A Historic Day - B.C.'s Apology

I had the rare privilege of witnessing the historic apology from the floor of the B.C. Legislature

Today was a historic day. 

But what does that mean?

Was it historic because it was one of those days that will be looked back upon in the years ahead, quoted and written in history books? "May 15, 2014--the day the Legislature of British Columbia formally apologized for the long history of anti-Chinese legislation passed in its chamber." Perhaps.

Was it historic because of the rare feeling that permeated the Legislature Assembly as the Question period ended, and the bickering chamber--normally so full of mocking voices, derisive hooting, and sophomoric sarcasm--transformed into the sombre sincerity of bipartisan agreement? Rare as that fleeting feeling of solidarity was, the magic surrealism of collegial comradery rising above partisan politics was notable not for the rarity of that feeling itself, but memorable for the noble purpose for which it was invoked.

CTV Vancouver: B.C. offers historic apology

Premier Christy Clark says an apology to Chinese-Canadians is more than 140 years overdue.

CTV news clip 1 clip 2

This was a historic day because it is history in the making. Not historic for itself, but for how it presented a pause in how we live our daily lives, a moment to reflect as British Columbians upon who we are, and where we are, and perhaps most importantly, when we are.

When are we? Such an odd question. But just as in television shows where a person with amnesia cannot remember their own past, and therefore does not know who they are, the question of "when" we are is another way of thinking about "who" we are. When you do not know your own past, you do not know who you are. Your sense of identity now, in a particular moment, is the product of having a sense of when you are within a larger, longer story. Memories of childhood and growing up, of family and friends, of loves gained and lost, of loved ones here and gone--these are the stuff of your past, and the memories of which you are made.

Who we are. When we are. They are two sides of the same coin, both bought dearly through days upon months, years upon years of memories both happy and sad. Without these memories, you would not know who you are. Without a sense of when you are--when this moment sits amidst a longer story full of memory and meaning--you will not know who you are.

Today was an important moment in changing the story of who we are in British Columbia. It was a special moment, when the BC Legislature finally dealt with its own long history of anti-Chinese racism and discrimination--laws and policies sanctioned and legislated within the very same chamber where the Premier of British Columbia today formally apologized. We British Columbians, through the MLAs who politically represent us, formally acknowledged a past that has been for so long ignored when we teach and learn the history of British Columbia. It is a past that many of our elders remember all too well, and for those who suffered the pain and indignities of racial discrimination, this day is a recognition that their story is an integral part of our common history. Not an aberration or anomaly, as if a few mistakes were made here and there, but a systematic and enduring feature of the political, social, and economic life of this province and its government.

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia today acknowledged that what they did over years and decades of implementing the policies of a "White Man's Province" (to use former Premier Richard McBride's words), was wrong. Wrong now, from the perspective of a multicultural society that has rejected racism, but also wrong then in the sense that it should not have been that way. White supremacy was lawful policy, legally entrenching racism against Chinese Canadians, Japanese Canadians, South Asian Canadians, and First Nations peoples who are indigenous to these lands, indeed all those who were considered "non-white." One of the primary reasons why such policies could be made into law was that non-whites were not allowed to vote, and so racist legislation never had to take into account whether those who were its victims might vote the legislators out of office. Anti-Chinese politics and white supremacy were tools used to help organize political coalitions and fuelled political campaigns during elections.

This is our history. And today, a moment occurred when we all acknowledged that this history is all of ours together. Not just the particular story of Chinese Canadians, as if the only interesting thing about the Chinese in British Columbia was that they were the victims of racism, but a part of all of our common history, so that today we acknowledged that the experiences of Chinese Canadians and the story of racism and exclusion is the story of all of us in British Columbia, and that the days are now over when we can ignore the stories of what happened to those of Chinese descent, as if their story is somehow not our story.

When are we?  I hope that today we stand at a moment in our collective history when we can no longer say that Chinese Canadian history is only the history of those who are themselves of Chinese descent, or that each of our histories belong only to our own particular communities. Chinese Canadian history is all of ours. It is our shared history--its sadness and bitterness as much as its struggles and triumphs.

