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Discussion Topic: Black Canadians- Losing Anti-Black Hate Crime Battle |
1 grassroot |
08-06-2009 @ 1:12 PM |
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Losing anti-black hate crime battle
"We cannot miss this opportunity," Margaret Parsons says as she watches delegates at a major conference discuss issues troubling blacks in Canada.
"We cannot waste it."
Like many black Canadians, Parsons is frustrated and disillusioned by the lack of progress in recent years on everything from jobs to action on ending racism and anti-black hate crimes. That's why she was in Ottawa last week attending the three-day National African Canadian Policy Conference.
Over the three days, 200 legal experts, academics, youth and community leaders went to workshops and listened to speakers on poverty, education, health and the media.
Organizers, including Parsons, who heads the Toronto-based African Canadian Legal Clinic, hope the conference will lead to a national policy with co-ordinated strategies to address critical concerns within the black community.
The timing of the conference was ideal because many black Canadians are feeling increasingly ignored and let down by their public institutions, including schools, governments, the police and the media.
Indeed, for some, this is a community under stress.
In many ways, blacks in Canada have made great strides in recent decades. But in other ways, they've seen little progress since the 1950s.
As a group, black Canadians are poorer, less educated, less healthy, more likely to be unemployed or in jail than virtually every other racial or ethnic community.
Nowhere is this lack of progress more evident than when it comes to racially motivated hate crimes.
Blacks are the third-largest visible minority in Canada, exceeded only by the Chinese and South Asian communities. And yet 48 per cent of the victims of racially motivated hate crime are black. By comparison, at a distant 13 per cent, South Asians are the second most frequent victims of such crime.
What's worse, anti-black hate crime is on the rise, according to Statistics Canada data.
Hate crimes can include graffiti, oral comments, vandalism, arson, assault, even murder. Incidents can take place at work, in schools, shopping malls and hockey arenas.
Det. Gary McQueen of the Toronto Police Services hate crime unit told delegates they likely will see the numbers increasing even more as blacks come forward to report such cases. Currently, legal experts estimate barely 10 per cent of incidents are reported.
If this is new to readers, then the delegates would be right when they suggest most media outlets downplay or ignore such stories.
During the conference, the organizers gave each delegate a "tool kit" designed to help individuals and community groups recognize and deal with hate crimes.
The 78-page manual included tips and strategies ranging from media advocacy to how to raise community awareness and lobby law enforcement agencies to recognize and deal more effectively with incidents of anti-black hate.
It also suggests ways for public institutions to develop training and protocols specifically aimed at handling cases of anti-black hate.
For some older blacks, however, all of this has a sense of déjà vu.
It's an understandable attitude, brought on by multiple years of attending such hopeful conferences, followed by multiple years of pain and disappointment.
And it's easy to see how their feeling of despair develops, given that not a single federal or provincial politician showed up, even though the conference was being held just two blocks from Parliament Hill.
Some didn't even bother to reply to their invitation.
Parsons calls the politicians' failure to attend or reply to the invitation a slap in the face to all blacks.
She's right.
Mar 19, 2009 04:30 AM
Bob Hepburn
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| 2cleodine |
08-06-2009 @ 1:46 PM |
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WOW!
Grassroots, THANKS.
quote:
For some older blacks, however, all of this has a sense of déjà vu.
It's an understandable attitude, brought on by multiple years of attending such hopeful conferences, followed by multiple years of pain and disappointment.
This sounds like the United States of America.
Great thread.
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| 3dawilliams |
08-06-2009 @ 2:30 PM |
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cleodine
Now THIS is what I have been trying to get your buddy to post for years!! Since you wanna play Mommie to your buddy please try and get him to post something worthwhile like this for a change instead of all that gawd dayum mothaphuckin gibberish hes been posting for years!! I would be willing to bet this -18 aint even Black. This kind of injustice goes on in Canada and not a peep out of him. He posts silly gibberish about the indians taking over when the indians are starving to death in Canada.
The dude is a Mooseturd junky like I said. He is not only a mooseturd junky but he is delusional!! So if you wanna mollycoddle dat bazztard and play Mommie and Big sis and all dat other bullschitt with him das on you! He may not even be Black. How could he even think of criticizing Black Americans when this is going on in Canada. I would be willing to bet he aint Black. Talk about strategy. The more I came back at him and checked him about his gibberish the more angry he became. He start calling me a 'monkey'. As mulberry pointed out when has a Black man reffered to another Black man in the same way that Whites have insulted Blacks for years. As far as those Archie comics go maybe in your neighborhood you read them but not in mine. Youd get your azz kicked if you got caught with some lame schitt like dat.
