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| Dakota Holmes and her dog, Kato. She credits Kato with driving off her attacker during a racist incident in a Vancouver park on May 15. Photo: Dakota Holmes |
Coronavirus racism: Go back to China, attacker said, as he punched indigenous Vancouver woman who sneezed
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3085148/coronavirus-racism-go-back-china-attacker-said-he
I was heartened to see the instantaneous response from Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) standing in solidarity with those targeted by anti-Asian racism and calling for a stronger response.
https://www.ubcic.bc.ca/covid_19_is_no_excuse_for_hate_ubcic_demands_stronger_stand_against_racism
In the South China Morning Post article, Dakota Holmes, daughter of Don Bains (who served with me in the Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council after the Province of BC’s formal apology for historical anti-Chinese legislation and discrimination in 2014), said something so brave and inspirational about the resilience that those continually experiencing racism in Canada have to develop just to be able to live day to day:
‘...that as traumatic as the incident had been, “I’m kind of glad it happened to me and not someone else” because as an indigenous person she had a lifetime of experience with racism. “I’m used to it. It’s another day in my life … even though he got the race wrong, I’m still used to it.”
Holmes said she had previously been mistaken for being Asian “but not like this.”
“The only reason I’m sharing this story is that racism is not OK. If anyone else experiences something like this they should speak out. We’re all in this together.”’
- Dakota Holmes says a man who attacked her in a Vancouver park told her to ‘go home, you don’t belong here’ as he berated her about Covid-19
- Indigenous Canadians are often mistaken as Asian, and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs has sympathised with Asian groups targeted amid the pandemic
I was heartened to see the instantaneous response from Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) standing in solidarity with those targeted by anti-Asian racism and calling for a stronger response.
https://www.ubcic.bc.ca/covid_19_is_no_excuse_for_hate_ubcic_demands_stronger_stand_against_racism
In the South China Morning Post article, Dakota Holmes, daughter of Don Bains (who served with me in the Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council after the Province of BC’s formal apology for historical anti-Chinese legislation and discrimination in 2014), said something so brave and inspirational about the resilience that those continually experiencing racism in Canada have to develop just to be able to live day to day:
‘...that as traumatic as the incident had been, “I’m kind of glad it happened to me and not someone else” because as an indigenous person she had a lifetime of experience with racism. “I’m used to it. It’s another day in my life … even though he got the race wrong, I’m still used to it.”
Holmes said she had previously been mistaken for being Asian “but not like this.”
“The only reason I’m sharing this story is that racism is not OK. If anyone else experiences something like this they should speak out. We’re all in this together.”’
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