My Take | ‘Go back to Hong Kong’ row goes viral from an angry Vancouver

By now, you have probably seen the viral clip where a woman shouts racist vitriol including “Go back to Hong Kong!” at a Chinese-looking man who is part of a protest group in Richmond, Vancouver.

Tensions boiled over this week while the Richmond City Council passed a motion allowing a plan to build a safe consumption centre for drug addicts in the ethnic Chinese-majority town, often described as the largest of its kind in North America.

“Go back to where you came from,” she shouts. “Go back to Hong Kong … You’re what’s wrong with Canada. All of you are corrupt. The drugs come from you.”

The woman is part of a counter-protest to the predominantly Chinese group from Richmond that has long opposed the site plan.

While I don’t live in Vancouver, I have two relatives, a friend and their families who have been long-time residents of Richmond, and yes, they are all originally from Hong Kong. If I were one of them, I wouldn’t want to have a drug site in my neighbourhood either.

Supporters of the move think the Chinese just worry about property prices while neglecting their civic duty. But I imagine if you planned such a drug centre in an affluent, but predominantly white neighbourhood, the residents would object too, perhaps even more effectively.