Fighting racism during the pandemic
Swift Current caregiver and activist says #Standtogether offers ‘message of unity’
While racism has raised its head during the COVID-19 pandemic, Joyce Genova wants Canadians to know that many recent immigrants and new citizens are also working on the front lines to keep people safe.
After moving from the Philippines to Canada six years ago, Genova settled in Swift Current, where she has worked as a continuing care assistant at the longterm care facility The Meadows for the last four years. A year ago, she proudly became a Canadian citizen.
She said the Swift Current community has been friendly and welcoming to her, and is grateful that she has not experienced any racism during the pandemic.
Others of Asian heritage across North America have been less fortunate, however, experiencing discrimination because of the virus’s discovery in China.
“We as immigrants or new Canadians, we are proud of our contribution in our new homes,” Genova said in a recent phone interview.
“We hope that Canadians everywhere know that in a time when we are being told to keep a distance, it’s (more) important than ever that we all stand together.”
That’s why she decided to join the #Standtogether campaign, organized by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC). The ICC launched the national campaign on Tuesday with the goal of fighting racism and encouraging people to support one another even as people are asked to stay physically distant.
“The campaign is a message of unity and hope for everyone, so I said ‘I want to take part in this,’” she said. “I want to be an active citizen.”
The campaign features a video with clips from numerous frontline workers from across Canada, all of whom became Canadian citizens in the last year.
Yasir Naqvi, CEO of the ICC, said he hopes the campaign reminds people of the important work immigrants and new citizens are doing in their communities and how much these people value the opportunity to live in Canada.
He knows that gratitude from firsthand experience. Naqvi moved to Canada with his family as a teenager more than 30 years ago. He went to university in Ontario, becoming a lawyer before being elected as a Member of Provincial Parliament and spending more than a decade in that role.
“I think what this pandemic demonstrated is how much work (new Canadians) do on the front lines,” Naqvi said.
“Unfortunately, what we also see during this pandemic is some people are using this health crisis as a way to divide us, to promote racism and xenophobia, and we want to reject that notion.”
Naqvi said he has noticed Chinese-canadians are particularly being targeted. He called this racism “unacceptable” and hopes people will work together to support and encourage newcomers in their community even after the pandemic has ended.
“The disease is not caused by a certain group of people, nationality (or) ethnicity. This is a virus,” he said. “Let’s not get into the trap of dividing us. Let’s not get into the trap of finger-pointing groups of people or sow division between us.”