Two White Rock city council candidates say they encountered racism on the campaign trail during the city's recent byelection.
The Sept. 27 byelection, which saw Anthony Manning and Susan Bains elected from a field of 21 candidates, was held to replace seats at the council table formerly held by Ernie Klassen, who was elected South Surrey-White Rock MP April 28, and Michele Partridge, who stepped down for health reasons.
Jas Singh Dhaliwal, one of the candidates, is a lawyer who was born in Canada and grew up in South Surrey. Dhaliwal says he wanted to help his community and thought that by running, he might have a chance to get to know people and gain the experience to become a city councillor.
"I had no idea where to start (after going through the application process). I created a Facebook page, created an Instagram, and I posted in one of the community groups in White Rock," he recalled.
"I wanted to know, what are the issues that people actually want to see (addressed)? What are the issues that people (care about)? And right off the bat, it was (people responding), 'I think the essence of the problem is people like you' as a comment. And I was like, 'Oh my God.'"
Facebook page garners hateful comments
Comments on his Jas 4 White Rock Facebook page included people posting abut how they would never vote for a certain race, telling him to "fu** off, get out of my country go back to your country," general hateful comments, and even memes saying "Let the Deportations Begin," among other negative comments.
"Deport you! White Rock is a Conservative white types town. Go stay in Surrey! Or better ship you back to India?” wrote one commenter.
"Others simply dismissed me outright with curt hostility: Hard pass, No!, Definitely not, and Please don’t," Dhaliwal wrote in a letter to Peace Arch News. "These remarks were not about policy. They were about identity. They judged me not as a candidate but as a racialized person daring to run for office."
(You can read Dhaliwal's full account of his experiences in a column here.)
Having thrown his hat in the ring with the honest hope of representing the community, the online vitriol and hate really stung, Dhaliwal said.
Dhaliwal – who turned up for candidate meetings, responded to a Peace Arch News candidate questionnaire and made himself available to voters in meet-and-greets – ended up in 20th in the voting, with 31 votes.
"I was so ready for the election to be over. It's disheartening," he said, adding he's still glad that he set a goal to do something new and accomplished it. "If you feel that strongly about what you're saying behind a computer screen, then why do you not have that courage to say it in front of a particular person? Now, every time I go out, say to Superstore or Walmart ... when somebody looks at me, it's like, 'What are they really thinking?' And it kind of makes me feel uneasy. It's scary, right."
Bains, who is also South Asian, said she didn't experience racist comments or hate rhetoric at the level Dhaliwal did, but "that was a fear of mine, for sure."
"I know that that exists in this community ... the mindset is still there," Bains said. "I mean, it exists everywhere, but you see it in the community group chats."
Bains said she has often seen or heard comments about "how many more Indian restaurants" does the city need in such groups — and even in person while she was campaigning.
"One time I did get that. It was very awkward ... I'm the only person of colour in this room at this moment, and (someone) says that comment. About how there's people that are like restaurants with the same kind of food. It was like saying Indian restaurants without (actually) saying Indian restaurants ... (they) were saying that they're speaking this language ... it was straight-up racism. It was uncomfortable. It had no relevance to anything."
Bains doesn't understand why it should matter how many kinds of restaurants there are, whether Mexican, Chinese, Indian, burger, sushi, sandwich, food truck or other.
"These are people opening businesses."
'An infection from the south'
University of British Columbia political science professor Terri Givens — who is well-known for her memoir, Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides, as well as her most recent book The Roots of Racism: The Politics of White Supremacy in the US and Europe — says the rise of such hate and intolerance in recent years is likely because people are feeling more emboldened to spread such bigotry and hostility.
"It's an infection from the south that is spreading into Canada ... and people are looking at the economy is an issue, inflation is an issue. People are looking for scapegoats instead of looking at the oligarchs and the billionaires ... they're looking at immigrants instead," Givens said.
Even if people aren't actually immigrants, they're being targeted because of the colour of their skin, she noted, not only in Canada, but across the U.S. and Europe as well. And there's nothing wrong with being an immigrant, Givens added.
"The U.S., Canada — we're countries of immigration. We've always been strong because of immigration. I've been studying the far right (and) the anti-immigrant fire since the '90s, and this has been a theme that has been building and building and building," she said.
Historically, there are ups and downs related to racism, Givens continued, whether Chinese exclusion in the 1870s in the States (and Canada around the same time) or the development of whites-only policies as well, which didn't only happen in North America.
Canada was built on immigration
"Our leaders in Canada need to stand up and say we are a country of immigration. We support our immigrants. And even if they aren't immigrants, we support our people, period. End of story," she said, especially in light of recent anti-immigration rhetoric from provincial and federal leaders in Canada. "We have a country in Canada that has been pro-immigrant, and we need to remember that we we are built on immigration."
Givens, Bains and Dhaliwal agree education and awareness about acceptance, kindness and inclusion is key, but likely won't change any Facebook poster's point of view.
"There's nothing you can do to make them change their minds, but what you can do is to show acceptance, to show awareness. And going forward and saying it's not accepted. 'We don't accept this. We don't condone it.' And build some community events and or forums if needed, but it needs to be said. It is there," said Bains.
Dhaliwal isn't sure if he'll ever run for any office again but is hopeful human beings — locally and around the world — will eventually create a kinder world.
"To each their own, but I think I think people kind of like to turn a blind eye to it as well ... I think it does matter."