True Dat!
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| 4LA90056 |
08-06-2009 @ 2:54 PM |
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grassroot,
Good looking out!
This is the most info I have ever read on this site about Canada!
I have also been reading/gathering info on Black Canadians/stats for a possible project.
I have told you all for years that something is wrong with this person (Sl8, wannabe American), just by his obsessive behavior and negative attitude towards Americans, and I also think something is wrong when you live in a place but you NEVER have anything to say about the place where you live, or the Black folks that live there, if indeed you are Black!
DAWILLIAMS is not off base at all, so you have to give him that!
In fact, this person (Sl8) is so angry, and off balanced most of the time, that he may be the type you hear about on the 6 o'clock news of the gunman going crazy and shooting up everyone! Sorry, but this is how he presents himself!
"As a group, black Canadians are poorer, less educated, less healthy, more likely to be unemployed or in jail than virtually every other racial or ethnic community."
"And it's easy to see how their feeling of despair develops, given that not a single federal or provincial politician showed up, even though the conference was being held just two blocks from Parliament Hill."
Hard to understand why these folks have not done something about this. That is awful~At least make some loud noise!
PEACE
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| 5sl8 |
08-06-2009 @ 3:16 PM |
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This sounds like the United States of America.
ya it does doesnt it.....
as ive been saying for how long now?
o....
thanks grassroot
in truth, SL8
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| 6thinker |
08-06-2009 @ 3:38 PM |
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Blacks are the third-largest visible minority in Canada, exceeded only by the Chinese and South Asian communities. And yet 48 per cent of the victims of racially motivated hate crime are black. By comparison, at a distant 13 per cent, South Asians are the second most frequent victims of such crime.
What's worse, anti-black hate crime is on the rise, according to Statistics Canada data.
Hate crimes can include graffiti, oral comments, vandalism, arson, assault, even murder. Incidents can take place at work, in schools, shopping malls and hockey arenas.
Sounds just like the USA, and I also have been requesting this kind of information from the wizard of blah-blah, harde-ha-ha up in Toronto!
Thanks grassroot!
Think love, not hate!
This message was edited by thinker on 8-6-09 @ 3:42 PM
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| 7dawilliams |
08-06-2009 @ 4:36 PM |
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root/thinker
grassroot: Thanks a lot man!
This -18/aka mooseturd junky/Prof. Mooseturd /nutcase all of the preceding. If he is Black has not writtne anything this informing. When I checked him about it he began referring to me as a 'monkey'. A typical white racist epithet. Another clue is when he admitted that he thought Idi Amin was bevos dog! Now what African-American or Black person do you know does not know who Idi Amin was?
He insults U.S. veterans. Another no! no! I know many Black vets with different points of views. Some are Republicans and some are muslims but they dont diss the vets. This mothaphucka would have been found dead along time ago if he said some of the things he said about vets. If cleodine wants to play Mommy to this bazzturd and mollycoddle him das her business. I wanna see what heartbone has to say about this!
True Dat!
This message was edited by dawilliams on 8-6-09 @ 4:53 PM
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| 8dawilliams |
08-06-2009 @ 5:04 PM |
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LA90056
DAWILLIAMS IS NOT OFF BASE SO YOU HAVE TO GIVE HIM THAT? What do you mean woman! I been calling out this fool for the longest! You talk about strategy when I called him mooseturd junky and accused him of smoking them he would lash out and call me racist names that are TYPICAL of what these Black Candians are complaining about is it not? I bet this mothaphucka aint even Black.
When I posted factual statistics about Torontos population and how filthy it is the more enraged he became.
It comes as no surprise that Black Canadians are in the predicament they are in. Ron LeFlore left the Montreal Expos professional baseball team years ago because he could not take the racist treatment he was getting. This was over 20 years ago.
True Dat!
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| 9cleodine |
08-06-2009 @ 5:08 PM |
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Grassroots, again I thank you for this thread.
However, and with all due respect sir, I will not post again because I do not like the name calling that has marred this thread.
For once, a member has posted an international story that is similar and possibly connected to the abysmal state of Black America. However, instead of staying on point and actually for once understanding that there are possible connections, some wish to continue nonsense from other threads. This is so very sad.
What's even sadder is the fact that others in the diaspora (I really dislike this word) look to Black Americans for solutions. Hence, maybe that's why they cotinue to berate and demean as a way of prodding us into action.
Again, thank you for this thread.
Thank you.
