A Timeline of Racial Discrimination in Canada (Essay Sample)

1925 to 1965- A Timeline of Racial Discrimination in Canada
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The historical experiences surrounding the lives of Chinese immigrants are heart-wrenching. As a laborer working in Vancouver, the 1925 period saw extreme discrimination to Chinese immigrants. As a new immigrant having entered through the southern boundaries of Canada, I found the settlement in a famous city in Toronto and soon secured employment in a wood processing industry. Racial oppression to new immigrants was done on the basis of inadequate payment, tragic working conditions and extreme tasks before lunch and dinner periods.
Because of our distinctiveness as southern Chinese, we were exposed to humiliation and victimization at the hands of the rigorous Canadian white community.The animosity began to build up through the 1930s as one of the greatest recessions hit the country. The greatest cause of friction and hostility towards Chinese immigrants came into two folds; a great fear of political views that were majorly radical. These perspectives concealed themselves through communism. Leaders and unionists like Robert Browser and the Royal Commissioner Clut Munn emphasized to make white communities more coherent and distant from immigrants. The second cause of racial conflict came due to fear of financial recession. The native white community believed the emergence of Chinese settlements had an adverse impact on the economy. They found the communities dominated consumption of valuable resources. Therefore, giving these fears, animosity brewed that saw massive exploitation of Chinese immigrants (Simmons, 2010).
At the wake of 1930, there wasthe formation of the first Chinatown in response to hostile receptions. Many Chinatowns formed gradually through 1934 and 1936 that addressed racial discrimination through campaigns and strikes (Anderson, 1987). Despite efforts to end racism and enhance equality of races and ethnicities, Chinese were still viewed as sub-standard and unable to be integrated with nativist communities. Indeed, the government passed a Chinese Immigrant Act that banned the migration of ordinary peopleto Canada. The only Chinese allowed access to Canada were those of significant importance including diplomats and exchange students. However, as 1930 came to an end, the anti-Semitism era saw ordinary immigrants into Canada although a proof was required to show they were farmers (Simmons, 2010).
As a laborer in Vancouver, I found discrimination a bit relaxed towards 1943. During this time, there were significant relationships between Canadians and Asians – mostly Chinese and Japanese immigrants. Indeed, the director of the Canadian Immigration Branch encouraged the involvement of Chinese in most industries. Fredrick Blair raised the cost of immigration to $15,000 supporting a new surge of force from the south would enable Canada achieve the much-desired success; including industrialization and success in the World War II. In the early 40s, the Asiatic Exclusion League was long faded as the white communists groups began to see the value of immigrants. As Barnholden writes in the Lessons of the Anti-Asiatic Riot, the AEL group became less represented at a higher level leading to its downfall at the wake of 1945 (Barnholden, 2007).
Forty years down, there was the heated struggle for the liberation of Chinese and Japanese immigrants on a foreign soil. The unique experiences of Chinese characters, most of who were working as laborers, were filled with despair and loss. However, strategic efforts by Chinatowns a...