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Text shared by Amulanga Khechieva (NSRJ Community Liaison Worker) 

Please be advised that some of what you may read may be triggering.

Africville was an African-Canadian village located just north of Halifax and founded around the mid-19th century. For many people, Africville represents the oppression faced by Black Canadians throughout the history of what is now known as Canada.

Let me begin with the early history of the establishment of Africville and address the struggles that black refugees faced in the settlement process. For example, the land plots that were assigned to Blacks were of the lowest quality, the provision of food was inadequate and infrequent, and, apart from that, there was a large wage gap between the white and black population for the same type of work.

The land assigned to Africville was known for its industrial facilities that were hazardous for both the environment and residents. There was also a prison in this region, the city's infectious disease hospital, and the city dump was built in the Africville neighbourhood. The government did not pass any laws in Africville that would improve the welfare despite Africville being central in its geographical placement in Halifax, proving that it was impossible not to notice this region.

The socially constructed ideologies of poverty and the idea that a place is characterized by its inhabitants created the stigma of Black residents as unable and unwilling to progress by their very essence. Others perceived Africville as a repository for the wastes of society and a site of danger, degeneracy, and lawlessness. It was apparent that the creation of the slum and crime in this region was unavoidable in these circumstances. It eventually led to the phenomenon of “deviance service centres," places of illicit goods and activities - resided by the criminalized subjects who posed a danger to white society.

Furthermore, the personal lives of these Halifax residents had been continuously controlled and interrupted by the police based on the 'threat of rebellion' against White authority through radical activism. Therefore, stigmatization and criminalization of the Black Nova Scotian communities could be seen as a purposeful extension of the colonial projects of earlier periods. Unsurprisingly then, it separated the outside community with the privileged dominant group distancing itself from undesirable and uncivilized people who, in their opinion, did not deserve to live within White proximity. Gossiping, heavy drinking, and bad parenting were all attached to Africvillers. Also, the evaluative methods used by the white professionals at this time tried to impose on the public that blacks were socially pathological.

In the analysis of facts and evidence supporting the struggles of the Black population, it appears that racism is a powerful instrument to suppress one group over another and create prejudice. To me, Africville is an illustrative example of historical wrongs and a reminder to live peacefully in a diverse society. It is an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and strive for respect, trust, humility, compassion, inclusivity, collaboration, and forgiveness, all the values promoted by our organization.

 

 

References:

1. Sherene Razack, “The Space of Africville: Creating, Regulating, and Remembering the Urban “Slum”,” in Race, Space, and the Law: Unmapping a White Settler Society, edited by Sherene Razack (Toronto, CA: Between the Lines, 2002), 215.

2. Ted Rutland, “Re-remembering Africville.” Routledge 15, no. 6 (2011): 759, https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2011.595595.

3. Jennifer J. Nelson, ""Panthers or Thieves": Racialized Knowledge and the Regulation of Africville," Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes 45, no. 1 (2011): 124, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/426230.