Roots of Racism
Beckow, Stephen M. "Keeping British Columbia White" : Anti-Orientalism in the West, 1858-1949. Canada's Visual History; series 1, v. 14. [Ottawa]: National Film Board of Canada with the National Museum of Man (National Museums of Canada), 1974.
Includes a brief history of anti-Oriental sentiment in Canada, primarily in British Columbia. Supplemented by 30 slides providing profiles of the Chinese and Japanese presence in the area(s) and associated political aspects. Slides 23-29 are specifically related to the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II.
Call number: F1026 .C36 1974 v.14
Location: Suzzallo General Stacks
McInnes, Tom. Oriental Occupation of British Columbia. Vancouver: Sun Publishing Co., 1927.
Reprints a series of newspaper articles published in the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver Morning Star in which the author discusses the "Oriental question," arguing for restricted immigration of East Indian, Chinese and Japanese and other measures to keep "British Columbia for the British".
Call number: 979.524 M18o
Location: Special Collections PNW
Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Methods by which Oriental Labourers have been Induced to Come to Canada. W.L. Mackenzie King, C.M.G., Commissioner. Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1908.
Includes statistical information as well as interviews and correspondence with various agencies involved in immigration arrangement and/or promotion. Immigration from Japan, China, and India addressed separately.
Call number: HD8106 .A45
Location: Suzzallo General Stacks
Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese and Japanese Immigration, Session 1902. Reprint ed. New York: Arno Press, 1978.
An Arno Press reprint of the original report. Chinese and Japanese populations are treated separately within. Includes a great amount of statistical data regarding economic/social conditions and impacts of the respective immigrant populations. Also includes the elicited statements and opinons of various industry, community, and political figures regarding immigration concerns.
Call number: JV7285.C5 C35 1902a
Location: Suzzallo General Stacks
Report on Oriental Activities within the Province of British Columbia. Victoria, B.C.: King's Printer, 1927.
Includes statistical information in the following areas: population, land-holdings, industry, attendance of public schools, and trading activities. Covers Japanese, Chinese, and East Indian populations.
Location/Call Number: Special Collections PNW (979.524 B7761r), Suzzallo General Stacks (325.71 B774)
Takahashi, K.T. The Anti-Japanese Petition [microform] : An Appeal in Protest Against a Threatened Persecution. [Montreal? : s.n.], 1897 (Montreal : Gazette).
An argument against proposed legislation of the time (the Anti-Japanese Petition) which was favored by those who wished to see the naturalization laws regarding Japanese immigrants curtailed or restricted. Takahashi, speaking "on behalf of these four hundred threatened Japanese Canadians, and also on my own account" defends his group on the basis of citizenship, moral character, social standing, and economic considerations. The author's views on the differences between Japanese and Chinese immigrants are made evident and established as part of the argument.
"I may anticipate a retort that the petitioners are not conspirators, and do not mean any persecution. It must be remembered, however, that, to the intelligent public of Canada, the Anti-Japanese agitation has always appeared ill-advised and uncalled for; while the insincerity which is apparent in all their stated grievances, and the discrepancies which exist between their allegations and the actual facts, would clearly indicate that it is the petitioner's policy to mislead the people and Parliament with a mere flourish of assertions and insinuations" [Takahashi 4-5].
Location: Microforms Newspapers (Microfiche M-2501 no. 16234)
Ward, W. Peter. White Canada Forever : Popular Attitudes and Public Policy Toward Orientals in British Columbia. Second ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990.
An examination of anti-Asian attitudes in British Columbia between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, culminating in what the author refers to as "the most dramatic expression of racism in Canadian history..." - the internment and evacuation of Japanese Canadians during World War II [from preface]. Attention is given to both community attitudes and public policy.
Call number: F1089.7.O6 W37 1990
Location: Special Collections PNW, Suzzallo General Stacks