Today we did not overcome our dark history. That was, and continues to be, a long process more often than not resulting from the everyday struggles of ordinary people trying to endure and overcome injustice, each in their own way contributing to making a more just and fair society. People like my grandfather, who worked almost his entire life as a cook on the Princess Patricia, one of the first Alaskan cruise ships sailing out of Vancouver. He paid the Head Tax when he came to Canada as a young teenager, and lived and worked the rest of his life in Canada, much of it being treated as a second class citizen. He is no longer alive today to enjoy this moment of atonement and redemption. But it is his day, and that of countless others like him who quietly toiled amidst the cold dark of difficult days. Today we consecrate the sacrifices they made, and the suffering they endured, so that we all could live in a better world. Today was a day to recognize old wrongs, but also to acknowledge that it was often the victims of injustice who stood up and forced others to recognize the inequity of enjoying privileges unfairly denied to others. Today we remember again that there is no justice for all, if there is only justice for some.

When are we? Today is a day for us to give thanks. To bow our heads and remember those who remained hopeful. Those who even amidst the darkest days, hoped beyond hope that someday there would be light again. They endured and persevered--on all our behalf. And even if they themselves never had the chance to see the sun arise at last, today we remember them for their struggles and for their belief in a just world where a wrong is a wrong, no matter how much time passes, and that it is never too late to finally make things right.

Saying Sorry

Opinion: How does a province say sorry? 

By Henry Yu, Special to the Vancouver Sun March 20, 2014

Dr. Henry Yu is a historian and associate professor of history and principal of St. John’s College at UBC.

Over the last past two months, the government of British Columbia has been holding consultations on the wording of an apology for the anti-Chinese provincial legislation that marked much of the first half of B.C. history.

The process opens a broader discussion about how a society can reckon with the darker moments of its past. How do you say sorry for something that happened decades ago, before many of today’s British Columbians were born or even arrived in Canada?

I was born in Vancouver in 1967, the 100th anniversary of Canadian confederation. My grandfather came to Canada in 1923, just before Chinese immigration was cut off for the next 45 years, and he paid the $500 Chinese head tax, the equivalent of several years of a worker’s salary at the time. My great-grandfather before him also paid the head tax when he came in the 19th century to help build B.C. Now I teach history at UBC, and my classes are full of Chinese Canadians and other Asian Canadian students who would have been the targets for legalized racial discrimination even 50 years ago. Many of them come from families who only entered Canada after racial barriers to non-white immigration were removed in 1968.

Why should we say sorry when so few of the original actors are alive today? Unlike a personal apology, a government apology is an acknowledgment of collective responsibility and the long-term effects created by government policies. When you buy a share in a company, and that company’s product proves to be defective, you cannot say your share price should not go down because you bought your shares after the defective product was sold. You now have a shared stake in the company, and have a collective responsibility and liability for whatever happened beforehand, even if you were not personally involved.

Like a personal apology, however, there must be a substance in saying sorry. If my child breaks your child’s toy on the playground, it is not enough that my child just says sorry. Even if sincere, an apology is only symbolic and potentially empty unless there is some attempt to remedy the harm. If I cannot help fix the toy my child broke, I could at least try to replace the toy or try to cover the loss in some other way.

One of the harms of anti-Chinese legislation decades ago has been in the shaping of our collective history around the history of some people but not others, so we do not even acknowledge or remember the long-term presence or legacy of people such as my grandfather and great-grandfather.

Although an apology could and should have taken place decades ago, it is still better late than never. Over the past two years, I have been involved at UBC in a broad campus effort to recognize Japanese Canadian students who had been forcibly removed from UBC in 1942, most of whom were never able to complete their degrees.

