Calgary Public Library

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

eng

other

Viola Desmond's Canada

1088909571

by 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. 2016

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 / Wanda Robson -- 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

specialized

Canada