ABSTRACT
Is “Chinese” a neutral term that refers only to one's country of origin or ethnicity? Or instead, is it a racialized identity that has derogatory connotations that were deeply rooted in history? This chapter examines anti-Chinese sentiment and movement during the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries in Canada. A few central racial stereotypes have been constructed revolving around the presumed “Oriental Threat” to whites, including competitors, opium smokers/gamblers/disease carriers, and sojourners. Did early Chinese immigrants truly threaten Canada economically, culturally, and socially? Why were Chinese targeted and represented in this way and to what end? This chapter addresses these questions by challenging the Western construction of “the heathen Chinee” from three aspects, including Chinese as cheap labourers/competitors; media vilification; and school segregation and racialized curriculum. It argues that Canada is a racial state where “the Chinese” was constructed as a racial, not neutral ethnic identity. It is from this historical field that Canadians' racialized habitus has evolved and continually affected the lived experience of Chinese Canadian youth in the contemporary field.
