Over the weekend I had a constructive conversation with mayoral candidate Richard Lee, whereby he took issue with my pointing out his slate, Richmond Reform, was “all Chinese.”
Lee said he prefers to be seen as a Canadian candidate who happens to be Chinese (ethnically) — if that even bears mentioning.
Indeed, I was referring to ethnicity, not nationality, but, in hindsight, perhaps that should have been clear in the headline.
But the more significant question is, why mention it at all?
In my opinion, the fact this is the first organized political party in Richmond made up of all ethnic Chinese candidates is news, and I am a news reporter.
Ian Young, a well-respected veteran journalist for the South China Morning Post, noted he would have reported it the same way.
But he also noted, he has a different audience.
He’s confident, for example, that his readers would understand that the reference to Chinese, in this context, would be referring to ethnicity.
More importantly, he agreed that the forming of such a slate is newsworthy, and, in fact, too many local reporters “pussyfoot” around the subject. I agree.
With the issue of audience, chances are, Young’s readers will not feel threatened by an all-Chinese slate; they will not view this as some kind of ethnic “take over.”
While I, and probably the majority of our readers, don’t either, there is also a sense (among some) of unwelcome change that is leading to the exclusion of non-Chinese.
To be clear, I referred to Lee’s ethnicity not to fuel a sense of threat, but because it’s an interesting fact and demographics matter. If it was an all-women slate, I would have pointed that out. Speaking of which, Richmond hasn’t had a female mayor or reeve during its more than 100-year history. It’s worth mentioning — and worth a closer look.
Richmond First school trustee candidate Eric Yung responded on Twitter to the News’ article by stating he was “not a Chinese candidate” but a “trustee candidate who is Chinese.” He added “my race is not a factor.”
I agree that semantics matter, and it’s better to focus on commonalities as opposed to differences. However, I don’t agree that race is not a factor, especially in Richmond.
Yung, and others, would have you believe that we live in a post-racial world. We don’t.
The reason why headlines ran around the world that Barack Obama was the “first black president” in the U.S, is because of the unique issues black communities face.
There’s a reason why there exists community groups that specifically cater to the Chinese community.
A Chinese (Canadian) candidate may very well understand issues pertaining to the immigrant community more than a Caucasian one (take mental health). It’s only natural.
I’d be hard-pressed to find an institution or organization in Richmond, which provides community services, that doesn’t think about how it can get its message across to ethnically Chinese residents, due to a language barrier and/or cultural differences.
The Richmond Community Coalition notes it is proud of it’s diversity. This may mean many things, one of them being ethnicity.
For instance, council candidate Kirby Graeme noted fellow candidate Sal Bhullar is “well-connected” in the South East Asian community and he can use her company to gain a better understanding of that part of the community, for which he is not as well-connected. There’s no shame in that.
Fellow candidate Helen Quan is able to speak to Chinese media in Cantonese and Mandarin to espouse the coalition’s goals.
It’s difficult to find the right balance when some candidates make a point of telling the media that their ethnicity is an asset, while others seem offended at the mention.
Ironically, the issue, in both cases, is inclusion, and that’s something we can all get behind.
Graeme Wood is a reporter with the Richmond News