A singularly amazing retired schoolteacher, Mary Kitagawa, had written a letter in 2008 to the president of UBC, asking whether these 76 students could receive honorary degrees in recognition of what they had lost when they were taken away from their studies by legislated racism. Kitagawa never abandoned her quest for justice, and finally after four long years, UBC committed to try to make right an old wrong (watch a film clip of the event here). Even though only 11 of the students, now in their late 80s and 90s, could receive their degrees in person — the vast majority having died in the ensuing 70 years — the ceremony was moving and important precisely because this degree of justice was better late than never.

The Senate of UBC unanimously voted recently for the new Asian Canadian and Asian Migration studies program, fulfilling a pledge made in 2011 to create a permanent educational program so the history of anti-Asian racism that led to the forced removal of Japanese Canadians in 1942 would not be forgotten. The lessons learned at UBC from this process, and ones that the province might observe, is that an institution can effectively acknowledge the wrongs of the past, and that saying sorry should be more than just words.

As a province, just what are we apologizing for, and to whom are we apologizing? Anti-Chinese legislation in B.C. was persistent, broad in effect, and in place for the majority of our past. Provincial legislation enacted in 1871, soon after confederation, took the vote away from almost all those deemed non-white. Laws passed by the province in the ensuing decades restricted where Chinese and other Asian Canadians could work, whether they could own land or receive government contracts, even whether they could become professionals. Many provincial professional associations, for instance, deliberately excluded from membership those who could not vote in provincial elections, and because anti-Asian laws prevented Chinese and most other Asians from voting until 1947, they could not become doctors or lawyers or engineers in B.C. for the first half of our history.

A substantive apology needs to address the following:

1) Public education (K-12, university, museums, and mass media) about how our history was shaped by co-ordinated legislated racism and discrimination against not only Chinese Canadians and other Asian Canadians, but also first nations and aboriginal peoples, and the need to mitigate the damage and continuing legacies of policies such as the reserve system and aboriginal residential schooling.

2) Acknowledge the broader heritage of British Columbia through recognition of historical sites that are meaningful to those communities who have been left for so long out of our collective history. For instance, all along the Fraser River are astounding archaeological sites left by Chinese Canadian miners who built elaborate stone works. Last summer, a group of British Columbians aged 8-82 went on a river raft expedition to see these sites. (watch "Gold Mountain River") Yet our Heritage Protection Act does not legally protect these sites even though they date to the Gold Rush. The provincial government should change the date for qualifying for heritage status from 1840 to a later date that recognizes the importance of saving our shared heritage for future generations, as well as for the tourism that remains our No. 1 industry.

3) Create a permanent endowment in honour of those who suffered, worked through, and eventually overturned the legislated racism in B.C., with a goal of providing resources for public education and a long term re-imagining of our history and future. We often forget that those who were excluded and treated unfairly have done the most to create the more just and fair British Columbia that we now enjoy.

How should we all pay for this endowed fund? Although the federal government enacted the discriminatory Chinese head tax in 1885, the provincial government received about 40 per cent of the revenue gathered. This was not a trivial amount before the introduction of the income tax. The $23 million in total revenue Canada and B.C. split would be worth $1.5 billion today. Many of our bridges, hospitals, roads, and other provincial infrastructure were financed by a tax only the Chinese were forced to pay. Even if we only gave back a symbolic one per cent of the value of the head tax, that would still create a $15-million endowment to help remedy the damage done.

We need to re-think how we understand and teach our history, so it is accurate and recognizes both the long history of white supremacy that shaped our development as well as the continuous presence of the non-white peoples who have been here both before and throughout our province’s history. We still live with many of the legacies of that history, including the reserve system and residential schooling for first nations and aboriginal peoples on whose ancestral territory the province was built.

This revision of our common history and future cannot be limited to K-12 education. Public education through museums, mass media, and material aimed at new immigrants must also take place. We cannot build a common future for this society, especially considering the changing demographics of our classrooms and our neighbourhoods, unless we have a common history that reflects all of the histories of the peoples — including dark moments of discrimination and racism — who were in British Columbia together.

