Does Canada’s history of racism continue to shape our communities?
What: Public talk with UBC associate professor about Chinese immigration
Who: UBC Innovation Library presents history professor Henry Yu
When: Tuesday, May 15, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Okanagan Innovation Centre, 460 Doyle Avenue, Kelowna
Even today, decades after the adoption of Canada’s Bill of Rights and Freedoms, legacies of British Columbia’s earlier history of anti-Chinese legislation linger as some blame Chinese buyers for inflated housing prices.
Last month, Vancouver issued a formal apology for the city’s history of anti-Chinese discrimination after examining its historical use of legal power to enforce racist policies and legislation. In 2014, the BC Legislature unanimously supported a formal apology for the province’s history of anti-Chinese policies. Yet two years later the provincial government passed a Foreign Buyers Tax, ominously reminiscent of the Chinese Head Tax in place a century before.
UBC Associate Professor Henry Yu will discuss British Columbia’s history of anti-Chinese racism and the importance of understanding its legacies. During this special event, he will talk about a better way to understand historical wrongs and provide insight into where we are now and where we are going in the future.
Yu, an award-winning author who teaches on UBC’s Vancouver campus, served from 2015 to 2018 as the co-chair of BC’s Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council and on the Vancouver’s Historical Discrimination Against Chinese Peoples Advisory Group.
An open discussion, moderated by CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton, will follow the presentation. This free community event is open to the public and takes place at the Okanagan Innovation Centre on May 15. Registration is required: henry-yu-ubco.eventbrite.ca.
This event is sponsored by the UBC Okanagan Innovation Library and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.
