Graffiti attacks on consulate reflects rising racism against Asians

CALGARY — Racist graffiti repeatedly scrawled on a wall of downtown Calgary’s Chinese consulate is an ugly symbol of mounting racist attacks levelled at local Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic, say human-rights activists.

At about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, three people in dark clothing and masks left an expletive-laden message including the words “Chinese virus” and condemning “the Chinese” in black spray paint on the front red-brick wall of the diplomatic compound.

City police say they’re investigating the incident that was caught on surveillance video as a possible hate crime, and say it’s the second time the building’s been tagged in the past week — the first was May 19.

That follows similar graffiti spray painted last weekend on at least three spots on a retaining wall along Crowchild Trail adjacent to the University of Calgary which police are also investigating.

Rosalind Kang said it’s not surprising amid a climate of rising intolerance in Canada and Calgary, and after she was the victim of a man’s racist harangue in a northeast supermarket in mid-April.

“I was a bit shaken at first and then asked him, ‘what did you just say?’ ” said Kang, an ethnic Chinese Malaysian native who was wearing a surgical mask at the time.

“He continued to berate me and it escalated.”

Kang said she alerted staff to the racist cursing, which the man denied before leaving the store.

Store management, she said, reacted well and offered to escort her to the parking lot for her safety.

“It’s the first time I’ve been walked by security to my car,” said Kang.

“In the past, I’ve had the occasional person yelling from their car to ‘go home’ but people now are more emboldened to be more racist.”