Dear Editor,
Re: “Alt-right pamphlets come to Richmond targeting Chinese people,” Richmond-News.com, Nov. 17.
In the next little while, there will be letters and public declarations of disgust flowing into this publication and others regarding the pamphlets in Steveston. As is often the case in these events, community activists and leaders will try to reassure us that this is an “isolated incident” that is “not reflective of our community values.”
To this, I say: “wake up.”
The alt-right has been well entrenched in Richmond and the Lower Mainland for several years now. (Do I really need to reiterate the racist and xenophobic incidents detailed in this publication and elsewhere?) Yes, the leaflet included links to two American alt-right websites, but we should also note that it included wording specific to Richmond, or at least the Lower Mainland (“So you can now...have neighbours who refuse to speak your language, and not be able to afford a home!”)
More importantly, even a cursory search will reveal that people are speaking openly about Richmond in this way on the Internet.
Take, for instance, the Council of European Canadians, whose website was listed on the “Hey White Person” posters that appeared recently in Toronto. Many of their web articles are dressed up in pseudo-scholarly rhetoric (they often publish the work of the controversial University of New Brunswick academic, Ricardo Duchesne); as a result, the extent of their xenophobia is difficult to pin down. However, their understanding of Canadian identity is still evident in their “Beliefs and Goals” webpage:
“We believe that the pioneers and settlers who built the Canadian nation are part of the European people. Therefore, we believe that Canada derives from and is an integral part of European civilization and that Canada should remain in majority, not exclusively, European in its ethnic composition and cultural character.”
While the organization is not openly racist, it provides a forum for those who are. Following an article about the Mandarin-only strata council issue in Richmond, one finds a number of choice comments that are barely moderated: “Disgusting. We are being exterminated”; “It is the non-White invasion and White Genocide of Canada”; “That’s what comes from importing millions of enemies”; “Too bad ‘White Racists’ were not supported decades ago.”
Keep in mind, this is not an abstract dialogue. These are people talking about Richmond, and I would hazard a guess that some of them even live here. When the Internet facilitates such discourse, is it any wonder that people feel empowered to print off a few pamphlets?
Can we possibly know the extent of this sentiment? Without good polling and continued study (I’m looking to you, Richmond News), it’s difficult to say. In the meantime, we should be aware that the phenomenon is much larger than a few pamphlets.
Lee Blanding
Richmond