When the B.C. government makes its planned apology, there needs to be substance to go with the words. The apology is not primarily to people such as my grandfather and great-grandfather; they are no longer alive to hear or accept it. The apology is for all British Columbians to acknowledge and share in the collective responsibility we have for our shared history, and for all of us to work together for a shared future.

Dr. Henry Yu is a historian and associate professor of history and principal of St. John’s College at UBC. He served as the project lead for Chinese Canadian Stories at UBC, and the Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies at UBC. He also co-chaired the city of Vancouver Dialogues between First Nations, Urban Aboriginal, and Immigrant Communities project.

          

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Opinion+does+province+sorry/9642743/story.html#ixzz2wgJBgYbX

Sharing Our Stories: Vancouver Dialogues Project

In 2010, a groundbreaking cross-cultural project was launched. The Vancouver Dialogues Project created many ways for Aboriginal and immigrant communities to gather together in dialogue and cultural sharing. Set amidst the stunning landscape of Vancouver Coast Salish traditional territory, Sharing our Stories captures the personal reflections of some very thoughtful project participants, including Aboriginal elders and leaders Larry Grant, Leah George-Wilson and Marjorie White, as well as public figures John Ralston Saul and former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. The video celebrates the achievement of the project, while showcasing some of the diverse events and collaborations that took place. It is an inspiring tool for those wishing to engage in cross-cultural work and dialogue.

Teaching Chinese Canadian History

CBC Our Vancouver, February 1, 2014, with Gloria Macarenko

Bilingualism isn't a sign of Community Decay

OpEd in the Province "Racism in Paradise" Series, Oct. 7, 2013

http://www.theprovince.com/news/racism/Guest+column+Bilingualism+sign+community+decay/9007315/story.html

Guest column: Bilingualism isn’t a sign of community decay

Resentment over multiculturalism seems to fester just under the surface

BY HENRY YU, SPECIAL TO THE PROVINCE OCTOBER 7, 2013

• STORY
• PHOTOS ( 1 )

Professor Henry Yu.

Photograph by: Arlen Redekop , PROVINCE

While riding the 99B bus last year when it was filled to standing room only, I overheard a man say to his companion that he hated how people spoke Chinese to each other. He said it with a visceral anger that caught my attention. I noticed that he was staring at a group of young people across the aisle who were conversing in Cantonese.

I wondered what so infuriated this man. Were they saying something that had offended him? I listened for several minutes but they were just joking about a mutual friend. I realized that what angered the man was not what they were saying -- it was that he could not understand what they were saying. The man, in the meantime, was now telling his companion how Vancouver had gone “downhill.”

I spent the rest of my cross-city journey listening to this pair of conversations -- one a lighthearted discussion among friends, and the other a running social commentary about everything wrong with our society.

Who are we in this city? Is that crowded bus a microcosm of us? On the one hand a city full of young people speaking Chinese, Punjabi, Filipino, English, and dozens of other languages; on the other a seething mass of not-so-quiet resentment?

I was born in Vancouver and I have seen many profound changes here in my life. I also study these changes as a historian. As with many devoted Vancouverites, I wonder about our future together. But I see it through a different lens. For me, the question of who we are is tied to where we are, and when we are.

Where are we? We live in a place that is the product of a long series of continual engagements between trans-Atlantic migrants, trans-Pacific migrants, and indigenous peoples. Our neighbourhoods contain a diversity of origins but also other important aspects of what makes for a rich and vibrant society.

Richmond, a city that to many seems monolithically Chinese, in fact contains a diversity of ethnic Chinese from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. Some speak Cantonese and others speak Mandarin, languages as different from each other when spoken as Italian from French.

When are we? For the first half of our civic history, we were a city of many origins speaking many languages. These included Cantonese, Japanese, Punjabi, and English, but also many Coast Salish and First Nations languages.

We are again a city full of many origins and multiple languages. The challenge is how we deal with what happened in between. We are still recovering from a dark period when non-whites could not vote, were legally excluded from most good jobs, and could not live in many neighbourhoods.

Residential schooling systematically split aboriginal youth from their families in order to strip them of their language and culture.

