A Long History of Prejudice in Canada - Essay Example

Canadian History Canadian History Canada has a long history of prejudice dating back to the beginning of its settlement. Prejudice was evident in the Aboriginals and the European colonizers. Europeans viewed aboriginals as low life people, terming them noble salvages. In the wake of the 19th century, Canada experienced an influx of immigrants due to its economic development. Immigrants from different origins sought to seek work in the white people’s states.1 The Europeans discriminated the aboriginals based on their faith and considered them as inferior to them.2 French speaking people were also discriminated which resulted to conflict between the French and English speaking people. Blacks were not left behind since most of them went to Canada after fleeing America where they had been brought as slaves. In Canada, they could not access most social facilities as their skin color betrayed them.3 At the same time, the Jews were treated worse than Blacks as some of the leaders thought they would pollute the Canadians bloodstream. Jews were forbidden from accessing social amenities like the Blacks. In spite of all the discrimination, Canada needed work force which its citizens could not do and therefore relied on the immigrants.4 The history of Chinese people migrating to Canada was fisrt recorded in 1788. During this period, the Chinese people migrated first to Nootka in North America. This was followed by large scale migration of other Chinese as a result of gold mining taking place in Fraser Canyon. During this time, many Chinese settlements were established in the British colonies in America such as New Westminster, Barkerville and Victoria. Due to the increased number of Chinese people, they expanded their centers to the interiors of the towns thereby making permanent settlements. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway commenced after the gold rush attracting the Chinese people. Due to the newly found job, the Chinese people began moving eastward thereby establishing other settlements in the Canadian cities. In this case, Chinese settlement in Canada was a contrast of their stay in the previous towns. The late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century resulted in the widespread intolerance of Asians in Canada. Canadians viewed the arrival of the Asians as a threat to them since they thought they had come to take jobs from the working groups. The first group of Chinese arrived in Canada in 1858. The group came to work in the gold mines in British Columbia and it consisted mostly of young immigrants.5Most of the Chinese were illiterate as well as landless who sought refuge in Canada after escaping the unbearable population pleasures, internal rebellion and western colonization threats in China. Thus, most of the people would send upkeep resources to their families in China. The whites saw the Chinese as poor peasants who were disease ridden and felt that they were immoral in their lifestyles6. As a result, there was heightened prejudice because the Canadian government contributed largely to the prejudice.7 For instance, politicians ordered citizens publicly to kick out Asians. Also, high taxes were imposed to the immigrants as well as discriminatory laws were enacted as a way of discouraging them from entering their territory. The next wave of immigrants from China was in the1880s which came to construct a final section of the Canadian pacific railway in British Columbia. Coming from China, they were assigned most of the dangerous tasks. Such tasks included carrying heavy rocks as well as dealing with explosives.8 As a result of the harsh conditions they were subjected to brutality leading to the death of four people during construction of every mile of the railway.9 As a way of pushing them aside, they would earn a dollar in one day which was a third of the white man’s daily wage. After the completion of the railway, British Columbia was faced with an economic recession resulting in massive unemployment. Due to the increased number of Chinese immigrants, the whites feared that the Chinese would take away their remaining jobs. Therefore, they pressured the government to intervene. Most politicians in British Columbia were not left aside as they feared the end results of the increased number of the Chinese immigrants. The federal government did not hesitate in its action against the Chinese people. To start with, it passed the first Anti-Chinese law that imposed a $50 head tax on every person of Chinese origin entering Canada. In spite of the tax, the Chinese immigrants continued to come to Canada which made the head tax to rise to $100 in 1900 and $500 in 1903. In the wake of 20th century, $500 would represent a two year wage for the Chinese workers.10 After the head tax failed, the federal government opted for a Chinese immigration act. This was done in 1923 whereby it prohibited almost all Chinese from entering Canada.11 This was followed by a law requiring all Chinese to register as residents of Canada. The fine for refusal to register was $500, one year imprisonment or both. As a way of enforcing the Act, Canada immigrant officers were given the mandate to arrest anyone they suspected of being in Canada illegally. The result of the heavy head tax to the Chinese was that a bachelor’s Chinese community was created in Canada. This is because the Chinese laborers in Canada were poorly paid and therefore could not afford to pay for the head tax of their families. This made majority leave their wives and children back in China while they came to Canada to look for work.12 However, a few Chinese still managed to bring along their families. The years that followed First World War Canadians were successful in the implementation of head tax law as well as the Chinese Exclusion Act. The only people of Chinese origin who were allowed to enter Canada were diplomats, students and merchants. Following the World War I was the great depression which caused huge economic uncertainty.13 Canada was not exempted from this economic shake that was experienced globally. Most countries experienced the economic backlog.Nevertheless, the political unrest in China made it difficult to relieve unease on the safety of Chinese families back at home. Majority of Chinese were excluded from all types of works during this period.14 Their only option was to join the army after being rejected by both the air force and the navy. Notably, most of the Chinese immigrants resulted to seek jobs in the different towns in British Columbia. They could not select jobs and therefore they would do any job that they came across. Some opted to working in hotels while others worked as shop attendants.The successful ones were able to open their own businesses like Chinese restaurants as well as laundry services.15 Opening such businesses by Chinese people was done with the fear of the businessese getting damaged by Canadian authorities since it had happened to them some time back.16 Therefore, this was only an attempt of making ends meet by these Chinese immigrants.Those that had joined the army helped Canada after Japan bombed Perl Harbor which resulted to Japan making enemies with both China and Canada. The end of Second World War was noted with Chinese contribution in the battle fields. In spite of them doing shoddy jobs in the battle field like burying the dead and catering for the injured, their efforts were disregarded. This made the Chinese Immigration Act to be repealed whereby Chinese Canadians gained votes in all the provinces that they visited. However, reunification of the Chinese Canadian community was not easy due to the separation that had been enforced by Exclusion Act.17 The restrictions ensured that it was impossible for one to sponsor their families. In conclusion, the predicaments of the Chinese people during their stay in Canada will remain as history to both countries. Facing all the restrictions and discrimination while other races and ethnicities were well treated was the worst form of humiliation during that period. This was as a result of political instability in their motherland as well as population outburst. However, the Chinese people hold a unique nature since they did not wage revenge after attaining political stability in their country. Similarly, those that became Canadian citizens did not discriminate their fellow Canadians. This is a lesson that all people regardless of their origin should learn. Notably, it is through the help of the Chinese immigrants that the Canadians were able to fight their wars. Therefore, the Canadians have learnt a lot from their discrimninative nature towards the Chinese community. Also, the Chinese have taught many races on the importance of being humble. It is through their humility that they were accepted as citizens in Canada, a land that they were initially immigrants. References Chan, Anthony B. Gold Mountain: the Chinese in the New World = [Jinshan]. Vancouver, ( New Star Books, 1983). Wickberg, Edgar. From China to Canada. Toronto ( Ont: McClelland & Stewart 1982). James, S. Woodsworth. Strangers within our gates; or, Coming Canadians. Toronto, (Ont: F.C.Stephenson. Stephenson, 1909). Read More