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| 10dawilliams |
08-06-2009 @ 5:21 PM |
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cleodine
Its your call as to whether or not you want to post again but you know as well as the rest of this -18 or whatever he has offered nothing but gibberish. How can you justify this? Your protesting by not posting is supporting this clown. I believe he is racist plant. He is getting you to stop posting so he has succeeded in eliminating atleast one person who is outspoken. As mulberry pointed out calling me names like a 'monkey' is typical to what whites have been calling Blacks for years. Now does it strike you odd that he would even such an epithet. If he is so concerned about the plight of Black Americans why has he left the plight of Black Canadians unreported after many of us have chided him for years to post something about their plight? He has more postings than anyone here at BWP. Over 90% is nothing but gibberish. Now what sane individual would sit down and post gibberish day in and out!
Eventhough grassroot has exposed via information the madness of this fool you still support him by saying you refuse to post anymore. You still want to Mollycoddle this bazzturd and play Mommy to him? You even go so far as to say his insults are a plea for help from Black Americans. Come on Cleodine Velvet Jackson! You know better than that. If you wanna mollycoddle this azzhole its on you. But you got me wonderin! You are making me smile!
True Dat!
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| 11grassroot |
08-06-2009 @ 6:26 PM |
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I don't like hypocrisy and I don't like being attacked without provocation.SL8 did and was both. If you live in a glass house, don't throw stones.
As I have said before, an honest disagreement is one thing, doggish attacks are another. You can throw a some dirty on me and I will get up brush it off, but don't try to put me in grave before my time.
With this being said, I didn't expect to find the Black situation in Canada to be this bad. I has a feeling it wasn't that great for Blacks based my two short visits. I can't honestly say this is like the USA.
However, I really believe now that SL8 was dumping on us because of his inability to navigator his own environment.
I am not getting into a back and force thing about this, but their isn't/wasn't a bigger name caller than SL8. What goes around, comes around!
This message was edited by grassroot on 8-6-09 @ 7:44 PM
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| 12cleodine |
08-06-2009 @ 6:45 PM |
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quote:
cleodine
Its your call as to whether or not you want to post again but you know as well as the rest of this -18 or whatever he has offered nothing but gibberish. How can you justify this? Your protesting by not posting is supporting this clown. I believe he is racist plant. He is getting you to stop posting so he has succeeded in eliminating atleast one person who is outspoken. As mulberry pointed out calling me names like a 'monkey' is typical to what whites have been calling Blacks for years. Now does it strike you odd that he would even such an epithet. If he is so concerned about the plight of Black Americans why has he left the plight of Black Canadians unreported after many of us have chided him for years to post something about their plight? He has more postings than anyone here at BWP. Over 90% is nothing but gibberish. Now what sane individual would sit down and post gibberish day in and out!
Eventhough grassroot has exposed via information the madness of this fool you still support him by saying you refuse to post anymore. You still want to Mollycoddle this bazzturd and play Mommy to him? You even go so far as to say his insults are a plea for help from Black Americans. Come on Cleodine Velvet Jackson! You know better than that. If you wanna mollycoddle this azzhole its on you. But you got me wonderin! You are making me smile!
Now you're being quite ignorant. I posted what I did because I knew you would jump on it with that same circular nonsense.
This thread is not about you, me or SL8; it's about an issue that seems to affect BLACK people in North America.
Furthermore, I DON'T GIVE A HANDCUFFED SKIPPY GATES WHETHER YOU THINK SL8 IS A RACIST OR NOT...REALLY, THAT'S YOUR ISSUE, NOT MINE BECAUSE I DID MY RESEARCH ON SL8 WITH HIS PERMISSION.
Furthermore, I have established relationships with members off the board, both men and women. They have shared their thoughts with me and me with them. I value these members because I understand them, and we always have respectful conversation even when we disagree. These people are my BWP circle. And some of them are members you vouch for.
NEVER HAVE I FELT THE NEED TO CALL THEM NAMES AND/OR INSULT THEM BECAUSE WE DISAGREED OR MISUNDERSTOOD ONE ANOTHER...NEVER. And this goes for some members I have yet to communicate with off this board.
I deal with quality and not nonsense. And your posts on this BREAKTHOUGH THREAD (this is how I feel) are just not my cup of tea.
Grassroots wrote something very profound on another thread and got me to thinking: Where do we go from here after the Obama election? How will it truly affect Black Americans? Are Black Americans ashamed and/or do they feel duped? These are the things I'm interested in, not a lopsided battle of wits.