On the whole, we have repudiated many of the laws and moral values that shaped that period. But there are still many legacies that remain and which cannot be wished away just by saying we have changed.

One of those legacies is the odd belief that it is better that we all speak only English for the benefit of those who can only speak English, rather than allowing those who can speak both English and other languages to be respected and even rewarded for being able to speak many languages. English is extremely useful as a lingua franca, a language used in common by many people who can also speak other languages. That is fundamentally different than saying we should all speak only English all the time.

In this city, almost all those under the age of 25 who can speak Chinese can also speak English. They have the wonderful ability to speak multiple languages.

Those Cantonese-speaking youngsters on the bus likely use English most of the time at school and work. Why be angry at them for being able to also carry on a conversation in another language?

Earlier this year, a proposal was made to Richmond City Council that would require all businesses to have English-language signs. We should celebrate the council’s rejection of that idea. For too long, anti-Asian laws existed in Vancouver and British Columbia that targeted Chinese and other Asians. The memory of that legacy is still raw.

Is there a challenge for non-Chinese customers in a Chinese restaurant that has only Chinese menus and signs? If those who cannot speak Chinese want to eat at some of the best Chinese restaurants in the world, my suggestion is to make a friend at work, or in your neighbourhood, or at your church, who can speak both English and Chinese.

To thank them for translating, host a meal in return. Rather than trying to pass laws, cross the aisle and create a social bond that will make a more civil society that talks and eats together.

Dr. Henry Yu is a professor of history at UBC and was the Co-Chair of the City of Vancouver’s “Dialogues between First Nations, Urban Aboriginal, and Immigrant Communities” Project.

© Copyright (c) The Province

White Canada Forever?

A shameful history

UBC historian Henry Yu believes the province's history of race-based policies is best described with a simple, shocking word: apartheid.

By The Province October 7, 2013

 

 

