A Black Woman Speaks Out – Barbara Jones (1968)

From ‘McGill Reporter’, Montreal (Kanien’kehá:ka territory), November 4, 1968

Black people living in Canada are afflicted by all the problems that confront the French Canadian, the Indian, and the Eskimo in the so-called “Just Society.” Black people came to Canada in the early part of the 18th century after the slave trade and slavery were abolished in the colonies. The importation of slaves per se was outlawed in [Upper Canada, formerly part of] Quebec by a law including a clause that children of slaves would become free at the age of 25. In Upper Canada slavery was outlawed later and in Nova Scotia runaway slaves settled near Halifax to give an estimated 30,000 slaves in Canada by 1865.

Today, over 100 years later, the 100,000 resident blacks in Canada are asking themselves and the Canadian society whether blatant and open discriminatory practices will be allowed to continue. Perhaps it is at this point that it should be mentioned that within the post month 2 major conferences concerning black people have been held in Montreal, and these conferences will in large measure indicate the steps that black Canadians are willing to take at the national and international levels to right the wrongs meted out to them in Canada.

The Conference held at Sir George Williams University, October 4, 5, and 6, sponsored by the Caribbean Committee, for the first time broadened the base of the annual conference on West Affairs to the theme of “The Involvement of the Black Community in Canadian Society.” Speakers were included from all the representative groups from British Columbia to the Maritimes, and included Dr. Howard McCurdy; Mr. Frank Collins, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Vancouver; Dr. Daniel Hill, director of Human Rights Commission, Ontario; Mr. Rafeek All, a student from Sir George Williams University; Prof. John Shingler, McGill; Mr. Ray W. Traversy, Fair Employment Practices of Canadian Dept, of Labor, Ottawa; Mr. H. A. J. Wedderburn, president of the N.S. NAACP; Mr. Richard Lord, English-speaking V.P.. Quebec Liberal Party.

The main problems discussed were those of employment, mobility, and advancement in the labor, force, and the problems of social, political and cultural alienation within the society.

It was discovered that Ontario is the only province to have any housing legislation (see Ontario Human Rights code — 1961-1962 where it states: “No person … shall … deny to any person or class of persons occupancy of any commercial unit or any self-contained dwelling unit.) Legislation in Nova Scotia only provides protection in the area of apartment housing, which is almost useless since most of the blacks in Nova Scotia cannot afford such housing. The beginnings of black ghettoes in the major cities of Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia should serve as a warning to any political party which envisages a Canada different to the urban northern United States. Black Canadian ghettoes are formed as a measure of protection from a white society which has sat back smugly and decried its neighbors in the south.

Also included in the Conference discussions were the psychological, sociological, and political aspects of the black man’s alienation from Canadian society. The fear of acceptance in society, dehumanization of blacks and discriminatory practices in job training and hiring all reinforce the feelings of inferiority which the North American slave-earned capitalist society has instilled in the black man.

The black man In the Canadian society wants only a fair share in the multi-ethnic society that is Canada.

The three-day Conference ended with a series of resolutions from the workshops and open debates. They are as follows:

Be it resolved that in the interest of achieving the goals and objectives of the black population of Canada in a coordinated way, a National Organization be established to gather and periodically dispense for effective use by regional groups, information about events, programs and activities of particular interest to black people in Canada; that the chairman of this organization be Dr. Howard McCurdy, with Mrs. Dorothy Wills as secretary.

Be it resolved that the National Organization explore the possibility of encouraging governments to have firms employ graduates of job training and retraining programs or to provide on-the-job training for those unemployable because of their lack of skills.

Be it resolved that the educated blacks become more involved In the employment education and job training problems of the less fortunate members of the black community.

Be it resolved that an open telegram be sent to the Minister of Justice and the Canadian Press, informing them of the formation of the National Organization and asking that a Royal Commission be appointed to look into the question of Civil Rights and that a similar telegram be sent to the appropriate branches of the provincial legislatures.

In effect, with the right legal backing and the full cooperation of all the local groups, the problem of the black man at the national level is going to be brought to the forefront of Canadian thought.