Dang man, you fell for the bait again (and again and again and again and again and again, etc.). I feel like I'm talking to a crackhead and I truly don't want to feel this way. Therefore, I'M DONE WITH YOU on this thread.
I can't believe you fell for the bait again. 
Again Grassroots, thank you.
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| 13dawilliams |
08-06-2009 @ 8:00 PM |
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cleodine
What bait woman? We are having a discussion in cyberspace! If we are going to try and as you put it 'bait' somebody why not spend your time baiting your friend? What trap are you trying to set? You made a statement I responded simple as that.
If you wanna bait someone bait your buddy -18. When you mollycoddle this nut you only encourage him to continue with his assinine remarks that are both offensive and racist. I dont believe he is Black. Did he tell you if he was Black or not. It sure does not sound like it.
The guy is delusional. Really delusional. You say you were a social worker you sound like your encouraging some psychotic to keep practicing his methods or something. I dont know what your motive is. If you say you researched the dude and as others have pointed out he has made racist white supremacist remarks and you dont find anything fishy I dont know about you.
I sound like a crackhead? What about your buddy? If you wanna play Mommy to this nutcase then thats your business but dont put it off on me.
True Dat!
This message was edited by dawilliams on 8-21-09 @ 5:34 AM
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| 14dawilliams |
08-06-2009 @ 8:41 PM |
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all
Here is some info from the African Canadian website. This is due to grassroots posting after the socalled canadian did nothing but post gibberish for years and years. This is only the beginning
----------------------------------------------
Address:
ACLC
18 King St. E., Suite 901
Toronto, ON
M5C 1C4
Telephone:
416.214.4747
Fax:
416.214.4748
Toll free:
1.888.377.0033
Hours of operation:
Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Switchboard reception:
Reception closes at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays but the office remains open.
Closest subway station:
King (Yonge line)
Home
Welcome to the ACLC
The African Canadian Legal Clinic (ACLC) is a not-for-profit organization established in October 1994 expressly to address anti-Black racism and other forms of systemic and institutional discrimination in Canadian society.
As a specialty clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario, the ACLC provides advice and represents African Canadians in all legal forums, particularly in the courts through race-based test cases that are likely to result in significant legal precedents. Besides participating in test cases, the ACLC consults on the African Canadian community's behalf and submits legislative and policy briefs, and makes oral submissions on several issues.
•employing a litigation strategy based on test cases
•effecting law reform by monitoring legislative changes, regulatory, administrative, and judicial developments
•engaging in advocacy on the part of African Canadians
•providing legal education aimed at eliminating racism in Canada, anti-Black racism in particular
Empowering the community at the local, provincial, and national levels, is one of the ACLC's most important functions. To accomplish this, the ACLC engages in the following activities:
•maintains a library and legal resource centre
•publishes a newsletter
•convenes conferences and seminars
•hosts public hearings
•facilitates coalition building, briefings, and consultations
•provides summary legal advice
•writes manuals and protocols
•holds educational workshops
•writes op-ed pieces for media publication
•holds press conferences on pertinent issues
Learn more about the ACLC.
Bookmark PageNeed legal advice?
Seeking information in a specific legal area? Can't afford a lawyer? Want to know where to go to find more information?
The ACLC provides access to material that will help you to understand and exercise your legal rights.
African Canadian Youth Justice Program
Learn how the ACLC's African Canadian Youth Justice Program serves African Canadian youth involved in the justice system while providing community supports.
National African Canadian Initiative
The ACLC supports the National African Canadian Initiative on Full Participation and Capacity Building.
Copyright ACLC, 2005-2009. All rights reserved.
True Dat!
This message was edited by dawilliams on 8-10-09 @ 6:38 AM
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| 15dawilliams |
08-06-2009 @ 8:53 PM |
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all
Here is more information via wikipedia. Once again thanks to grassroots article I have undertaken to find some information on my own after asking the so called Candian who posts here at BWP for years without printing any info about Candian Black people.
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According to the 2006 Census by Statistics Canada, 783,795 Canadians identified themselves as black, constituting 2.5% of the entire Canadian population.[1] The five largest provinces of Black population in 2006 were Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia.[1] The ten largest census metropolitan areas of Black population were Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Halifax, and Oshawa.[2]
Preston, in the Halifax area, is the community with the highest percentage of Blacks at 69.4%.