UBC historian Henry Yu believes the province's history of race-based policies is best described with a simple, shocking word: apartheid.
"We don't like to think of ourselves as a white supremacist society, but we were," said the founding member of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C. "We cleared people who were here first, we disenfranchised people. At the time, this was a white minority rule. Just go back and look at what they said at the time: 'White Canada Forever.' Doesn't that sound like South Africa?" It is a deeply uncomfortable question, but one British Columbians must confront if we are to truly grasp the way our past has shaped us, and to move past prejudices.
To Yu, the crucial difference between South Africa and ourselves is apartheid here
- in the form of laws banning ethnic groups from voting and immigrating - was dismantled without violence. "We are a more just society because people in that nightmare fought for their rights," Yu said. "But we're still dealing with these legacies."
B.C.'s deeply racist and exclusionary history spans many years and races. It includes our treatment of First Nations in the reserve system and residential schools, the Chinese head tax and Exclusion Act, discrimination against Indian passengers on the Komagata Maru and the Japanese internment. It has left a legacy of division in our society.
Take ethnic enclaves. The 1981 census counted six areas in Canada with 30 per cent ethnic residents. Today, there are over 260 ethnic enclaves in Canada.
Enclaves can be traced to British settlers who went west to avoid the French in the east and Eastern Europeans in the Prairies.
"You could have a land title in the British Properties that said you could not sell the land to nonwhites. They could play out this colonial vision in a way that wasn't possible in the rest of Canada," said Alden E. Habacon, UBC's director of intercultural understanding.
Without knowledge of history, he says, stereotypes about why cultures cluster together persist.
"White anxiety" that Indo-Canadians cluster in Surrey could be addressed by learning Indo-Canadians could buy land more easily in Surrey, which lacked the racist property restrictions of Vancouver. Where immigrants settled in desirable locations, we evicted them, like the selling off of Japanese properties along Kits Beach.
"We are living with the result of this history," said Habacon, a Filipino-Canadian.
"But we have so erased their memory. Ignorance of history is one of the most powerful colonial tools."
Barney Williams Jr. knows all about ignorance. A member of Tlaoquiaht First Nation, Williams was sent to a residential school at age five, where he was beaten for speaking his language, and abused by a priest. The schools left a generation with posttraumatic stress.
"We've had generations of violence, suicide, drug abuse, alcohol and dysfunctional families." Thousands of First Nations children were taught "we are a lazy good-for-nothing people. That is not true. We have a lot of successful First Nations, but nobody talks about them."
Williams is a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Residential Schools Survivor Committee. When he talks to students, he's found few non-native youth have even heard of this dark chapter.
Miko Hoffman of Burnaby's Nikkei National Museum laments that, for interned Japanese-Canadians, the legacy of racism was a hollowing out of their core.
"We had a geographic community, and that all disappeared," Hoffman said of the diaspora from Japan Town and Steveston.
"We lost the centre, the heart. We're still struggling to rebuild."
Blacks in B.C. also lost their centre when Hogan's Alley was razed in the 1970s to make way for the Georgia Viaduct. But blacks are often omitted from tallies of B.C.'s racist legacy.
One reason, said B.C. Black History Awareness Society president Mavis DeGirolamo, is they suffered more individual than legal discrimination. Blacks retained the right to vote, could join city council and buy land.
However, it didn't protect them from prejudice and segregation in public spaces like pools and theatres.
"We need oral histories to point to the day-to-day discrimination," said DeGirolamo.
Surrey Art Gallery curator and cultural historian Naveen Girn has made a career of telling day-to-day stories of cultural communities.
His research on Indo-Canadian history has revealed lost tales of intercultural integration: a Chinese photographer famed for Indo-Canadian portraits, a Hindu paper
printed on a Chinatown press.
Girn believes prejudices - like the view B.C.'s non-white ethnicities should assimilate in language, culture or dress - linger because of a poor grasp of how formative they are to our society.
"People say, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans," said Girn, whose parents hail from Fiji.
"But we are the Romans." Yu believes its time to stop blaming people for ethnic clustering or clinging to customs. To move forward, we need to see diversity as an asset.
"We are an incredibly vibrant society," Yu said, "but for most of B.C.'s history, diversity is something we tried to suppress."
Habacon's story points a way forward. Despite his grandparents' pleas to marry "his own kind," Habacon's wife is Chinese and they have a son with dual heritage. How can B.C. become as intercultural? "With intent," Habacon said.
"We've been winging it. Putting a bunch of different people together and thinking they'll work it out. It takes so much work and fostering to get to that."
And, added Habacon, it takes re-engaging with our racist past.
"The absence of knowledge is what reinforces racism," he said. "We can't get there without the history."
eoconnor@theprovince.com twitter.com/elaine_oconnor

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Fraser River Rafting for Ages 8 to 82

Fraser river raft expedition project (trailer clip) by Alejandro Yoshizawa

Fraser River Raft Expedition August 20-22, 2013

The Fraser River "Cedar and Bamboo" Raft Expedition--organized by UBC student Liz Cheong for the New Pathways to Gold Society and the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia--was a great success. We had participants from ages 8 to 82, with three of the dozen rafters above the age of 70, and three teenagers, all eager to have a unique experience that combined the fun and excitement of rafting on the Fraser River with the educational experience of visiting rarely seen historical sites from the Gold Rush and the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Some of the intricately built stone walls used by Chinese miners to create water ditches to look for gold over 150 years ago still remain intact as if they had just left yesterday. Trails that they had created through walking back and forth across the forests every day still show in the landscape. 

For the Chinese Canadians who took part in the expedition, being able to literally walk in the footsteps of Chinese miners and labourers was often a moving experience. Imagining the hard work that it must have taken to travel up the Fraser River and work together to build such impressive walls transformed history lessons from school into something much more real for the children and teens who went on the trip. Teenagers James and Hovy Qiu talked about how they learned things that they had never been taught in social studies about the importance of Chinese Canadians in the Gold Rush and in building the railway, and Hovy remarked that seeing the work that had gone into the stone walls at Browning reminded him of the feelings he had when he saw the Great Wall of China. 

