Asian Heritage Month student research panel

Averion: For my research, I utilized several memoirs written by American soldiers during the Philippine-American War and World War II as valuable primary sources. Due to limited physical access to sources, these memoirs were the most accessible and provided firsthand accounts. Additionally, I conducted interviews with my grandparents, who were witnesses to the events I discussed. In addition to these personal accounts, I incorporated digital copies of newspapers published during the establishment of the camps.

Parsons: Finding the necessary sources proved remarkably challenging; the Klan’s notoriety meant that conventional documents were exceedingly rare. Additionally, the most well-known iteration of the Klan was active in Saskatchewan. These archival silences, or gaps, proved to be louder than expected. An assortment of documents were available at the Community Archives in Belleville—a charter listing the local executive—from there, I relied heavily on newspapers, census data and fragments of municipal, police, and fire records.

Sandhu: I am a big advocate, especially when it comes to intellectual history, of letting the figures one is studying speak for themselves. So, I used some of the pamphlets, speeches, and books these thinkers produced on questions of Empire, colonialism, and solidarity in my presentation. My wider research, of course, also looks at intelligence reports, party resolutions, oral histories, and more. 

Zaman: I used multiple primary and secondary sources. I consulted manuscripts stored in Sufi libraries in Bangladesh as well as colonial sources from British archives. A good and readily available secondary source is the Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier by Richard Eaton, which draws on textual and epigraphical material. The electronic copy can be accessed from the California Digital Library.

Averion: It is crucial for the public to understand the ongoing legacies of colonialism and how they continue to shape current events. However, it is unfortunate that the topic I covered is not present in Philippine curriculums, leading to significant education gaps. As a result, only those who have the means and opportunity to learn about this topic at the university level or in their free time can fully comprehend the enduring effects of colonialism. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge that access to resources and technology plays a significant role in shaping the historical narratives that are taught and disseminated, highlighting the power dynamics involved.

Parsons: I would underscore four important points that the public should be made aware of. Firstly, that rural Ontario was not immune from the well-known expressions of anti-Chinese sentiments. Secondly, that although the Klan remained on the margins of Ontario society never reaching the prominence of its American cousins, they remained a real and dangerous threat to those it deemed racially, ethnically, and religiously different. Thirdly, while the Klan’s rhetoric was markedly extreme contrasted to changing views on race, ethnicity, and religion, it nevertheless contributed to the debates about cultural and political Britishness. Finally, it is imperative that the lived experiences of hitherto marginalized communities in 20th century rural Ontario continue to be interrogated foregrounded.

 Sandhu: I believe there is great value in returning to the alternative futures dreamt of in the past, to begin thinking critically about our present. The people I study sought a horizon beyond what is sometimes called mere ‘flag independence’, towards a more substantive idea of liberation. There are also important lessons to learn from this period with regards to internationalism, solidarity, and trying to build political comradeship despite immense difference. 

Zaman: This topic is important as it feeds into the larger discussion of Islam in a postmodern/postcolonial world and debunks Islamophobic stereotypes propagated since colonial times.

Parsons: Although it touches only briefly on Sinophobia, my paper “The Ku Klux Klan and Ontario’s Evolving Britishness: A Case Study of Belleville and Hastings County” will appear in Ontario History in 2024.