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In my first week as a journalism teacher, I inherited a class of senior students as they were halfway through their program.

“You’re the first journalist of colour we’ve had as an instructor,” said the student. “What’s that like?”

Ah! It happened again! I had stepped into a circle and inherited that title: the First Asian Person to Be Seen Doing a Thing.

If you’re a person of colour, you’ll know that being the first to do something is a big deal, especially if you’re breaking into a white-dominated field. 

May is Asian Heritage Month, the time of year when journalists, politicians, and institutions celebrate these firsts, from the Vivian Jungs (the first Chinese Canadian teacher in Vancouver) to the Wally Oppals (the first South Asian Supreme Court judge in B.C.). I once interviewed an old Vancouver family, the illustrious Yips, whose forebears included the first Chinese Canadian doctor and lawyer—talk about a double whammy!

Saturday Night Live even spoofed the phenomenon with actors Simu Liu and Bowen Yang, who tried to one-up each other with accomplishments such as “the first Asian male host”, “the first Asian man........

© Georgia Straight