Coquitlam Public Library

Viola Desmond's Canada, a history of blacks and racial segregation in the promised land, Graham Reynolds, with Wanda Robson ; foreword by George Elliott Clarke

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Viola Desmond's Canada

bibliography

Graham Reynolds, with Wanda Robson ; foreword by George Elliott Clarke

a history of blacks and racial segregation in the promised land

"In 1946, a Black Halifax businesswoman, Viola Desmond, was wrongfully arrested for sitting in a white's-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. In 2010, sixty-four years later, the Nova Scotia government recognized this gross miscarriage of justice and posthumously granted her a free pardon. Most Canadians are aware of Rosa Parks, the American civil rights icon who refused to give up her seat on a racially segregated bus in Alabama, but Viola Desmond's similar act of courage in resisting the practice of racial segregation occurred nine years before this historic event. However, today, even after the Nova Scotia Government's unprecedented pardon of Desmond, many Canadians are still unaware of her story or that racial segregation existed throughout many parts of Canada during most of the twentieth century. On the subject of race, Canadians seem to exhibit a form of collective amnesia. Viola Desmond's Canada is groundbreaking book aimed at providing both general readers and students of Canadian history with a concise overview of the narrative of the Black experience in Canada. The book traces this narrative from slavery under French and British rule in the eighteenth century to the practice of racial segregation and the fight for racial equality in the twentieth century. Included are personal recollections by Wanda Robson, Viola Desmond's youngest sister, together with important but previously unpublished documents and other primary sources in the history of Blacks in Canada."--, Provided by publisher

Introduction -- Part I: A narrative history. A narrative of race in Canadian history from slavery to the underground railroad -- The many faces of Jim Crow: racial segregation in Canada 1880-1960 -- My early memories of race, my sister Viola and my journey of self-discovery -- Part II: A documentary history. Marie Marguerite Rose: What her inventory of material possessions tells us about slavery and freedom in eighteenth century New France -- West Indian immigration to Canada, 1800-1920 : what the census figures don't tell us -- The culture of racism in Canada : burning crosses, blackened-faced actors and minstrel shows -- Pearleen Oliver: Pioneer in the fight to end racial discrimination -- Epilogue

Canada