Census issues
Black Canadian population by year[4][1]
Year Population % of Canadian
Population
1871 21,500 0.6
1881 21,400 0.5
1901 17,500 0.3
1911 16,900 0.2
1921 18,300 0.2
1931 19,500 0.2
1941 22,200 0.2
1951 18,000 0.1
1961 32,100 0.2
1971 34,400 0.2
1981 239,500 1.0
1991 504,300 1.9
2001 662,200 2.2
2006 783,795 2.5
At times, it has been alleged that Black Canadians have been significantly undercounted in census data. Writer George Elliott Clarke has cited a McGill University study which found that fully 43 per cent of all Black Canadians were not counted as black in the 1991 Canadian census, because they had identified themselves on census forms as British, French or other cultural identities which were not included in the census group of Black cultures.[5]
Although subsequent censuses have reported the population of Black Canadians to be much more consistent with the McGill study's revised 1991 estimate than with the official 1991 census data, no recent study has been conducted to determine whether some Black Canadians are still substantially missed.
Terminology
One of the ongoing controversies in the Black Canadian community revolves around appropriate terminologies. "Caribbean Canadian" is often used to refer to Black Canadians of Caribbean heritage, although this usage can also be controversial because the Caribbean is not populated only by people of African origin, but also includes large groups of Indo-Caribbeans, Chinese Caribbeans, European Caribbeans, Syrian or Lebanese Caribbeans, Latinos and Amerindians. (The same racial diversity is also true of Africa, although this is far less frequently cited as an argument against the use of "African Canadian".) The term "West Indian" is often used by those of Caribbean ancestry, although the term is more of a cultural description than a racial one, and can equally be applied to groups of many different racial and ethnic backgrounds. The term "Afro-Caribbean-Canadian" is occasionally used in response to this controversy, although as of 2009, this term is still not widely seen in common usage.
Blacks of Caribbean origin form a much larger proportion of the black community in Canada than in the United States — in fact, almost 30% of Canada's black population is of Jamaican origin alone,[6] and a further 32% are from other Caribbean nations.[4] Many Canadians of Afro-Caribbean origin strongly object to the term "African Canadian", as it obscures their own culture and history, and this partially accounts for the term's less prevalent use in Canada, compared to the consensus "African American" south of the border.
However, there are also regional demographic variations. In particular, the community in Nova Scotia, which has a unique history stretching back to the Black Loyalist movement during the American Revolution, and the community in Southwestern Ontario, a major historical destination along the Underground Railroad, are much more strongly associated with African American immigration from the United States, and much less with Caribbean immigration, than in most of Canada. Because of their distinct history, blacks in Nova Scotia are also commonly identified as a distinct Black Nova Scotian community within the larger Black Canadian group, a distinction that is not shared by any other Canadian province.
More specific national terms such as "Jamaican Canadian", "Haitian Canadian" or "Ghanaian Canadian" are also used. As of 2009, however, there is no widely-used alternative to "Black Canadian" that is accepted by both the Afro-Caribbean population and those of more recent African extraction as an umbrella term for the whole group.
History
First black people in Canada
Anderson Ruffin Abbott, the first Black Canadian to be a licenced physician, participated in the American Civil War and attended the death bed of Abraham Lincoln.The first recorded black person to set foot on land now known as Canada was a free man named Mathieu de Costa, who travelled with explorer Samuel de Champlain, and arrived in Nova Scotia some time between 1603 and 1608 as a translator for the French explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts. The first known black person to live in Canada was a slave from Madagascar named Olivier Le Jeune, who may have been of partial Malay ancestry. As a group, black people arrived in Canada in several waves. The first of these came as free persons serving in the French Army and Navy; some were enslaved. Later, some were indentured servants, as were some white immigrants. This category can be described as slavery.
African Americans during the American Revolution
At the time of the American Revolution, inhabitants of the United States had to decide where their future lay. Those loyal to the British Crown were called United Empire Loyalists, and came north. White American Loyalists brought their African American slaves with them, while formerly enslaved Black Americans, about 10% of the total,[7] also made their way to the colonies of British North America, settling predominantly in Nova Scotia,[8] see Black Nova Scotians. This latter group was largely made up of tradespeople and labourers, and many set up home in Birchtown near Shelburne. Some settled in New Brunswick, where they received discriminatory treatment; prominent leaders there held slaves. The charter of the city of Saint John was amended in 1785 specifically to exclude blacks from practising a trade, selling goods, fishing in the harbour, or becoming freemen; these provisions stood until 1870.[9]
In 1782, the first race riot in North America took place in Shelburne, with white soldiers attacking the African American settlers who were getting work that the soldiers thought they should have. Due to the unkept promises of the British government and the discrimination from the white colonists, 1,192 African American men, women and children left Nova Scotia for West Africa on January 15, 1792 and settled in what is now Sierra Leone, where they became the original settlers of Freetown. They, along with other groups of free transplanted people such as the Black Poor from England, became what is now the Sierra Leone Creole people, also known as the Krio.
