On March 16, 2021, a white gunman shot eight people dead at three spas in Atlanta, six of them Asian women. The racialization of the COVID-19 virus has brought Anti-Asian racism to new heights, with over 600 incidents reported in Canada since the onset of the pandemic, in the international geopolitics of anti-China sentiment. These events took place in the context of increased visibility of ongoing anti- Black police brutality, as well as the 2021 uncovering of over 1,000 Indigenous children buried in the grounds of Canada’s residential schools. In response, grassroots and transnational anti-racist activisms were galvanized.

Japanese Canadians (JCs) may hold a unique position in Canada, with the history of state-sanctioned violence (the incarceration of 21,000 JCs during WWII) as well as the subsequent successful nationwide activism to induce the Redress and Apology from the federal government for that violence, showing the strengths of community. At the same time, while widely seen as a model minority, JCs have the highest inter-marriage rate, which means that JC youths are often multi-ethnic, leading some to wonder if JC communities are “disappearing.”

This project builds on the Principal Investigator’s SSHRC-sponsored Japanese Canadian Arts and Activism Project, which pointed to the inspiring currents of activism that have forged positive spaces for identity, connections and community, even during the pandemic. On the other hand, their stories of organizing are often not recognized widely beyond the major achievement of the Redress. Further, while some strong solidarity activities with anti-racist and decolonial activism exist, community-wide recognition seems limited. At this unique historic juncture, this project aims to examine how diverse JCs discuss identities and belonging in response to a heightened sense of racialization, and further explores how these discussions may (or may not) lead to organizing efforts and allyship with other racialized and/or colonized peoples. Also considering the fact that JC youths have multi ethnic/multi-racial roots, in what ways can we/JCs contribute to racial justice towards liberation for all?

The proposed research aims to: (A) Critically examine how diverse JCs express their cultural identities within the current situations of anti-Asian racism and anti-racist/anti-colonial social movements, with special attention to the connections (or missing connections) to the JC mass Incarceration; (B) Theorize diverse pathways in which JC identities are expressed and explore whether (and if so, how) one’s own experience and awareness of various forms of oppression may lead to Subtle Modes of Organizing (informal spheres of coming together, negotiating identity and consciousness, potentially leading to future mobilization); and (C) Engage JC youths in research training, leadership development and knowledge mobilization as Youth Research Fellows.