Front Burner - Viola Desmond's unfinished work

Episode Date: November 20, 2018

The $10 Canadian bill honouring civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond goes into circulation this week. The bill is being celebrated by many across the country. But for some, including El Jones, this is also an opportunity to reflect on the racism that remains today in Viola Desmond's home province of Nova Scotia. El Jones is an advocate for black communities in Nova Scotia, and Halifax's former poet-laureate.

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about hidden disabilities. Short Sighted, from CBC's Personally, available now. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Jamie Pussum. When Viola Desmond decided to stay seated in a whites-only section of a movie theater in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, she didn't think she'd one day become a civil rights pioneer, that people would call her Canada's Rosa Parks. But over 70 years later, it's precisely that act of civil disobedience that landed her a place on Canada's $10 bill. That bill, it goes into circulation this week across the country. And a lot of people, including Viola's sister, Wanda Robson, think it's a cause for celebration.

If I could dance, I would dance. Thank you. Thank you. A thousand times. But the racism that Viola Desmond faced, all those 70 years ago, it remains an issue, right now, in her home province. People call Nova Scotia the deep south of Canada or the Mississippi of Canada, with the understanding that the love of racism is particularly intense here

with these long histories of segregation. Today, Viola Desmond's unfinished work. This is FrontBurner. Hi, I'm Elle Jones. I'm a former poet laureate of Halifax, a community organizer, and the current Nancy's Chair in Women's Studies at Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax. Hi, Elle.

Hi. Thanks so much for coming on theifax. Hi, Al. Hi. Thanks so much for coming on the show today. Thank you for having me. I know that we don't have a lot of time in one podcast to cover an issue as big as systemic racism in Nova Scotia. But today, we're going to ask you to help us understand some of the key issues at play. And before we get into that, I was just curious how you feel today seeing Viola Desmond's $10 bill in circulation. I mean, I think something that's really wonderful to see

is how much the African Nova Scotian community is celebrating today and all of this week. I just feel like I'm flying on a high, like, okay, remember the journey that got us here, right? Featuring not only a beautiful portrait of Viola, but also a map of the North End Halifax, where she lived and worked and was born. Everyone who lives in the North End was over the moon. I think that it's a reminder to keep fighting the good fight, even when you're, sometimes your voice might be silenced. So you can see posters of Viola all along Goddigan Street, for example, and particularly celebrating black women and also African Nova Scotia history in this country. So those are all positive things. And I think it's

very important that we take that time to celebrate. But I think celebrating Viola Desmond also does mean that we have to ask ourselves the questions. Why was she fighting segregation in the first place? And what was the history in this province? And what is its legacy today? And so I think that uncritical celebration is actually a disservice to Viola. I want to talk about some of those issues, and I'm hoping that we can start first with a specific incident that happened just a couple of months ago near the town of New Glasgow,

which is where Viola Desmond went into the whites-only section of a theater. Jansha Jamini is a young Black construction worker who was shot with a nail gun on the job. Jansha Jamini's a young black construction worker who was shot with a nail gun on the job. Jansha Jamini's scars tell his side of the story. They show where doctors released air from his chest wall last month. He turned around and pulled the safety on the gun and points at me and says, I'll show you how to speed up. And he says it was a racist attack and that a co-worker was bullying him for weeks before the attack with the nail gun.

This case, it's now before the courts. What kind of reaction has this incident elicited from the community? I think people in the community were both shocked but not surprised, meaning it was a very horrifying incident, but really nothing new and nothing that doesn't fit with all these other incidents we're seeing of workplace racism around the province and in Halifax. So, for example, there was a recent human rights case where transit workers, there was a settlement with a transit worker for really incredibly violent workplace racism and workplace racism across the province. So nobody was shocked that this was happening. But at the same time, the details are so shocking and that this is a young person. So some of the stuff that he alleges is that they were calling him squigger. but at the same time the details are so shocking and that this is a young person.

So some of the stuff that he alleges is that they were calling him squigger. And I just thought, what the heck, until my buddy actually showed me the real, underneath meaning. I was just like, wow, I've been letting them literally call me the N-word. He had weeks of racist bullying and then it culminates in him being essentially told to run. And as his back is turned, a nail gun is fired, and he ended up with a punctured lung. So he could have died from that. So it really shows the intensity of the kind of racism and violence that still exists in this province. And of course, the construction company where this happens on one of their work sites is housed in New Glasgow. So, you know, I think that tells us something that at the same time as we're naming streets for Viola

and we have this bill right in the place where this happened, there's still this kind of violent racism going on. I just want to make a quick note that the lawyer for Jancha's employer has said this incident was an accident and he's called the police investigation ridiculous. Yeah, they denied these allegations. I know that many young Black people had expressed their frustration and their grief over what happened to Jan Shah Jamini. What are some of the other challenges that Black Nova Scotian youth face today? Yeah, so and you're right that

a lot of the protesting was particularly led by youth who I think felt very hurt by this issue. You know, black unemployment for youth is very high in this province in the first place. So if you even get a job, and then this is what you have to go through when you get there. One of the big issues that's come up consistently is education in this province.