For Mylo, the youngest member of the expedition at age 8, riding the river rapids was the funnest part of the trip. At first, he had been "scared thinking about Hell's Gate" but by the end of the trip, he was riding at the front of the boat and eager to rush to the next rapids!

Chloe, age 9, loved the feeling of camping on the beach and being able "to see so many stars" that she had never seen living in the city, and realizing how bright the full moon really was at night, "like a big lamp." 

From the impressive historical sites left by Chinese miners, to the exhilarating rapids at Hell's Gate and Sailor's Bar, everyone had fun and learned about just how important Chinese migrants up the Fraser had been to B.C. history, and how they engaged with the First Nations up and down the Fraser. The "Cedar and Bamboo" name for the expedition refers to the film made by CCHSBC, produced by former Board members Jennifer Lau and Karin Lee, and directed by Diana Leung and Kamala Todd, that told the story of the long history of Chinese-Aboriginal  interrelationships in B.C. 

For Dr. Henry Yu, born and raised in British Columbia, being able to see history come alive along every step of the Fraser River was a once in a lifetime experience. "I study this every day of my life, but it's a totally different thing to read it in a book versus seeing and touching it right in front of you." He thought of his own great-grandfather travelling up the Fraser to Lillooet, where he had worked in logging and mining camps, and became emotional when he realized that he might be walking in his very footsteps. For Dr. Yu, the trip brought together in a profound way his work as a scholar of history and his own personal history as a descendent of pioneer Chinese Canadian migrants. 

The expedition also involved students and researchers from UBC who made a film focusing on the experiences of the Chinese Canadians on the trip as they explored the rich history of the Fraser River and the importance of relationships between Chinese and the First Nations who lived there. CCHSBC's student representative Sarah Ling, a graduate student at UBC who researches Chinese Canadian farms on Musqueam reserve at the mouth of the Fraser River, brought a unique perspective on the trip, noting how Chinese migrants 150 years ago were respectful of the customs and land of First Nations where they mined and worked. They would dig for gold while being careful to leave "sacred sites untouched" and built good relations with local First Nations communities, in contrast to the way that many of the other miners treated indigenous peoples. Sarah was the recent recipient at UBC of the Chinese Railroad Workers Commemorative Scholarship, and so being able to see first hand on the banks of the Fraser the railroad that the Chinese built was a fitting way to honour the workers for which the scholarship was endowed.

For Chinese Canadian elders Larry Wong, author of Dim Sum Stories, and Lily Chow, author of Sojourners in the North and other important books about Chinese Canadian history in B.C., the river raft trip might have seemed too much a challenge for those in their senior years, especially for 82-year old Lily Chow. But it was "worth it to see these important historical sites." In fact, they worried about the need to create some kind of preservation policy to make sure that future generations will be able to see and study these invaluable sites. Without protection, this important history will be lost and younger generations like those who went along on this trip will not be able to have the same learning experience. 

The New Pathways to Gold Society supported the expedition, as well as commissioning young film makers Alejandro Yoshizawa (former undergraduate at UBC who first made oral history films in Prof. Yu's history classes and whose documentary shorts for "Chinese Canadian Stories" was nominated for a Leo Award in 2012) and Farzine Macrae to create a video chronicle of the groups trip down the Fraser. Yoshizawa put together a quick preview of  some of the footage from the trip, https://vimeo.com/73050762, but expect in the coming months a series of short films as well as educational resources about the important historical sites along the Fraser late next year. The plan is to work with teachers to create fun and yet informative learning materials that highlight the relatively unknown stories of Chinese migrants and their engagements with the First Nations throughout British Columbia. If there is interest, CCHSBC may organize an annual expedition exploring important Chinese Canadian historical sites along the Fraser River.