Maroons from the Caribbean
In 1796, a group of fiercely independent rebels known as the Trelawney Maroons were moved from Jamaica to Nova Scotia, following their long battle against colonization. While there, these Jamaican Maroons deterred an attack by Napoleon and constructed parts of the Halifax Citadel and all of Government House. After only a few winters, the British government decided it would be cheaper to send them to Sierra Leone than to try to persuade them to farm in a cold country. Upon their arrival in West Africa in 1800, they were used to quell an uprising among the previous settlers mentioned above, who after eight years were unhappy with their treatment by the Sierra Leone Company.
The abolition of slavery
Main article: Act Against Slavery
The Canadian climate made it uneconomic to keep slaves year-round,[10] unlike the plantation agriculture practised in the southern United States and Caribbean, and slavery within the colonial economy became increasingly rare. Not all owners were white. For example, the powerful Mohawk leader Joseph Brant bought an African American named Sophia Burthen Pooley, whom he kept for about 12 years before selling her for $100.[11][12] In 1793 John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, attempted to abolish slavery. That same year, the new Legislative Assembly there became the first entity in the British Empire to restrict slavery, confirming existing ownership but allowing for anyone born to a female slave after that date to be freed at the age of 25.[13] Slavery was all but abolished throughout the other British North American colonies by 1800, and was illegal throughout the British Empire after 1834. This made Canada an attractive destination for those fleeing slavery in the United States, such as minister Boston King.
The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada estimated in its first report in 1852 that the "colored population of Upper Canada" was about 30,000, of whom almost all adults were "fugitive slaves".[14] St. Catharines had a population of 6000 at that time; 800 of them were "of African descent".
War of 1812
The next major migration of blacks occurred between 1813 and 1815. Refugees from the War of 1812 fled the United States to settle in Hammonds Plains, Beechville, Lucasville, North Preston, East Preston, and Africville. A Black Loyalist named Richard Pierpoint, who was born about 1744 in Senegal and who had settled near present-day St. Catharines, Ontario, offered to organize a Corps of Men of Colour; this was refused but a white officer raised a small black corps.[7] This "Coloured Corps" fought at Queenston Heights and the siege of Fort George, defending what would become Canada from the invading American army.[7]
The Underground Railroad
There is a sizable community of Black Canadians in Nova Scotia [8] and Southern Ontario who trace their ancestry to African American slaves who used the Underground Railroad to flee from the United States, seeking refuge and freedom in Canada. From the late 1820s until the American Civil War began in 1861, the Underground Railroad brought tens of thousands of fugitives to Canada. While many of these returned to the United States after emancipation, a significant population remained, largely in Southern Ontario, widely scattered in both rural and urban locations, including Amherstburg, Colchester, Dresden, Wallaceburg, Guelph and Wellington County,[16] Kitchener, Waterloo, Sudbury, Chatham, Windsor, London, Hamilton,[17] Collingwood, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie, Welland, Owen Sound[18] and Toronto.
West Coast
In 1858, James Douglas, the governor of the British colony of Vancouver Island, replied to an inquiry from a group of blacks in San Francisco about the possibilities of settling in his jurisdiction. Governor Douglas, whose mother had been a Creole, replied favourably, and, at the outbreak of the Cariboo Gold Rush, several dozen of these African American migrants travelled to Victoria. Two of them, Peter Lester and Mifflin Gibbs, became successful merchants there, and Gibbs was elected to the City Council in the 1860s.
Immigration restrictions
In the late nineteenth century, there was an unofficial policy of restricting blacks from immigration. The huge influx of immigrants from Europe and the United States in the period before World War I included only very small numbers of black arrivals. This was formalised in 1911 by Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier: "His excellency in Council, in virtue of the provisions of Sub-section (c) of Section 38 of the Immigration Act, is pleased to Order and it is hereby Ordered as follows: For a period of one year from and after the date hereof the landing in Canada shall be and the same is prohibited of any immigrants belonging to the Negro race, which race is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada."[11] (Compare with the White Australia policy.)
