Racial Discrimination in Canada (PART 1): The History of Black Canadians
March 16, 2022
In the last chapter we assessed the statistical disparities in police brutality, primarily between Black and white Americans. In analyzing these disparities there were some interesting takeaways, some of which I deem essential to consider in our approach to reforming policing. We saw that there are two methodologies used to assess use of force disparities. The first and most widely used methodology by researchers is the population benchmark which measures the percentage of police killings for a particular race against their general percentage of the population. The second methodology used what I call the police interaction benchmark, which measures the amount of police killings for a particular race against the racial group’s overall number of police interactions. In distinguishing between these two methodologies, I’ve suggested that the police interaction benchmark allows for greater accuracy.
Using the police interaction benchmark, we see that African Americans were actually 27.4% less likely to be shot by police in relation to non-Blacks. This is surprising considering that it contradicts the population benchmark which suggests that African Americans are disproportionately targeted in police shootings. The real takeaway from the research was that irrespective of the methodology used, Black Americans are subject to considerably higher rates of non-lethal force than white Americans and other racialized groups. Understanding this, I’ve emphasized the need to consistently consider how non-lethal force impacts the day-to-day lives of Black people, but specifically African Americans based on the context of the studies.
The language I’m using here in reference to African Americans is very intentional. And by this I mean I’ve specifically used this term to convey that this data is unique to Black people in the US. I’ve done this for a reason. With much of the content I’ve produced up to this point, you may have noticed something—something I could describe as an internal bias or acquiescence to American media. You may have noticed that much of the content in this story has emphasized the American experience and societal dynamics. This isn’t necessarily odd, but the fact is that I am Canadian, and the totality of my life experiences are reflective of this. Yet, I’ve admittedly neglected discussing the empirical evidence of Canadian race relations as if Canada doesn’t have its own idiosyncrasies, a checkered past, and a controversial present with respect to Black Canadians, that render it distinct from American society.
It tends to be the case that in Canada, the Black Canadian experience becomes muffled and often overshadowed by American storylines (some deservingly so). In some ways, I’ve contributed to this problem. I acknowledge this. But I also acknowledge that by being geographical neighbours, the African American experience has spillover effects on Canadian life and culture. Irrespectively so, what currently exists in this story of Black Lives Matter a failure to unpack the historical underpinnings of Black people in Canadian society, and the current relations between the police and Canadian society. Being so, I’ve used this piece to address this gap in this story of Black lives.
The Need to Understand the History of Black People in Canada
When discussing the plight of Black people, many suggest that we must move beyond of historical references and desires for restitution because these offences were from individuals of the past. They suggest that although there are various social and economic disadvantages that Black people face, that it isn’t unique to Black people. In the US, statistically they will point to the conditions of Asian Americans with respect to discrimination and racist laws that suppressed their ability to thrive; yet, they’ve managed to excel through hard work. Among Black people, they may point to how Black immigrants do better than native Blacks, meaning that the current conditions for native or disadvantaged Black people can be attributed to the isolated decisions made by Black people themselves. An example of this is that if a Black man decides to commit a violent crime today, we can’t simply blame slavery, segregation, or aggressive policing as the reason for this decision. This point is true. And all of these things are points to consider; but so is the context in which these ideas are presented and understood. For this reason, I believe that this serves as a simplistic argument in terms of the role history has played in our current conditions.
I will say that I’m not one that believes that the historical conditions of Africans in the US and Canada has directly contributed to current conditions. What I mean here is that I can’t point directly to historical mistreatment and inequality as the single causes for the current disparities that exist. But what I do believe is that these things played dynamic roles in fostering low-income communities, sullying the overarching relationship between Black people and the police, and removing unique opportunities from the Black community over the years to thrive. Although the conditions today are radically different from the past, what we can say is that past conditions have, over time, indirectly influenced the experiences of Black people by shaping their communities, finances, and decision-making.
With this in mind, before we unpack the dynamics between the police and Black Canadians, I truly believe we must understand the historical plight of Black people in Canada to draw connections to our present conditions. Much of this history isn’t common knowledge. And in many ways, we lack this knowledge because it’s not taught in our education system. But it should be. Because they had a role in shaping this country, and Canada had a role in shaping their lives. This isn’t a suggestion that K-12 students require entire courses on Black history; but what I am saying is that Canadian history in K-12 education has been framed and taught in a way that erases its darkness and the contributions of Black Canadians.
