SASKATOON -- In the face of ongoing anti-Asian attacks, nearly 6,000 Asian Quebecers are heading online to vent, comfort and even hold regular online classes tackling microaggressions and racism.
The booming Facebook community 鈥溾�� is a public, large-scale version of the countless private chat groups many Asians across the country have turned to over the past year.
鈥淲e are all volunteers trying to do our best to help our communities in our own way, and the best way is online,鈥� Vietnamese Montrealer Laura Luu, who created the group last March, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Tuesday. Her group鈥檚 name is translated to: 鈥淢utual Aid Group Against Racism Against Asians in Quebec.鈥�
It began a place where those in Quebec and Ontario with Asian roots could vent about anti-Asian attacks and landmarks being defaced. In 2020, reported attacks have spiked across the country, including in , and .
Julie Tran, one of the group administrators, likens it to a grassroots 鈥渕elting pot of different Asian people,鈥� where they celebrate difference but also tackle common challenges in an informal way.
The platform doesn鈥檛 track anti-Asian attacks in Canada, like Montreal-based ; the (CCNC-SJ) or .
Although Luu supports those efforts, her group functions more as an outlet for people to give testimonials on how they鈥檙e feeling; anonymously describe racism they鈥檝e experienced, and find formal places where those with racism-related mental trauma could go.
鈥淲e try to raise awareness with mental health because it鈥檚 very taboo in the Asian community,鈥� Luu said, noting that younger generations though are more likely to want to face racism head-on rather than ignore it.
REDUCING MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA 'QUITE VALUABLE'
They鈥檝e held Facebook Live videos hosted by trained psychotherapists who hold bilingual sessions stressing that it鈥檚 鈥渘ormal to feel anxious or scared鈥� and that racism shouldn鈥檛 be downplayed.
Tran hosts Zoom meetings to educate and familiarize people with terms such as microaggressions and gaslighting, so that they can better articulate what they鈥檝e experienced.
鈥淚n the media or regular conversation, there can be a hot pot of words that people don鈥檛 really understand,鈥� the social work graduate student told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. 鈥淵es, we talk about feelings, but we鈥檙e also giving them tools so they can apply them on a daily basis.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 really empowering for them to put [specific] words to their realities,鈥� Tran said, adding that speaking about anti-Asian racism can be challenging with friends who are white or who come from a non-Asian community of colour.
University of Victoria counselling psychology assistant Prof. Fred Chou, who isn鈥檛 affiliated with the online support group, applauded their efforts to reduce mental health stigma, calling it 鈥渜uite valuable.鈥�
鈥淭he community response of people coming together to support one another is inherently good,鈥� he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like acknowledging that 鈥業鈥檓 not going through this alone.鈥欌��
鈥淚t鈥檚 really quite profound. I feel inspired to know that this is happening,鈥� he said, adding that the group could allow people to regain some level of control.
No stranger to similar efforts himself, early last year, an to help them navigate through the complexities of systemic oppression in Canada and their own racial identities.
Chou felt the group鈥檚 informal nature could be a great gateway to greater acceptance of formal mental health services, if necessary.
Luu and Tran agreed and called for more provincial funding of services for victims of racially motivated attacks; as well as mental health specialists in Quebec who are aware of cultural mental health stigmas.
PEOPLE FINDING SOLACE IN PRIVATE GROUP CHATS
The pandemic has exacerbated anti-Asian racism, an , in a similar way to that during the SARS crisis nearly 20 years ago, according to a Toronto-based historian.
But consultant and former journalist Bradley Lee told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview that when it comes to disparate Asian communities, extreme adversity 鈥渇orces them to work together.鈥� He felt this group was a clear example of that.
Lee, along with several Toronto-based advocacy groups, including the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, helped , which allows Chinese people in Canada to similarly share experiences of their experiences during the pandemic.
He applauded 鈥溾�� and explains that there are likely countless private informal venting spaces for people. 鈥淛ust by the very nature of being informal, it could be online or by a phone call,鈥� the fourth-generation Chinese-Canadian said.
As for the future of Quebec-based group, Luu hopes that people in other provinces are able to find similar groups.
Luu said that although she鈥檚 grateful that her team has managed to combine seeming disparate demographics, diasporas and races under one umbrella. 鈥淥ur realities are not the same at all鈥� so they鈥檒l keep endeavouring to 鈥渂uild bridges to connect us all.鈥�
With files from CTVNews.ca鈥檚 Christy Somos