Early 20th century
A group of Black Canadians pose with Premier Ernest C. Drury and Sir Henry Pellatt on the steps of the Ontario Legislature in Toronto, sometime between 1919 and 1923. (See close-up)The flow between the United States and Canada continued in the twentieth century. A wave of immigration occurred in the 1920s, with blacks from the Caribbean coming to work in the steel mills of Cape Breton, replacing those who had come from Alabama in 1899.[19] Some Black Canadians trace their ancestry to people who fled racism in Oklahoma, Texas, and other American Great Plains states in the early 1900s to move north to Alberta and Saskatchewan.[20] (See for example those buried in the Shiloh Baptist Church cemetery in Saskatchewan.)[21] Many of them encountered racism when they arrived in Canada, which they had regarded as the Promised Land.[22] Many of Canada's railway porters came from the U.S. as well, with many coming from the South, New York City and Washington, D.C., and mainly settling in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver.[23]
Late 20th century and early 21st century
The restrictions on immigration remained until 1962, when racial rules were eliminated from the immigration laws. This coincided with the dissolution of the British Empire in the Caribbean, and over the next decades several hundred thousand blacks came from that region to Canada. Since then, an increasing number of immigrants from Africa have been coming to Canada,[4] as is also the case in the United States and Europe. This includes large numbers of refugees, but also many skilled workers pursuing better economic conditions. Today's Black Canadians are largely of Caribbean origin, with some of recent African origin, and smaller numbers from Latin American countries.
However, a sizable number of Black Canadians who descended from freed American slaves can still be found in Nova Scotia and parts of Southwestern Ontario. Some descendants of the freed American black slaves have mixed into the white Canadian community and have mostly lost their ethnic identity. Some of the descendants went back to the United States. Bangor, Maine, for example, received quite a few Black Canadians from the Maritime provinces. [24]
In 1975, a museum honoring Black Canadians, as well as African Americans, was established in Amherstburg, Ontario, entitled the North American Black Historical Museum. Though closed for several years, it re-opened in 2001.
Statistics
Nearly 30% of Black Canadians have Jamaican heritage.[6]
An additional 32% have heritage elsewhere in the Caribbean or Bermuda.[4]
60% of Black Canadians are under the age of 35.[4]
60% of Black Canadians live in the province of Ontario.[1]
97% of Black Canadians live in urban areas.[4]
There are 20,000 more black women than black men in Canada.[4]
Compared:
Black Canadians – 783,795 (2.5% of Canadian population)
Black British – 1,900,000 (3.0% of British population)
African Australians – 160,000 (0.8% of Australian population)
African Americans – 39,500,000 (12.4% of American population)
Afro-Brazilians – 92,690,000 (49.5% of Brazilian population)
Afro-Colombians – 10,500,000 (21% of Colombian population)
Settlements
Although many Black Canadians live in integrated communities, there have also been a number of notable Black communities, both as unique settlements and as Black-dominated neighbourhoods in urban centres.
The most famous and historically documented Black settlement in Canadian history is the community of Africville, a small village in Nova Scotia which was demolished in the 1960s to facilitate the urban expansion of Halifax. Similarly, the Hogan's Alley neighbourhood in Vancouver was largely demolished in 1970, with only a single small laneway in Strathcona remaining.
The Wilberforce Colony in Ontario was also a historically Black settlement, which evolved demographically as Black settlers moved away and eventually became the Irish-dominated village of Lucan. A small group of Black settlers were also the original inhabitants of Saltspring Island.
Other notable Black settlements include North Preston in Nova Scotia, Priceville, Shanty Bay and parts of Chatham-Kent in Ontario, the Maidstone/Eldon area in Saskatchewan[25] and Amber Valley in Alberta. North Preston currently has the highest concentration of Black Canadians in Canada, many of whom are descendants of Africville residents.
One of the most famous Black-dominated urban neighbourhoods in Canada is Montreal's Little Burgundy, regarded as the spiritual home of Canadian jazz due to its association with many of Canada's most influential early jazz musicians. In Toronto, many Blacks settled in St. John's Ward,[26][27] a district which was located in the city's core. Others preferred to live in York Township, on the outskirts of the city. By 1850, there were more than a dozen Black businesses along King Street.[26]
Several urban neighbourhoods in Toronto, including Jane and Finch, Rexdale, Malvern, St. James Town and Lawrence Heights, are popularly associated with Black Canadians, although all are much more racially diverse than is commonly believed. The Toronto suburbs of Brampton and Ajax also have sizeable black populations, which have migrated outward from Toronto over the last five to seven years.[28]
Media
Media representation of Blacks in Canada has increased significantly in recent years, with television series such as Drop the Beat, Lord Have Mercy and Da Kink in My Hair focusing principally on Black characters and communities.
