Thank you to CBC radio for allowing me to talk today to represent the work myself and @Minguyennn + @callofkathulhu have been doing for @baovecollective, but also to talk on the rampant anti-asian racism that we are all witnessing and seeing @cbcradio @CBCGloria @InitialVW

I wanted to make a few notes that I think is worth giving attention to as we continue to engage in conversations about #AntiAsianRacism:

Not only are we currently seeing the yellow peril narrative play out, but we're also seeing the breaks in the model minority myth

As racialized people, citizenship in Canada is seen as conditional. There is no amount of "hard work" we can do that wouldn't make our citizenship culturally and socially revoked the next day. We see this in how violent racism is and can be; further, how structural racism exists

@FTinweiL's op-ed for @TheTyee gives us examples of how Chinese Canadians (and Asian people more broadly) have been targeted throughout this pandemic, adding vitriol to the violence: https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/05/07/Shadow-Pandemic-Anti-Asian-Racism/

It's not enough to just stand for people who have formal Canadian citizenship, but for people who are the most vulnerable including those with PR status, student, immigrants, and refugees (people who, by the way, are also working essential jobs throughout this pandemic+ lockdown)

Right now what we need is to build lines of solidarity to protect those who are apart of our very diverse communities in the Asian diaspora. The "this vs. us" game doesn't help us but only further divides our communities that often can cost us our safety and lives

If we're going to talk about anti-asian racism, we need to talk about how it's structurally enforced, and then physically manifested. We need to talk about the tensions within our own communities, and then work towards a more equitable and just society that reflects our needs

Proving our citizenship won't help us, but building cross culture solidarity within the Asian diaspora AND with Black, Brown, and Indigenous people will pivot us towards a more just society

Thank you @UBCDrBenCh @SteveKimBC for this great conversation today!

(Correction: @vivluk)