Walk Through History: Legalized Racism in Canada AND

Resistance to RacismCreated by Jennifer Janzen-Ball; original idea by Rusa

Jeremic; with material from Historical Overview ofPrejudice and Racism in Canada, by Dorothy Wills, Timeline,

by Wenh-In Ng, in That All May Be One: AResource for Educating Toward Racial Justice (Toronto:

United Church Publishing House, 2004), and fromLegalized Racism from Canadian Race Relations Foundation,

http://www.crr.ca/diversfiles/en/pub/faSh/ePubFaShLegRac.pdf, accessed 23 October

2009

Additional information & graphics added by Stephen FetterSources noted on the appropriate slides

Objective: The idea of this exercise is for folks to review

together history and key moments

of the history of legalized racism in Canada AND resistance to

racism, and toshare their knowledge.

Right of white colonists in Canada

to own and sell

people as slaves

Photo: archives of Ontario

1600's – 1833In 1628 the first recorded slave in Canada was brought by a British

Convoy to New France. Olivier le Jeune was the name given to the boy originally from Madagascar

By 1688 while slavery was prohibited in France, it was permitted in its colonies as a means of providing the massive labour force needed to clear land, construct buildings and (in the Caribbean colonies) work sugar plantation.

As white Loyalists fled the new American Republic, they took with them about 2000 black slaves: 1200 to the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island), 300 to Lower Canada (Quebec), and 500 to Upper Canada (Ontario).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Canada

Black and White United Empire Loyalists flee to the Maritimes; land

grants based on skin colour

A Black Wood Cutter at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, .© Library and Archives Canada / 1970-188-109

1780'sIn the 1780s, Birchtown Nova Scotia harboured the largest

concentration of free Black settlers anywhere in British North America.

Britain had promised freedom and land to Blacks who supported the British cause in America, and 3,550 former slaves had taken them up on the offer. The land grants were slow in coming, however, and proved to be small, poor and isolated.

Many of the Black Loyalists starved while waiting.

And, when these Black settlers offered labour to White settlers, violence erupted among white competitors for work. Some desperate Blacks sold themselves into indentureship ─ virtual slavery

Source: Parks Canada

http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/mhn-bhm/page2.aspx

Boys from the Williams Lake residential school in Williams Lake, British Columbia, date unknown. Library and Archives Canada/PA-210715

Successive Indian Acts to civilize andChristianize Aboriginals

Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle that the Aborigines are to be kept in a condition of tutelage and treated as wards or children of the state... It is clearly our wisdom and our duty, through education and other means, to prepare him for a higher civilization by encouraging him to assume the privileges and responsibilities of full citizenship.

Annual Report of the Department of the Interior

Aboriginal children in Residential school, 1894. Photographer: Unknown, National Archives of Canada, Neg no.C26448.

* In 1884, the potlatch ceremony, central to the cultures of west coast Aboriginal nations, was outlawed. In 1885, the sun dance, central to the cultures of prairie Aboriginal nations, was outlawed. Participation was a criminal offence.

* In 1885, the Department of Indian Affairs instituted a pass system. No outsider could come onto a reserve to do business with an Aboriginal resident without permission from the Indian agent. In many places, the directives were interpreted to mean that no Aboriginal person could leave the reserve without permission from the Indian agent.

Indian Acts of 1876, 1880, 1884 and later.

Head tax imposed on every Chinese person seeking to enter Canada.

Head Tax certificateChinese Canadian National Councilhttp://www.ccnc.ca/toronto/history/info/content.html

1885

Head tax imposed on every Chinese person

seeking to enter Canada. Set first at $50; increased to

$100 in 1900

and $500 in 1903 An example of a Chinese head tax certificate, which must bepresented in order to be receive compensation.http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2007/12/16/waiting-a-lifetime-for-sorry/

Canadian authorities attempt to limit Black enlistment and participation in

the armed forces

1914-1918

Black people were rejected at enlistment

offices until 1916, when Canada's only

segregated Black unit

was formed in July 1916 Photo: Pictou, N.S., 1916: The

band of No. 2 Construction Battalion, CEF.© National Defence

Government completely barred the Chinese from entering Canada. Chinese people already in Canada were not allowed to

sponsor family members

A political cartoon showing a Chinese man being barred entry to the "Golden Gate of Liberty". The caption reads, "We must draw the line somewhere, you know."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act

This piece of legislation, also known as the Exclusion Act, was the last of a series of tactics used by the Government of Canada to limit immigration to British Columbia from China.

This Act barred all Chinese people from entering Canada, except for diplomats, university students and merchants.

July 1, 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, finally repealed in 1947

Library & Archives Canadahttp://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/immigrants/021017-2412.02-e.html

Jews excluded from employment, elite social clubs, beaches, holiday resorts,

Universities

Jews excluded from employment in major institutions, such as banks and the police force, and barred from elite

social clubs, beaches, and holiday resorts in Montreal, Toronto, and

Winnipeg. Universities set limits on Jewish enrolment

Abella, Irving and Troper, Harold.

None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948, 1982

.

1911 - 1939

A United Church candidate for ministry is prevented from being ordained because he

is black

Wilbur Howard completed his theology degree in 1941, but no United Church congregation would accept him for Settlement. Eventually a

position was created for him on the National Staff. From 1941 to 1949 Howard worked for the Boys Work Board of Toronto and from

1949 to 1953 he worked for the Boys Work Board of Manitoba. Then in 1954 he became the editor for Sunday School Publications

in Toronto.