The Historical Roots of Africans in Canada Through Slavery
Because of this lack of knowledge in Canadian Black history, there seems to be this belief that Black people mainly settled in Canada over the last 80 years with the introduction of Canada’s point system, specifically increasing migration from the Caribbean during the 60s, West Africa during the 70s, and the horn of Africa in the mid-80s. But this belief is a shallow understanding of Black history in Canada. In fact, the first known Black person in Canada, Mathieu da Costa, arrived in 1608; and not only was he a free man, but he was multilingual, and functioned as a translator between the French, the Dutch, and Mi’kmaq nation in Nova Scotia. Although da Costa was free, the freedom of Black people during the 1600s wasn’t the common experience. Like many other countries, the arrival of Black people in Canada during this period can be attributed to slavery.
The existence and discussion of slavery in Canada tends to be overlooked and overshadowed by slavery in the US. In part, this may be attributed to the fact that archival records indicate that the number of slaves in Canada was exponentially smaller than the hundreds of thousands in the French West Indies and the millions in the US. Historian Marcel Trudel specifically identified 4,200 slaves in Canada between 1671 (the beginning of slavery in Canada) and 1834 (the year slavery was abolished in the British empire). Notably, the majority of these slaves were indigenous peoples, but approximately 1/3 of these slaves were Black, many of whom later ran away from the country.
Many of the enslaved Africans were in the new Colony of France in Canada, now known as Quebec. And although slavery was legal from 1671 – 1834, some were enslaved before this period. According to historians, the earliest historical record of an enslaved African can be traced back to 1628, when Olivier le Jeune, a “native of Madagascar” was purchased at 7 years old.
By 1759, there were approximately 1,200 legally enslaved Africans in Quebec. What reigned during this time was the code noir (the Black code) which determined all of the legal regulations of slavery across all French colonies. But in the years proceeding, the British would conquer Quebec, and as a result, the colonies of North America were established. For African slaves, this meant that the enslavement of Africans was extended from Quebec to Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Newfoundland, and Ontario. With this expansion came diversification in the work they did. They were forced to do agricultural and infrastructural work, ultimately playing a key role in building the colonies that would become Canada.
Early Black communities in Canada also included free African Americans who joined the British to fight during the American revolution. We’ve come to know these African Americans as the ‘Black loyalists.’ There were 3,000 loyalists recorded in the Book of Negroes. It’s reported that they arrived to Nova Scotia between 1783 and 1785, many of whom were transported to Nova Scotia to receive land and their freedom in exchange for their service to the British. I’m sure you can imagine what the result of this was. 60% of loyalists received no land, and the few who did received extremely small land grants. As a result, almost 1,200 Black loyalists left Nova Scotia and migrated to Sierra Leone, West Africa in 1792.
Four years later in 1796, 550 Jamaican Maroons were exiled to Nova Scotia after the second Maroon war in 1795. Initially they were welcomed because they worked hard and helped build Maroon Bastion in Halifax. But in 1800, most of them departed for Sierra Leone to join the loyalists who left before them. Some of the offspring of these Black loyalists continued to live in Nova Scotia. And for this reason, Nova Scotia remains a unique historical ground for Black history.
The Roots of Black People in Nova Scotia and the Foundation of Africville
The offspring that remained during the 1800s created Africville—a predominantly Black community on the outskirts of Halifax first documented in 1848. Africville faced many racial barriers to decent quality of life and equal rights. It was a community that was neglected and cast aside by the City. It was a place where undesirable developments such as a dumping ground, and infectious disease hospital, and a prison were built because, where else could they have gone, right? Though the land that was inhabited by the African Nova Scotians during this time was viewed as undesirable by the City, there came a time where this changed. And as time went on, this community that they built was destroyed without any meaningful consultation, while the residents had been relocated. The troubling element to this story is that many had been living on the land for generations without a deed to prove their ownership. These people were offered a mere $500 for their land. From a legal perspective, I understand the processes that prevented them from giving them the true value for their land. But on the other hand, consider this: these people were largely offspring of slaves who wouldn’t have a deed to prove that the land was theirs. These people worked, built homes, and inhabited a land that the City thought was worthless. They never cared about it. So, they allowed them to have it—allowed them until they decided that they wanted it, and that this land was worth something to the City.
