Komagata Maru Memorial Vandalized: What can we do?

On Monday August 23rd, I woke to a text message from my friend and literary agent: CBC News was reporting the Komagata Maru Memorial in Coal Harbour had been vandalized. I read the article and looked at the images. White paint handprints and splatter all over the names of the passengers on board. It will be hard to fix this beautiful memorial because the finish is rusted on purpose. It is the latest in a series of racist/hateful graffiti in the GVRD. In fact, articles published in May of 2021 reported that Vancouver was the anti-Asian hate crime capitol of North America. This is not something to be proud of. This is not the Canada I want to live in.

The story of the Komagata Maru is particularly close to my heart because…

1.     My students (I teach grade 5) always connect with the story and are appalled by the institutionalized racism experienced by the passengers.

2.     One of my former students was a relative of a person on the Komagata Maru and didn’t know until we studied because her family just ‘didn’t talk about it’.

3.     I wasn’t taught about this incident in school and many people still do not know about it.

4.     It is one of the topics my students challenged me to try to write a picture book about, which led to a deep dive researching the history and the media coverage at the time.

I knew I wanted to write a blog post response, but I needed a day to collect my thoughts and process what I wanted to say. I had to check my privilege as a Caucasian female and think about how I could add my voice without taking up someone else’s space. This blog post will tell you about what I have done and what I might do in my classroom as a follow-up when school starts. It is important as teachers to face hard things and help kids learn how to process them.  I know this is a long post, so I added titles to try to help you skip to sections that were relevant for you.

What have I done?

Went for a Walk: Walking has always helped me think and relax. So, I walked. I have also started to make an effort to look up while I am walking to smile/interact with people. This does not come naturally to me as I tend to have my head down and barrel through the steps. I started making this effort after reading an article on community engagement and connection. I wanted the people I saw to know that they were important to me and part of the community. My tiny gesture has led to a few interesting discussions.

Shared on Social Media/Talked to Friends: Awareness is key. I shared the pictures I took of the memorial last month and talked about what happened.

Donation: I am planning on donating to a society that supports South Asian Immigrants like the Khalsa Diwan Society. This particular society has actually been around SINCE before the Komagata Maru and supported the passengers on the boat in 1914.

Listened to the Media Coverage: I listened to a few news reports and got frustrated. I heard one report refer to the passengers as ‘sick and fleeing oppression’. The passengers were not sick when they arrived, but perhaps after two months of sitting in the harbour being denied basic rights like food, water, sanitation, and legal counsel, they were sick and desperate-who wouldn’t be? These passengers were from India, which at the time was part of the British Empire…which meant they were technically British Citizens. Why does that matter? There was a rule that anyone in the British Empire was allowed to visit any other country in the empire…except…RACISM. Canada worked hard at all levels of government to deny entry to South Asian immigrants. The Continuous Journey Regulation was one of the most important tools that was used to deny the passengers of the Komagata Maru entry to Vancouver. I know this history lesson feels like a digression from the media coverage, but it is not. The media at the time (1914) was horrible. They treated the ship like a spectacle and shaped the understanding of people living worldwide. The political cartoons were racist. The headlines included words like ‘Invaders’. Yesterday was a chance for redemption. It didn’t happen. When I heard the passengers being referred to as ‘sick’ without any context it did a disservice to history again.

Created a Piece of Art: I needed to process my upset creatively. I haven’t built anything or done any painting outside of in my classroom for a while. I had a desire to pull out oil paints and create a quick painting. The thickness of the layers helping me with my grief. My grief goes beyond the destruction of the monument. It includes how few people know about the incident and how anti-Asian hate crimes are increasing. People process grief differently. This worked for me.

What can you do in your classroom?

Talk about it: Don’t be afraid to talk about hard things! Break down the Continuous Journey Regulation with your class. Talk about what it would mean in 1914 vs. now. What were the reasons for it? Does it represent the kind of Canada you want to live in? Brainstorm as a class what you can do to build the Canada you want. Look at the language of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Is it strong enough?

Historica Canada Video: Watch the 7-minute video about the incident and use it as a starting point for discussion or a hands-on activity.

Continuing the Journey Website: This website is full of media from the time as well as government documents. Get your students to explore it with a purpose (see suggestion below).

Media Scavenger Hunt: Challenge your students to screen shot three pieces of media like (1) political cartoon (2) newspaper article and (3) photo. Have them create connections between the three pieces and/or create a piece of writing. You could have them compare portrayal in a cartoon to the actual images. You could teach about biased language and challenge your students to find biased language in the media coverage.

Letters to New Immigrants: Explore local community centres that provide services for new immigrants. Write welcome cards/letters that you can drop off at these centres for distribution.

Create Art

Explore different memorials or art. Learn how artists use art to share emotions and events. Try to create a piece of artwork individually or as a group to process this event.

Positive Role Models: Have your students do research on the positive impacts of South Asian immigrants and their descendants in Canada. Look at individuals and companies. Diversity makes our country stronger. The current leader of a federal party is a descendant of South Asian immigrants-that is pretty cool!

Read a picture book…just kidding…there are none. This is a problem.

Final Thoughts

Okay…so this was a LONG blog post. If you read to the end, thank you! I hope it was helpful. Many of the ideas under ‘What can you do in your classroom?’ could be shifted to work for other hard events as well.

As a disclaimer, I am not an expert on the Komagata Maru incident just a passionate educator and human who cares. There are so many amazing academics who have been studying this incident for years and publishing papers. There are a few good websites, but not enough books for kids. There is so much more to learn, and I am ready. Will you join me?