尽管曾在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省担任过省副总检察长兼公安厅长，也曾担任过警察局长，但资深警察卡什·希德（Kash Heed）在竞选里士满市长期间遭遇的“种族主义”依然让他感到震惊。
Despite having served as the provincial Solicitor General in Canada's British Columbia and as a police chief, veteran cop Kash Heed is stunned by the “racism” he has faced as he runs for Mayor of the city of Richmond.
2007年，希德接掌西温哥华警察局时，成为北美第一位领导警察部门的印度裔人士。他的执法生涯跨越了近40年，都在不列颠哥伦比亚省度过。后来，他成为了该省的公共安全部长兼副总检察长。
Heed was the first person of Indian origin to head a police department in North America when he assumed charge of the West Vancouver force in 2007. His law enforcement career spanned nearly 40 years in the province of British Columbia. Later, he became the province's minister of public safety and Solicitor General.
他于2022年成为里士满的印度裔市议员，并决定在定于本周六举行的选举中竞选市长。
He became the Indo-Canadian councillor in Richmond in 2022 and decided to run for Mayor in the election scheduled for this Saturday.
尽管经验丰富并在里士满生活了几十年，但他对即将面临的新挑战依然毫无准备。
“我们都面对过种族主义，但我已经在里士满生活了60年，我从未经历过像现在这样的种族主义，”他说。
Despite his experience and decades of living in Richmond, he wasn’t prepared for the fresh challenge he would face.“We’ve all faced racism, but I’ve lived in Richmond for 60 years, and I’ve never experienced racism like I’ve experienced now,” he said.
这种种族主义来自一个不同寻常的方面，在一个大多数人口为中国血统的城市里，他因为自己的族裔而成为攻击目标。他向《印度斯坦时报》分享的一条中文社交媒体帖子写道：“里士满60%的选民是华裔。我们只支持华裔或混血华裔候选人+有中国配偶的候选人。我们不是种族主义者。我们只是在维护华人为主地区华人社区的生活方式和文化价值观。”另一张海报则称他“绝对不会投票给印度的街头小贩”。
That racism has come from an unusual quarter, as he has been targeted for his ethnicity in a city where the majority is of Chinese origin. One social media post in Chinese which he shared with the Hindustan Times read, “60% of Richmond’s voters are of Chinese descent. We only support candidates of Chinese descent or mixed Chinese descent + candidates with Chinese spouses. We are not racists. We are simply upholding the lifestyle and cultural values of Chinese communities in Chinese-majority areas.”Another poster said he will “definitely not vote for India’s street vendors.”
现年70岁的希德表示，这些帖子出现在中文社交媒体以及X和Facebook等主流平台上。
“我们没有把票投给一个经证明、有经验的人，而是看到了试图根据族裔分裂里士满的丑陋一面，”希德说。
These posts, Heed, 70, said, have appeared on Chinese social media and mainstream platforms like X and Facebook, among others.“Instead of voting for a proven, experienced person, we are seeing the ugly side of trying to divide Richmond based on ethnicity,” Heed said.
希德表示，市长选举的结果无法预测，但他仍然抱有希望，因为这座城市本质上是国际化的，多元文化已经根深蒂固。
Heed said that the result of the mayoral poll can’t be predicted, but remained hopeful, as the city was cosmopolitan in nature, with multiculturalism entrenched.
尽管他的竞选团队在传播信息方面仍然“坚定不移”，但他对这场竞选处于“一个令人悲伤的境地”这一现实感到惋惜。
While his campaign remained “steadfast” in spreading its message, he rued the reality that the race was “in a sad place.”