Canada's Dark Secrets

Africville is one of the best kept secrets in the Halifax municipality. As a student moving here from Ontario, I recently discovered the underlying racist history of the town. However, I realized that many local Nova Scotians had no idea about Africville either. The minority of people living in the Halifax area that were of African decent were made to live in the most run down area. For more information on the history of the town, check out this site made by Dalhousie: "Black History Canada" and this site for more: "Africville - The Spirit Lives On".

Why isn't history such as Africville taught in schools as Canadian History? This is part of Canadian heritage and swept under the rug as if it never even happened.


Black racism is a horrible blemish on North America's history, and also seldom talked about. A recent conference that I went to with this Sociology class brought these issues to light. El Jones, an amazing spoken word artist, discusses Nova Scotia's black history in one of her works. The video below was taken at the 2008 Africville reunion as El Jones was asked to speak.

El Jones plays with words and brings new meaning to old phrases. She looks social and political problems straight in the face and tells them exactly what she means. This is why her poetry and works have become such a great activist force in the Black Consciousness movement in Nova Scotia.

Stereotypes are one of the most subliminal forms of racism. This is displayed in every ethnicity, but particularly with people of African decent. I saw an anti-racism ad that read: "Name a positive stereotype about black people". Can you think of one?