Contexts of interpretation: assessing immigrant reception in Richmond, Canada

This article examines the responses of established residents to contemporary physical and social changes in Richmond, British Columbia, a Vancouver suburb that has received a considerable number of ethnic‐Chinese immigrants over the past decade. In the metropolitan Vancouver context, recent considerations of immigrant reception at the neighbourhood level have focused on the critical reactions of ‘white’, European‐origin residents in upper‐middle class areas to local immigrant settlement and housing stock transformations. These studies have given rise to conflicting interpretations of the relationship between immigration and neighbourhood landscape change, the motivations behind resident protest and, in particular, the definition of their responses as racist. Drawing from extended interviews with fifty‐four long‐term Richmond residents, I attempt to provide a broader account of immigrant reception as a supplement to works that have revolved around housing issues and ‘white’ resistance. I also critique the way that the term racism has been used to describe resident reactions to immigration‐related changes, calling for researchers to be more reflexive and explicit in their application of the concept.