Racism in time of pandemic raises its ugly head

Bigots responsible for hateful graffiti must be punished, David Wright says.

As the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded in Alberta and across Canada, I have, until very recently, been pleased and proud that Calgary has avoided overt racist incidents or expressions against Chinese people.

A few weeks ago, I was gratified when a high-ranking Chinese diplomat in our city told me that unlike several other provinces and cities in Canada, Calgary had thus far not seen any public incidents of anti-chinese racism.

But alas, this is now no longer the case. During the wee hours over the weekend, some wretch with a heart full of hate, a can full of spray paint, and a life apparently devoid of any meaningful substance scrawled obscene brickbats directed at China and the Chinese on at least three points along a retaining wall in the community of Morley, directly east and opposite the University of Calgary Ctrain station. One of the graffiti was strategically placed for maximum exposure at the entrance to a bridge for pedestrians crossing over from Morley to the station.

I am dismayed that these graffiti were up for at least two days, unchallenged and unremoved. Hate speech is like a virus or virulent contagion — it must be eliminated or controlled just as soon as humanly possible, lest it spread. Of all the graffiti requiring abatement in Calgary, this variety should have top priority. It should be removed within 24 hours of the first report of it.

(Then later this week, racist graffiti appeared near the Chinese consulate with a similar hateful message.)

I wish there were some way I could convey adequately to the broader anglophone community the apprehension and disappointment that such overt racism bestirs among Chinese communities in Calgary, who collectively constitute almost 10 per cent of our city’s population. The industrious and upstanding Chinese residents of Calgary have been through a lot during the pandemic, more, I think, than any non-chinese community can imagine.

They are at least as distressed as everyone else in Calgary is over the COVID-19 pandemic, and likely significantly more so. They have endured months of intense alarm over how the virus has ravaged their ancestral homeland and now runs through their beloved new country of choice as well. They deserve empathy and support, not blame for governmental inactions and incompetence completely beyond their control.

And to the pusillanimous little milksops responsible for this evil: The absolutely overwhelming majority of Calgarians reject your blind irrational hatred. You yourself are too ashamed and fearful to own up to your ugly bigotry publicly. Instead of acting in the wide light of day and assuming ownership and responsibility for the expression of your racist views, you must skulk around under cover of night and air them anonymously by doodling on public installations and infrastructure. You have to act this way because you know that your bigotry is unacceptable in a civilized society. All of this is a way of saying that you are a coward.

I have checked with the Calgary Police Service, and they have informed me that spraying these graffiti is indeed a hate crime and an offence against public property. So congratulations, you’re not just intellectually deficit and morally depraved — you’re a criminal.

I hope you are caught, convicted and sentenced to condign punishment for your hateful misdeeds.

If ultimately you were to prove unable to develop remorse for your crimes because you have no conscience, at least you would have to endure the ignominy and vexation of a criminal conviction on your record. David Curtis Wright is a history professor at the University of Calgary who specializes in Chinese and Mongolian history. He is on the board of directors of the Northwestern China Community Association of Alberta.