Unit 2: Canada the Good? Anti-Black Racism in Canadian History
“The long History of anti-Blackness in Canada has, for the most part, occurred alongside the disavowal of its existence. Black individuals and communities remain “an absented presence always under erasure” (Rinaldo, Walcott)…[at the same time]…There exists extraordinary histories of resilience…these histories span centuries”
Robyn Maynard
This unit provides learners with a historical context to Canada’s illusion of ‘racial innocence’ by addressing the erasure of Black people from Canadian history by excavating subjugated Black voices/histories. For example, the unit explores the enslavement of Black people in Canada, Canada’s Jim Crow Era, and makes visible and celebrates the historical contributions of Black Canadians (e.g., to the War Effort).
Topics to be explored:
- Slavery in Canada
- The history of the Hour A Day Study Club in Windsor-Essex (Podcast with Marium Tolson-Murtty, Director of Anti-racism Organizational Change (AROC), University of Windsor)
- Canada’s Jim Crow Era
- Every day resistance and resilience
- Marie-Joseph Angelique and the burning of Montreal
- Racist employment and immigration practices – Black nurses and railway porters
- Civil rights movement in Dresden, Ontario with Hugh Burnett and the National Unity Association
- The Black Battalion and Black war veterans
Unit 2: Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit, learners will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the term “white settler society” and how this restricted movement of Black Canadians
- Articulate how the erasure of Black Canadian history led to false perceptions of prevalence of anti-Blackness in Canada
- Identify clear examples of Black Canadian resistance and resilience
- Discuss ways in which the subjugation of Black voices throughout time has been carried out by the state
- Define and explain systemic anti-Black racism in a historical context
