What 1891 can tell us about anti-Asian racism in the COVID-19 pandemic

“Characterizations of COVID-19 as a Chinese virus have intensified rates of anti-Asian violence in Canada,” said UBC Sociology Professor Renisa Mawani in her talk, ‘Histories of Race and Contagion: Revisiting D’Arcy Island through COVID-19’.

Racism and disease

In this unprecedented moment, many have looked to the past for solace by drawing parallels with other instances of disease throughout history. Examples include, the Spanish Influenza in the 1920s as well as the Cholera outbreak in the 1820s. It seems like a curse has been put on the ’20s.

Back in the 1890s, there was a different plague that ran rampant in BC: leprosy.

However, it has come to light that the consequences of D’Arcy Island were nowhere near as exaggerated as the disease that originated it.

D’Arcy Island, a popular summer destination in Haro Strait off the coast of Vancouver Island, was the first and only leprosy colony. In 1891-1924, Chinese men were quarantined, for little reason other than their race. It should be clarified that quarantining in this article carries a very different meaning from the popular definition today.

“Being forced to stay home is not the same as being left on an island to die,” Mawani said. This is exactly what happened to these men, who were sent to the island because they were suspected of having the disease. Resultantly, they were not allowed to leave.

Upon later examination, living conditions for those on the island were deplorable. The men were sent supplies every three months from Victoria, located 17 kilometres away from D’arcy Island, where they were ultimately they were left to take care of themselves.

This is in spite of the fact that there was no concrete evidence that leprosy was in any way tied to Chinese migration. While leprosy was prevalent several centuries before in Europe, this history remained noticeably absent from the media.

Contrary to popular sentiment, experts found very little Chinese, and very little of those in Victoria’s Chinatown — where the disease was said to have started — were affected.

Yet it was popular sentiment that led to discriminatory modifications in immigration laws, deportation practices and medical examinations.

Looking at D’Arcy Island in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

The correlation between Chinese peoples and “disgusting diseases”, as well as the fear that immigrants were taking Canadian jobs, led to the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration in 1885, and the slow deaths of the men who were forcibly relocated to D’Arcy island and forgotten about.

Those who were not quarantined were still subject to aggression, and barriers in accessing healthcare.

Among many other issues, discrimination decides who is deserving and undeserving of healthcare, safety and security. This is something that Mawani emphasizes as one of the parallels between 1800 and today in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Barriers to healthcare have only increased following the pandemic, affecting communities of color — Black and Indigenous communities in particular.

• Behind the Barrier: racialized students in the province face tiered access to health care services

The comparison to be drawn between D’Arcy’s history and COVID-19 is not quarantine and exile, but the persistent link between racial violence and disease control.

“In the current pandemic, Wuhan has been identified as the source of COVID-19. In response, we’ve seen anti-Asian violence rise in Canada and globally. We need to think of COVID-19 as part of a longer history of anti-Asian racism. … We should not look to D’Arcy island and congratulate ourselves on how far we’ve come. Instead, the myth of Chinese leprosy in BC and the treatment of Chinese men should offer a strong caution for our present time.” Mawani said.

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