighting.
During the First World War, Canada interned more than 8,500 Ukrainians as “enemy aliens” despite many of them being born here. During the Second World War, Canada interned about 12,000 Japanese also many long-established in Canada for the same reason.
We understand now that these are blights on Canada’s history. They are examples of the folly of equating an individual’s ethnicity with a particular government’s actions. It’s ignorant, morally wrong and entirely hypocritical if we claim to be fighting for freedom, justice and equality.
