This is no valentine: the complexities of interracial dating for Asians in North America
- Whether you’re Asian or South Asian, finding love amid the wasteland of casual racism can be tricky
- This social programming isn’t just prevalent in real life – online dating has revealed a minefield of ethnic stereotypes
The 31-year-old of Southeast Asian descent said he almost exclusively matched with South Asian women. “My matches ranged from Persian to South Asian; but never East Asian or white,” he said.
According to a local news report in 2017, 43 per cent of the city’s residents were of Asian heritage, while the most recent government census in 2011 found that Chinese-Canadians made up 27.7 per cent of the city’s population; South Asians comprised 6 per cent; and European-Canadians remained the largest segment at 46.2 per cent.
The city also has the highest number of interracial unions in Canada, with 9.6 per cent of couples in interracial or intercultural partnerships, according to 2014 government data.
“White men and Asian women pairings appear to be more common in Vancouver than in other metropolitan cities I’ve visited,” said Melissa Wu*, a Chinese-Canadian woman in her late 20s. “Overall in Vancouver and for our generation, I think it’s pretty accepted and common for people from different cultures to date.”
Yet when it comes to the dating scene, casual racism still exists in many forms. In Omar’s case, he believes he is often excluded from the mainstream dating scene due to his ethnic and cultural background. “I have definitely sensed this lack of interest in getting to know me,” he said. “Even outside of dating – at work, the women who interact with me the most are Asian and rarely white or of other ethnicities.”