“COVID-19 DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE. NEITHER SHOULD YOU!”: CRARR LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST COVID-19-RELATED DISCRIMINATION

Montreal, April 1st, 2020 — Due to growing reports of acts of racism against Montrealers of Asian descent and other racialized groups, CRARR has launched a campaign to mobilize individuals and communities affected by racial discrimination, hate and violence associated with coronavirus.

The CRARR campaign is organized with its partner, the Institute for Research and Education on Race Relations (IRERR) and made possible with a donation from the Sun Yat Sen Park Foundation in Montreal. With the message “COVID-19 Does Not Discriminate. Neither Should You!” (in French, “La COVID-19 ne discrimine pas. Vous non plus !”), the campaign will include:

• Information on how to deal with racial discrimination and hate crimes, especially online hate and intimidation;
• Up-to-date Information on acts of racism and hate experienced by Asian and other racialized people;
• Concrete assistance and support for victims of racism and hate; and
• If resources permit, an online initiative to provide rapid responses to counter false information and other hate speech that exposes Asian and other racialized Montrealers to hate and vilification resulting in discrimination.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its disastrous social and economic consequences are leading to mounting misinformation, scapegoating, stigmatization and hate openly directed at identifiable minority groups.

CRARR renews its call to government, particularly the federal government with its national anti-racism action plan, to devote more attention and resources to this emerging disturbing situation.

CRARR and IRERR are committed to working with government and civil society organizations to combat discrimination resulting from COVID-19-related racism and xenophobia.

Tax-deductible donations from anywhere in Canada can be made to IRERR by writing to irerr@live.ca.