This past week a local prominent, well-known, and influential historian wrote a social media post extolling the virtues of being a xenophobe. Instead of calling it out for the racist hate that xenophobia is, he defended it as an act that protects “Islanders” (read white Islanders) from what he essentially called a foreign invasion. He likened the arrival of immigrants (mostly BIPOC folks who apply to come to Canada and are granted status by a colonial government) to the European colonization of these lands (a violent and genocidal project based on white supremacy). Indeed, he weaponized his relationship with the Mi’kmaq to justify his suspicion of Brown and Black immigrants, thereby trying to pit one racialized group against another. Previously he had complained about seeing Black and Brown people in various service jobs, likening it to a takeover of sorts. His multiple posts defending his position were liked by numerous Islanders and the comments were filled with support for such hate. Years of fomenting hatred toward East Asian immigrants has resulted in his final acceptance and defense of his xenophobia. And all this at a time when anti-East Asian sentiment and violence is on an exponential rise. BIPOPC USHR unequivocally condemns xenophobia. We stand firm with all BIPOC immigrants. Many of us are immigrants or children of immigrants. And all of us have been impacted by European colonization, still carrying that trauma in our bodies. We often hear that immigrants help make the economy strong, as a defense of immigrants’ presence. However, that is irrelevant. All that is relevant is that immigrants are humans deserving of having their/our humanity recognized and honoured. Their/our worth is NOT based on how much money we make or how much we contribute to the Canadian economy. Their/our worth is inherent within us. Racialized immigrants face immense racism in this country. They/we are humiliated on a daily basis, from having their/our accents, food, and clothing mocked, to being infantilized, to being assumed to be dangerous, to being seen with suspicion. They/we are constantly dehumanized. So extolling the virtues of xenophobia is extolling the virtues of white supremacy. By doing so one is simply saying that the hatred behind the Chinese head tax, the rejection of the Komagata Maru, the Japanese internment camps were all justified. It is an old and tired argument put forth by dead white men that alive white men (and women) today support. (Original thinking is obviously not a strong suite of these folks.) BIPOC USHR stands firmly against xenophobia.