UBC student Liz Cheong, who worked with Prof. Yu in the "Chinese Canadian Stories" project which CCHSBC supported, did a fantastic job organizing the the expedition, creating everything from the initial proposal to the budget and daily itinerary, even enlisting her own sister Sincere to come along! Liz did all of this despite the fact that she was headed to London for a semester abroad just three days after the Fraser River trip! Liz summed up the meaning of the trip to her, capturing the sentiments of many who were fortunate enough to go:

"I had a really great time on the trip. It was a privilege to be able to visit the places that we did and I feel like everyone should have a chance to witness in person the beauty and rich history of the Fraser River corridor. Even if I wasn't Chinese, I would've been impressed by sites such as Browning's Diggings and remnants of the Cariboo Wagon Road; but because so many of the miners and workers were Chinese, I was truly inspired and felt a sense of connectedness to the region. The river raft journey was also very exciting! I think everyone, no matter what age, had a blast."
 

Gold Mountain River: Exploring History on the Fraser


Gold Mountain River: Exploring History on the Fraser (Chinese version)

Elaborate Stonework Created by Chinese Miners in the 1860s at Browning's Diggings

(all photos courtesy of Al Yoshizawa)

Children's Charade on Point Grey Road

Children’s charade on Point Grey Road finally ends

Opinion: Road signs sent powerful messages about disparity in Vancouver

BY HENRY YU, SPECIAL TO THE VANCOUVER SUN AUGUST 6, 2013

Ten years ago, commuting every day between downtown and the University of British Columbia on Point Grey Road, it struck me that there were a lot of “Children Playing” signs urging motorists to drive 30 km/h.

They seemed to be everywhere. Curious, I stopped and counted them. On or within a half block of Point Grey Road between Macdonald and Alma, there are 23 “Children Playing” signs.

That is probably the highest concentration in an eight-block stretch for “Children Playing” signs in all of Vancouver. I know that when I used to live in East Vancouver I could go for 10 blocks without even seeing a single such sign. In fact, when I was in Grade 2 walking home from school, I had been struck by a car and nearly killed trying to cross Knight Street because for a 10-block stretch between 12th Avenue and Kingsway, there was not a single pedestrian crosswalk at the time (there is now one), and certainly no “Children Playing” signs anywhere to be seen. This was despite the presence in that neighbourhood of multiple elementary schools and Clarke Park playground, as well as a very high concentration of family homes with young children.

For the last 10 years, every time I drove along Point Grey Road, those 23 “Children Playing” signs sent powerful messages about disparity in this city. After a decade of daily commuting, I have yet to see a single child under the age of 18 in those eight blocks. Indeed, my hunch is that if I accessed census data, I would find that those eight blocks might have the lowest number of school age children per capita in the city, certainly lower than any eight-block stretch in East Van.

Why are there 23 “Children Playing” signs along Point Grey Road when there are so few children playing? Perhaps it is about the desire of city engineers to slow down traffic and an inexplicable lack of road signs for 30 km/h that did not have children on them. Perhaps it is about wealth and the power to create favourable changes to traffic patterns in ways that those without wealth cannot.

Whatever the reason, I am glad that the charade of “Children Playing” on Point Grey Road will soon end. With the cars gone, the need for those 23 road signs will also be gone. Perhaps then we can all think about another message that those eight blocks long symbolized: the idea that the public good should take precedence over the desires of the few, even if those few happen to be extremely rich. Within those eight blocks of beautiful views of sea and mountains — and extremely high land values — there are three public parks giving every citizen in Vancouver access to those same views. I am sure that if those lots were sold, some very expensive houses could be built. But unlike in Malibu and parts of southern California, where private houses often cut off access to the water for everyone else, those parks represent the protection in Vancouver of the public good, even in the heart of great wealth and privilege.

Democracy does not require an equal distribution of wealth among all citizens. But it does require that great wealth not become synonymous with unchecked power. I will miss using Point Grey Road as a commuting shortcut, but at least Vancouverites will still have access both on foot and on bikes, and I will not miss those 23 road signs. The misuse of something as straightforward as a “Children Playing” sign was long a bad sign for all of us.

Henry Yu was born in Vancouver, growing up in East Van, and now teaches history at UBC.