He didn’t find a congregation until he was hired to join the pastoral team at Dominion Chalmers United Church in Ottawa in 1963, more than 20 years after he was ordained. His first sole pastorate began in

1971.

1941

Rt. Rev. Wilbur Howard

Canada has worst record of any Western country for providing

sanctuary to Jews

fleeing Hitler’s Europe.

\\

1933 - 1948This picture dated June 1939 shows the M.S. St. Louis in Havana, Cuba. The St. Louis

carried 930 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to Cuba where all but 22 were denied landing. After being refused refuge in the U.S. and Canada, the ship returned to Europe where the refugees were

scattered in Great Britain, Belgium, France and the

Netherlands.

Canada was the only western country to completely close its doors to Jewish people fleeing Nazi persecution

Over 22,000 Japanese-born, Japanese-Canadians, and foreigners were stripped of their

rights and forcibly re-located to

internment camps in BC's interior or

sugar beet farms in Alberta.

After the war, they were not allowed to return to the west

coast , but had to re-locate east of the

Rockies or return to Japan, a country unknown to those born in Canada

1942 Japanese internment

BC Conference voted against a motion which would have protested this government decision

First Nations peoples obtain the right to vote in federal elections without

losing their treaty status.

July 1, 1960

First Nations people obtain the right to vote unconditionally

Native women retain their treaty status even if they marry a non-native man

1986

Native women are allowed to retain their treaty status even if they marry

a non-native man

Government Report Recommends

Recognition of an Aboriginal order of government,

Creation of an Aboriginal parliament.

Expansion of the Aboriginal land and resource base.

Recognition of Métis self-government, provision of a land base, and recognition of Métis rights to hunt and fish on Crown land

1996

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report

Note that none of the recommendations highlighted in the previous slide have been implemented

A few quotes from this report are shown on the next slide

“As Commissioners we urge our fellow Canadians to commit the required resources to the actions we describe, to close the economic gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people by 50 per cent and improve social conditions in the

next 20 years.

Perhaps it will take longer. But within the 20-year timeframe, enormous momentum for change can be generated. By 2016, Aboriginal people can be very much better off than they are

today and moving steadily forward.

The result will be a large gain in human and financial terms for Aboriginal people - and, in the long term, much greater

savings for all Canadians.”

-- Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples

Over 500 Chinese from Fujian Province arrive by boat on the West

coast ; the public backlash that arose led to their detention as illegal

migrants.

1999

Chinese from Fujian Province arrive by boat on the West coast

Nisga Nation treaty with government of

British Columbia enacted

2000

Nisga nation treaty with government of British Columbia

The Toronto Star publishes a series of stories claiming that black people are still being stopped by police and accused of certain crimes far more

frequently than white people.

2002 Racial Profiling

A series of articles published in 2002 in the Toronto Star caused a sensation. The articles were based on stats collected by the police.

Analysis of those figures by Star reporters suggested that blacks in Toronto were over-represented in certain offence categories like drug possession and in what were called "out-of-sight" traffic violations, such as driving without a licence. The analysis also suggested that black suspects were more likely to be held in custody for a bail hearing, while white suspects; facing similar charges – were more likely to be released at the scene

Prime Minister of Canada apologizes to

First Nations peoples for Indian

Residential Schools

June 2008

Prime Minister of Canada apologizes to First Nations peoples for Indian

Residential Schools

Members of Ardoch Algonquin and K-I First Nations in Ontario charged and fined (over $25,000 for one person)

for refusing to allow developers and uranium mining companies access to

land under treaty negotiation

Ardoch & K-I First Nations in Ontario protest; members charged, fined, and some are

imprisoned). Charges dismissed in late May

against K-I First Nations members; Bob Lovelace

is freed

2008

A few contemporary issues and examples where racism and racial justice are live issues in

Canadian life today.

“In the federally regulated private sector, the representation of members of visible minorities exceeded labour market availability. However, workforce representation gaps existed for the other three designated groups, with particular challenges for persons with disabilities and Aboriginal peoples.”

“In the federal public sector, the representation of Aboriginal peoples exceeded labour market availability. However, the greatest challenge continued to be the gap in the representation of members of visible minorities.”

source: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/publications/equality/annual_reports/2008/page00.shtml

Employment Equity Act Annual Report 2008

Water & Wastewater for First Nations

“The number of high-risk drinking water systems has increased from 48 to 49 in the past year, but this number is significantly below the193 identified in 2006”

“in March 2010, there were 61 high-risk wastewater treatment systems in First Nation communities.”

Source: Indian & Northern Affairs, Canada

First Nations Water & Wastewater Action Plan Progess Report, April 2009 – March 2010

http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/enr/wtr/pubs/prpf/pad10/pad10-eng.asp#chp1

Aboriginal Adults: rates of incarceration 2005 - 2006

4% of the total Canadian adult population - (2006 Census)

24% of admissions to provincial/territorial sentenced custody

18% of admissions to federal prisons

19% of admissions to remand

21% of male prisoner population

30% of female prisoner population

source: drawn from Juristat, Statistics Canada