The films of Clement Virgo and Sudz Sutherland have been among the most prominent depictions of Black Canadians on the big screen.
In literature, the most prominent and famous Black Canadian writers have been George Elliott Clarke, Austin Clarke, Dionne Brand and Dany Laferrière, although numerous emerging writers have gained attention in the 1990s and 2000s.
Racism
According to Statistics Canada's Ethnic Diversity Survey, released in September 2003, when asked about the five year period from 1998 to 2002 nearly one-third (32%) of respondents who identified as black reported that they had been subjected to some form of racial discrimination or unfair treatment 'sometimes' or 'often'.[29]
General
List of Black Canadians
African diaspora
Black people
African-Canadian Heritage Tour
List of topics related to Black and African people
Slavery in Canada
North American Black Historical Museum
Related ethnic groups
Jamaican Canadian
Haitian Canadians
Canadians of Trinidad and Tobago origin
Canadians of Barbadian origin
Canadians of Guyanese descent
Latin American Canadian
Cape Verdean Canadian
References
^ a b c d e Visible minority groups, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories
^ Visible minority groups, 2006 counts, for Canada and census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations
^ Community Counts Home Page
^ a b c d e f g CST.SP04.qxd
^ "The Complex Face of Black Canada", George Elliott Clarke, McGill News, Winter 1997.
^ a b Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories - 20% sample data
^ a b c Black History in Guelph and Wellington County
^ a b Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia
^ Arrival of the Black Loyalists: Saint John's Black Community: Heritage Resources Saint John
^ The Underground Rail Road
True Dat!
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| 16sl8 |
08-07-2009 @ 3:54 AM |
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lmao...
in truth, SL8
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| 17dawilliams |
08-07-2009 @ 6:03 AM |
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Prof. Mooseturd
Yes if I were a white supremacist I might feel the same way you do LMAO,LMAO,LMAO,LMAO,LMAO!! Das Your favorite posting!! You get high smoking those moose turd joints then you LMAO,LMAO,LMAO!!
What a phuckin Mooseturd Azzhole!!
True Dat!
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| 18grassroot |
08-07-2009 @ 7:01 AM |
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DA
He is only trying to get you off subject. You are bigger and better than this distraction. I really thinks he "gets off" on people beating up on him. He's unruly and keep coming back for more, there is clearly a phychological.I think you most likely have known some situations or people like this in your life. I didn't want to say this, but I would say he feels he is handled-capped by whites in his life and projecting on to us/you his mental state of discompose. He is without a doubt screaming for help on this board but is generally hiding his discontentment in his real life behind a smile. He is mentally cracking as we speak and SL8 I would ask you to get some help before it too late. You could hurt someone you love but beginning to think they don't love you. You clearly demonstrate a desire and need to be hurt, punish dehumanized and demeaned.
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| 19sl8 |
08-07-2009 @ 7:32 AM |
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your comprehension will come under fire within your next 3 posts...
no im not psychic , i just connect dots very well.
in truth, SL8
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| 20dawilliams |
08-07-2009 @ 9:10 AM |
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Prof. Mooseturd
Yes you will yell 'my comprehension' my comprehension' my comprehension'. Thats become your favorite line. I should have been posting your a nut job your a nut job your a nut job a long time ago. I guess now is the time to get around to it. I was hoping you would come around and post some real useful info about Black Canadians. It took someone else to do it.
Now I say again and again!'Your a nut job, your a nut job! ,your a nut job! Your a nut job'!
If anyone needs proof just read some of your thousands of postings. Most of them are nonsensical gibberish that only a Mooseturd junky like yourself could post.
All I can say is those Mooseturd joints must be some powerful schitt!! (LOL)
Now hitch up your Dog sled and get out there and start pickin up some of that garbage thats all over Toronto. Your lucky that the people of Michigan have been kind enough to let you deposit some of that garbage on their land. If it were up to me you could keep wallowing in it! Now get busy collecting those cans mothaphucka!!
True Dat!
This message was edited by dawilliams on 8-7-09 @ 9:17 AM
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| 21mulberry |
08-07-2009 @ 9:14 AM |
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DA,
Leave the emotions at the door..Cleodine made her choice and let it be, for it is hers and only hers to make. No one should be chastised about not wanting to post in any thread.
As far as you and Sl8 the name calling, really its getting old, and you are feeding it. If you can't discuss the matte like adults then don't discuss, period. There have been some really profound threads that have been jacked by all this nonsense, but I keep posting my opinions and information. So, someone has to be the adult here.
Live Free or Die Trying
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