Like the loyalists of Nova Scotia who fought along side the British in the 1780s, a similar pattern can be seen during the war between the US and Britain from 1812-1814. During this time, Black members of the “coloured corps,” a group of Black soldiers, were concerned that an American victory would intensify slavery in the provinces. As a result, they decided to fight in the battle of Queenston Heights and Fort George. The pattern isn’t simply that they decided to join the British in this fight; here, Black slaves were once again promised their freedom if they joined the British army to fight against the US. At the end of the war, about 3,000 African Americans left the US with the British and settled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. But the promise was largely unkept. Consequentially, many suffered extreme economic deprivation; many took on indentured servitude, virtually maintaining slave status to survive; and many who settled in these provinces faced intense racism, segregation, and landlessness. To me, this all presents as a set up—as if each time Black people were promised freedom, it was structured so that they would have no option but to remain slaves to survive.
The end of Slavery in Canada and the Persistence of Segregation
The legalized enslavement of Black people in Canada was finally brought to an end in 1834 when slavery was abolished. Because slavery was still legal in the US (for nearly another 30 years) 40,000-60,000 enslaved African Americans escaped to Ontario, some by the underground railroad with the assistance of Harriet Tubman. For a time, there were significant numbers of Black residents in St. Catherines, Windsor, Amherstburg, London, Chatham, Dresden, Toronto, and Oro. There were also exclusively Black settlements established in Dawn, Wilberforce, and Buxton, but most Black settlements were near the US border. These exclusively Black settlements weren’t by choice. With the legalization of segregation by way of laws such as the Separate Schools Act of 1850 in Ontario, segregation was pervasive, providing white Canadians the ability to prevent Black people from buying land. As such, they attended poorly resourced Black funded schools, the last one of which was in Colchester, and closed in 1965.
In outlining this history, I hope that you’re seeing the connections between the past and present. Although slavery was abolished, the mechanism of oppression to ensure Black people understood their class in society transitioned to segregation. And through segregation they siloed them into undesirable communities and locations, exclusively Black locations, where they were left to fend for themselves. And when segregation was later repealed, the material effects of segregation remained, transitioning exclusively Black communities to predominantly Black communities. With this legal transition, what remained were minds that weren’t reoriented and willingly accepting of the fact that Black people were equal. So, Black people continued to try to succeed and live decent lives on their own because the country and government neglected them. Out of these conditions, in combination with myriad elements, today we see low-income Black communities that were never provided a fair shot.
The Impact of Canada’s History on Current Conditions
Because of this, Black people in Canada still a struggle from the roots of these systems and laws. Much of this struggle comes from inequity with respect to employment opportunities, access to education, and affordable housing. For example, consider that the dropout rate for Black students is 23 percent compared to 11 percent for white students. Or consider that Black people in Ontario are four times more likely to be racially profiled. These remain to be challenges for the Black community.
When looked at in combination, a series of causes and effects produced a feedback loop. The emergent effect of this feedback loop was a toxic and strained relationship with the police which significantly impacts the Black experience. In relation to this, studies suggest that Black Canadians are subject to greater levels of non-lethal and lethal uses of force.
With this in mind, and bridging from the last chapter on police use of force, I decided to assess the Toronto Police Service (TPS). The studies drawn upon use the population benchmark to assess racial disparities in TPS. By now you know that the population benchmark may present an inaccurate picture of racial disparities, and may prompt us to analogize disparity with discrimination. This tendency to analogize these concepts is something I continually ask you to think about. I want you to consider, if and when disparities are identified, are these disparities indicative of discrimination? In some cases the answer to this question is unclear. But it’s also my opinion that with context, other elements of the data show clear instances of discrimination. This is important as the work drawn on in this study finds overarching racial disparities in policing when benchmarked against the Black population size in Toronto. Though it may present inaccuracies, in some instances I find this approach useful.
In what follows you’ll find three parts. The first will discuss racial disparities in arrests and charges in TPS. The second will address racial disparities in the use of force. In the third, I provide an overview of Toronto’s pilot program for policing low-income communities.