‘Too Asian?’ On racism, paradox and ethno-nationalism

Abstract

This essay examines the controversial ‘Too Asian?’ article published by Canada's premiere news magazine in 2010 as a case study of media and education in order to produce a sharper analytical grammar of race in liberal, multicultural societies. I argue that the article recycles racial stereotypes, perpetuates the normalization of whiteness and the mythology of meritocracy, and enacts irresponsible journalism. I situate its representation of Asians within a historical context, and delineate their paradoxical subjectivity as an un/wanted racialized minority group. Asians are desired as immigrants, workers and students when they benefit Canada's economic imperatives, but are disavowed when they challenge the sociocultural status quo. I also develop the concept of ethno-nationalism as a form of anti-racist resistance when racialized minorities identify with the White-dominant nation-state in their claim for inclusion. However, I raise concerns regarding ethno-nationalism's limitation for pan-Asian solidarity and for the advancement of a marginalized group at the expense of another.

Keywords:

• racism
• activism
• Asian Canadian
• ethno-nationalism
• higher education
• media

Acknowledgements

The Solidarity Committee Against Anti-Asian Racism was, and continues to be, pivotal in my 795 political education and organizing in Toronto. To Binish Ahmed, Charlotte Chiba, Ray Hsu, Ken Huynh, Albert Ko, Florence Li, Anna Liu, Chase Lo, May Lui, Estella Muyinda, Ken Noma, Danielle Sandhu, Neethan Shan and Karen Sun: my deepest appreciation for your brilliance and camaraderie. A special thanks to fellow SCAAAR members, Brad Lee and Gordon Pon, for reading and commenting on an earlier draft of this article. My sincere thanks to Kalervo N. Gulson, Zeus Leonardo and David Gillborn for their keen 815 editorial insights and unwavering support. This article is dedicated to Roxana Ng who passed away on 12 January 2013. The first professor of color hired at the OISE University of Toronto, Roxana was an intellectual pioneer in anti-racist, feminist, labor, immigrant and Asian Canadian studies.

Notes

1. I employ the categorical term ‘Asian’ to designate the heterogeneous, dynamic and socio-politically constructed grouping of peoples, cultures, materials and ideas that derive from East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian and West Asian backgrounds. It is, admittedly, geographically regional and broadly continental in its articulation. It is attentive to the local and global histories, legacies and continuations of imperialisms, colonialisms, wars and conflicts over sovereignties, nationalisms and territorialities. My use of the term ‘Asian’, especially in the Canadian context, moves away from the dominant emphasis on East Asia and on the peoples and cultures of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ancestry. Its conventional use often excludes other Asian ethnic groups, such as Indians and Filipina/os (e.g. Coloma et al., 2012). Maclean's reinforces the East Asian emphasis in the article by focusing on ‘Asian’ individuals and organizations that, in actuality, are primarily of Chinese ancestry. Hence, as a discursive intervention, I mobilize the term ‘Asian’ to address the broader and more inclusive grouping, and name particular ethnic groups in reference to regulations and events that specifically focus on them.

2. According to Canada's Employment Equity Act (S.C. 1995, c. 44), ‘“members of visible minorities” means persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour’ (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-5.401/page-1.html). I prefer to use the term ‘racialized minority’ instead of ‘visible minority’ since, following Block and Galabuzi (2011):

… the term racialized is used to acknowledge ‘race’ as a social construct and a way of describing a group of people. Racialization is the process through which groups come to be designated as different and on that basis subjected to differential and unequal treatment. (p. 19)

Building on my deployment of the term ‘Asian’ and tracking the racialization of Asians in Canada as an un/wanted minority group, I explicate and expand on an insight made by cultural critic Roy Miki (2000): ‘these “undesirables”would translate over time into “Asian Canadians”’ (p. 50).

3. I learn from and work alongside anti-racist feminists who refuse to compartmentalize the intellectual and activist, the personal and political, the private and public (e.g. Ng, Staton, & Scane, 1995; Razack, Smith, & Thobani, 2010).

4. Unfortunately, many immigrants experience deprofessionalization, deskilling and downward mobility when they arrive and settle in Canada. Even though the immigration system privileges those with educational, occupational and financial capital, they confront considerable institutionalized barriers, especially in the realm of employment. For instance, their academic and professional credentials are not recognized as on par by Canadian universities and accreditation agencies; they are required to have Canadian work experience; and when employed, they face racial, gendered and linguistic/accent discrimination (e.g. Block & Galabuzi, 2011; Coloma et al., 2012; Razack et al., 2010).

5. At this meeting, educator Maria Yau, who convened a community conference titled ‘East Asian Parents: Multiple Pathways to Success’ connected the Maclean's ‘Too Asian?’ article to the Toronto Star newspaper article on her conference, which were both published at the same time. She indicated that these media outlets practiced sensationalized journalism by stereotyping Asian parents as academically obsessed tyrants who were ‘pushing their children into university programs for which many have no real interest or talent and often quit in distress’ (Brown, 2010).

6. Other activist and organizing acts included wearing ‘Too Asian for Maclean's’ buttons; writing letters and postcards to Maclean's parent company, Rogers Communications; staging a flash mob at a Rogers store in a busy Toronto shopping mall, led by the Youth Coalition co-chairs Florence Li and Chase Lo; and creating a satirical YouTube video on multi-racial harmony through a parody of the ‘We are the World’ song by Tetsuro Shigematsu and his collaborators at the University of British Columbia.

7. The 2012 ‘anniversary’ conference was convened at the Ryerson University in Toronto, spearheaded by professor Gordon Pon and May Lui of CCNC Toronto, in conjunction with a simultaneous gathering at the University of British Columbia, led by Ray Hsu of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop. Moreover, Neethan Shan of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians featured the youth and community organizing on the ‘Too Asian?’ issue in its Racism Free Ontario campaign, and Estella Muyinda of the National Anti-Racism Council of Canada highlighted the issue at one of its annual events for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.