In our ASTU class, we have spent a considerable amount of time focusing on the concept of memory and the importance of remembrance.  “A Degree of Justice: Japanese Canadian UBC Students of 1942”, is a film created to immortalize the experiences of these adolescents, comparing their lives before and after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The film is rife with horrifying first hand accounts of institutional racism towards Japanese Canadians; among other things, strict curfews were imposed, the government barred their own citizens from continuing their education, and innocent parents taken from their families, never to be seen again.  As disturbing as these extreme examples are, one of the moments in the film that struck me most was when one former UBC student said that his Chinese friend offered to get a hold of an ID for him.  (Presumably white) Canadians had such a difficult time determining who was of Japanese descent, that they deemed it necessary to provide Chinese Canadians with identification cards so they would not be punished for breaking the (Japanese only) curfew.  This example does an effective job of showing that what mattered was perceived race.  

Since arriving in Vancouver, I have personally felt the emphasis placed on perceived race.  I’m half Indian, though incredibly pale; everywhere else I have been, others have viewed me as white.  In fact, in some instances, people have not believed me when I mentioned my heritage (how bizarre of a lie would this be?!), begrudgingly accepting the truth only when I show them a photo of my dad or grandparents.  However, in Vancouver, I have had quite a few jarring experiences where, upon meeting someone for the first time, I am asked, point blank, “So what’s your ethnic background?”.  I sense that it is simply curiosity – not ill intent or maliciousness – coming from these strangers, and there are definitely no systemic issues at play (meaning that my experience here is not at all comparable to that of UBC’s Japanese Canadian students in 1942), but I think it is interesting that seventy five years later, we are still so focused on determining others’ ethnicity.