“One student said that the Chinese girl doesn’t speak French very well”: Racial and linguistic microaggression experienced by international Chinese students in Quebec universities before and during COVID-19
This qualitative study documents the experiences of international Chinese students in Montréal’s francophone universities. The results reveal that these students are not only subjected to racism exacerbated by a pandemic within an urban setting, and, more particularly, within the university walls, but also come up against a barrier between them and the francophone Quebecois majority, a barrier constructed around the notion of an “external face” defined by linguistic and racial markers. Further analysis also highlights a tendency among these students to downplay their experiences of everyday racism and microaggression. We conclude by pointing out the need to bring about greater sensitivity and awareness with respect to the presence of everyday racism and microaggression among francophone Quebecois staff and students belonging to the majority racial group (i.e., White).