Anti-racism education in the cosmopolis: Reflection by Chinese Canadian elites about race and racism (Ontario)

Anti-racism education is presently not inclusive of Chinese Canadians and largely incompatible and unable to effectively grapple with the complex dynamics of a cosmopolis such as Toronto. This study draws upon in-depth interviews with eleven Chinese Canadians, nine of whom are elites (materially privileged) and two working class individuals. The participants were all of first generation or 1.5 generation in Canada. It is suggested that anti-racism education could be improved by adopting Ang and Stratton's (1996) concept of critical transnationalism, taking ambivalence seriously, and jettisoning modernist categories of "left" and "right" in order to seek innovative collaborations and solidarities with Chinese elites. Interviews with elite Chinese Canadian men highlight the saliency of race and racism in their lives, particularly in relation to masculinities, and heterosexual and gay dating dynamics. The men signal to anti-racism education the saliency of ambivalence and third space (Bhabha, 1994) in their lives and how understanding racism is unintelligible without considerations of sexualities. Two Chinese Canadian women participants in this study differ from the other interviewees, as they express non-support for anti-racism education. These two women also report that they do not experience racism or sexism in their lives. However, they engage in reclaiming Orientalism as a strategic move to resist racism and sexism. Their ability to reclaim Orientalism likely contributes to their non-support of anti-racism education, as this strategy thus renders anti-racism unnecessary for maintaining and reproducing these women's lived realities. The study concludes by expounding the efficacious and political expediency of using race as the primary lens for understanding all other oppressions.