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Anti-South Asian Hate

Brave Spaces

Anti-South Asian hate in Canada has risen sharply in recent years. Hate crimes targeting these communities jumped by 227% from 2019 to 2023. This problem is growing worse both online and offline.

In the last few years, there has been a significant uptake on hate crimes against the South Asian community. While police-reported hate crimes have increased by well over 200%, community groups believe that these figures are inaccurate as many victims, particularly new immigrants, hesitate to report incidents due to language barriers or fear of retaliation.

This is especially evident on social media, where anonymity makes it easier to spread hateful messages with no repercussions.

Learn more about the underlying causes for this hate and what you can do to support the South Asian community. 

The speaker for this session is Dr. Hassan Javid. Dr. Hassan Javid is Interim Director of the South Asian Studies Institute (SASI) and an Associate Professor of Sociology in UFV’s School of Culture, Media, and Society. His research focuses on South Asia, with particular attention to colonialism, political power, inequality, and processes of social and political change. He received his PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics, where he was also a Fellow in Political Sociology, and previously taught at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan. His research examines the legacies of colonialism in South Asia, including questions of class, state power, democratization, social movements, and politics in Pakistan and Punjab.

There will be time for questions from the audience.

Registration is recommended for each session, but drop-ins are welcome. 

We were very fortunate to receive the Bill LeClair Community Fund from the Coquitlam Foundation to fund this series. 

Light refreshments will be served.

Other events in this speaker series include:

• October 6 - Kairos Blanket Exercise
• Oct 20 - Jewish Muslim Dialogue
• Oct 27 - Active Witnessing: Creating Safer Communities

If you have any questions, please contact Aman at asaroya@coqlibrary.ca or Ann at ajohannes@coqlibrary.ca

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