The Congress of Black Writers, which took place at McGill, featured the opinions of black men from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, and put the question of black liberation in a world context. They feel that the racist, capitalist, and imperialist white western world which emasculated and humiliated the black, man can only be a comfortable place for black men after a complete social and violent revolution takes place. In the public lectures, but more importantly in the all-black caucuses, there were efforts to define the problem of the black man and construct a world-wide strategy for his liberation. This unifying ideology, it is felt, must precede the arms struggle and the final and violent revolution.

The speakers at the Conference varied in opinion as to the extent of the need for violence and the white liberal. At one point it appeared that the inhibiting presence of white observers, sympathizers, the CIA, RCMP, and the press might cause a rupture in the participating groups, but such a fracture was averted.

However, the most important issues of the Congress were debated in all-black caucuses because it was felt that black people, having always feared white oppression, are not prepared to share the strategy for action with the white man.

It must be understood that the separation does not always involve a lack of confidence in the validity of the empathy which the white liberal claims to have. It is rather a realistic approach. The danger of this kind of separation does not escape the black leaders and writers. As Harry Edwards pointed out, it is worse to have a black cobra within the house than a white wolf outside the door.

At this session Robert Hill, an historian at the University of the West Indies, informed the 400 blacks present of the Jamaican Government ban on the re-entry of Dr. Walter Rodney, a professor of African history at U.W.I.

Mr. Hill also talked about repressive measures being taken against all radical intellectuals, such as Dr. Beckford, whose passport was revoked after [missing text] at the University of […] against members of the […] cult of West Kingston, who […] rejected the values of the […] system and look to Africa as their home.

The main point of conflict, Mr. Hill said, is that the Shearer government has come out in the open, to the point of using the militia against the poor blacks, with their backing from the small black bourgeoisie, the Middle East merchants, and the large British and American sugar and bauxite companies. The present situation is that underground movements are actively trying to unseat the two puppet reactionary parties of Jamaica.

Some very significant resolutions were passed in these caucuses and were later brought to the house where they were all passed unanimously.

I) Jamaica Delegation:
That the congress affirm and align itself with the struggle of the black people in Jamaica to expose the puppet government in Jamaica and those of Africans all over the world, with an aim towards the lifting of the ban on all persons and literature involved in that struggle.

II) French West Indies & Haiti Delegation:
That the people of the Antilles under colonial and neo-colonial regimes identify with the black peoples of the world to fight and if necessary destroy the social and economic oppression which western civilization has used to destroy them and to invest in the struggle all their physical and intellectual resources.

III) Trinidad and Tobago Delegation:
That the government of Trinidad and Tobago be condemned for the banning of the native, Stokely Carmichael, from the country of his birth.

IV) Nigeria/Biafra Delegation:
That the continuing process of selling arms to both warring parties be condemned; that there be a cease-fire; that all relief supplies be examined; that the Nigerian writers in jail be released; that a plebiscite be held about the political status of Biafra; and that an international body investigate whether there is genocide in Biafra.

V) Angola Delegation:
That the struggle of all black men for their freedom, especially those on the African continent, be recognized, and that a day be set aside for honoring the brotherhood of all black people.

VI) Ethiopia Delegation:
That the institutions of CUSO, the Peace Corps, and such organizations which serve as training ground for agents of the CIA, etc., be replaced with a corps of educated blacks, who would go out to Africa to counteract the forces which are sent out by imperialistic countries under the guise of aid, but which in fact paralyze the society and prevent future development.

VII) Communications Workshop:
That an international communications centre be formed, founded on the principle of the need for international unity and that the centre be represented by members of groups of black people all over the world.

At this stage in the Congress, the writers made the point that the role of the black women in the progress of black peoples must be emphasized, even though slavery cruelly disrupted the extended family and the honored place of the woman in the black society.

The meeting concluded with a word of wisdom from Mr. Carmichael, who said that black people must not attack themselves, must not condemn themselves; that although colonialization effected this negative syndrome, black men and women should spend more time helping each other culturally, economically, politically and militarily so that the contradictions in and the struggle against the system can be heightened.

For the black man in Canada, it was a stimulating and edifying experience. His only hope now lies in a new era of black militance and a new humanism. To quote Frantz Fanon, “… man is a yes … Yes to life. Yes to love. Yes to generosity. But man is also a no. No to scorn of man. No to degradation of man. No to the exploitation of man. No to the butchery of what is most human in man: freedom.”

Dr. Jones is an assistant professor of Genetics