Not in the official national identity – some thoughts about race relations in Canada

Wishing to read one of the free newspapers available on campus I took „YU Free Press.“ The title immediately grabbed my attention: “None of us are free until All of us are free. State Oppression, Police Brutality, Sexual Assault, Racial Profiling are a daily reality. The violence doesn’t stop once the masses go away… Be strong, fight back!” Skimming through the pages, I encountered many interesting topics, but one caught my attention in particular. It was an article under the headline “Justice for Junior” (“Justice for Junior”). The article describes a rally of protest against police brutality and racism within the system. The cause of all this is the death of Junior Alexander Manon, a young rapper, who ran from police and – according to the official version – collapsed and died of a heart attack. However, another version of the story seems to exist: some witnesses claim that seven police officers jumped Junior and beat him until he died. There is a police investigation going on, but the author of the article and most activists are sceptic about the investigation. The case of Junior, it seems, is not the first instance of police brutality occurring at Jane and Finch, an area with dense immigrant population, high crime rate and poverty and a bad reputation (Nguyen).

Now, this is not what I expected to encounter when I was imagining my trip to Canada back in Germany. Racism and police brutality in the U.S. – yes, we hear much about that. In the USA, the African American population still suffers under the consequences of slavery and racism and the power relations established centuries ago. But we have never heard such a thing about Canada, the country without a history of slavery and racism, and with a reputation of multiculturalism, tolerance, equal opportunities, a country with an immigration policy that serves as a positive example for many other states facing immigration.

But a more profound study of Canadian history provides a clearer view that disrupts the popular version. While the most widespread history of Black people in Canada traces the myth of the Northern Star – the Underground Railroad, slaves fleeing the USA into freedom – more specific literature traces the history of slavery and discrimination in Canada. Fact is that Canada was a slave society, albeit not the same kind of as America with its plantation slavery. The first accounts of slaves appear as early as 1628 and slavery was legal until 1833. While in the beginning, slavery was not very widespread, an increase in the number of slaves occurred when British settlers brought their slaves and also with the American War of Independence. Here, a paradox situation took place where free and enslaved Black people started to live side by side as White Royalists brought their slaves with them when they fled from the Rebellious forces and at the same time free Black people came to Canada who had sided with the British in exchange for freedom and land. With the bill of 1793 that made all slaves that crossed Canadian borders free people (but left the slaves in Canada in their state of slavery) and especially the War of 1812, Canada gained its reputation as the land of freedom. Ironically, when in a number of U.S. states abolished slavery, many Canadian slaves fled to the USA – while American slaves moved northwards to cross the Canadian borders! With the increase of the number of free Black people demands for the abolition of slavery increased, but there was no drastic act of abolition except for one that was supposed to gradually eliminate slavery. Slaves remained in service, while no new ones were allowed to be imported and children of slaves became free after the age of 25. The total abolition of slavery didn’t take place until 1834, when it was abolished by the British Parliament and Canada followed suit.

Both during the presence of slaves and free black people as well as after the abolition, Canadian White mainstream society retained its consciousness of White superiority and Black people faced severe discrimination. From being the last ones to receive land (if at all) promised by the British to the Royalists, to wage discrimination, violent attacks on Black settlements and lynchings, to segregation in housing and schools, Black Canadians haven’t been able to feel at home in Canada. Thus, the majority of the first free Black people to settle in Nova Scotia left less than ten years after they arrived, and also the second settlers, the Maroons, left within a short period of time. Similarly, even after the abolition of slavery, Black people were tolerated but not welcomed in White dominated society. They were most likely to be exploited economically, had a hard time claiming rights of political participation and had to live in segregated communities and go to segregated schools. The last segregated school in Canada was not abolished until 1954, following the USA.

Though the government officially banned racism from Canadian politics in the 1960s, racism still exists in Canadian society. Black people still face segregation and discrimination on a racial basis, which results in relatively lower socioeconomic status, rates of education, poor housing and neighbourhood qualities, and spatial segregation. The worst thing is that this problem is ignored by the government and therefore isn’t addressed and cannot be solved. The simultaneity of a sense of superior egalitarianism and racial prejudice results in a racism that is subtle and hard to label and reprimand, while the trauma of slavery remains undealt with. There is need to catch Canadians up on the emitted parts in Canadian history, even if that means challenging national identity and facing inconvenient truths. By embracing the groups in this country, acknowledging their contribution to Canadian culture, economy, and national identity, Canada can become the tolerant and multicultural country it claims to be.

Literature

Nguyen, Paul. Jane-Finch.com. n.d. Web. 19.01.2011 http://www.jane-finch.com/about.htm.

Zimmerman, Jesse M. “Justice for Junior.” YU Free Press. Your Alternative News Magazine at York 3.1 (Fall 2010): 5. Print.