So in Halifax, which is where I live, 8% of those students are African Nova Scotian and 24% of the suspensions, essentially. So three times the amount of suspensions. We see in the youth justice system, 2% of the population in this province is African Nova Scotian, but 16% of the youth jail system is African Nova Scotian. And this is a province where we have restorative justice for youth.

So it shows you that black kids aren't benefiting from that. And of course, attached to this, the reason why I put those two issues together is this idea of a school to prison pipeline, right? So that research, particularly in the United States, shows that what children experience in the education system then leads to them being criminalized and leads to this contact with the youth justice system. So when we look at suspension rates of black kids, and then we see that when kids are kicked out of school, they're very vulnerable to them becoming criminalized and ending up in the justice system.

What are you hearing from these kids when you speak to them? Well, I mean, kids will tell you stuff, so it starts very early, but particularly in math and sciences, for example. So children's guidance counsellors are saying to them, just signing them up for general math, right? They're assuming that they can't take the academic math that would lead to university. So they're streamed out. And then all their friends are in those classes. So they think, oh, I'll just sign up for the class my friends are in. Being told that they, you know, not to bother doing things like IB courses or academic courses. So this assumption that they'll just, you know, not be scholastic,

they're not academic, so they don't need to be in these courses. And it's only really a generation before that, that people's parents were given sin numbers when they were in grade seven. That was very common in this province. Because the expectation was you would drop out in grade eight or grade nine and end up working. So you're still seeing that. Things like being pushed out of the classroom, they feel that they're disciplined unfairly. And then that

causes problems at home because they say they go home and their parents are like, why are you getting in trouble at school? And they're being grounded and they're causing conflict with their parents. And they're trying to explain to their parents that I was singled out or the teacher was angry at me because I had a hood or everybody was talking, but I was the only one that was kicked out. So they're consistently experiencing these things. And they talk about how they experience mental health issues because of this. They feel depressed. And then that's not recognized.

They feel angry. I remember talking to a group of girls talking about when they go in the dollar store, they know not to like to leave their hands in plain sight because they get accused of shoplifting. So everywhere they go, they certainly feel that they're not treated equally and they're not treated as human beings. These inequalities in the education system in Nova Scotia, it's actually something that a UN report pointed out. This report, it was looking into anti-Black racism across Canada, but it really honed in on Nova Scotia, calling the socioeconomic conditions of Black communities in Nova Scotia, quote, deplorable. You know, I remember that this report linked conditions to Nova Scotia's very specific history. There's a lot to talk about here, but I'm wondering if you could give us a brief...

A capsule. Yeah, just sort of a small history lesson of the historical significance of how Black people have been treated. And Nova Scotia might be linked to some of the issues that we're seeing today. So to start with Canada and then to move into Nova Scotia, I think something that's really important that we understand at the beginning of the discussion is that there's a lot of myths of Canada that Canadians hold very dearly. And part of that myth is that Canada, of course, was the site of the Underground Railroad, right? So people believe that Canada's role in slavery was that we were the place of freedom. And they believe that there was really no racism in Canada then

and that it continues now. The first race riots in North America were in Shelburne in 1784. They called them race riots. What it was was white loyalists burning down the homes and businesses of black people because they didn't want to live beside them and also wanted their land and community, right? And then, of course, we had a segregated schooling system officially until the 1950s and the last school closed in the 1980s. So you have this really,

really long history of Black people in very, very visceral ways, very violent ways, and very immediate ways experiencing this racism. So when we talk about Viola Desmond, I think sometimes it's easy for people to just kind of go, oh, Viola Desmond, and not ask themselves, why was this theater segregated? This existed in Canada. This is in the 1950s, and there was a segregated theater in the first place, which should cause us to ask the question, there was segregation in Nova Scotia? And the answer is, yes, there was. Is it fair to say that Nova Scotia today is still very segregated? People call Nova Scotia the deep south of Canada or the Mississippi of Canada. And that's not just a figure of speech. It's also

because there's a long history. The people that come here, many of them come from the south, right, as escaped and freed slaves. So there actually is that cultural tie. But that's been a long time. People have called this place the deep south of Canada with the understanding that the love of racism is particularly intense here with these long histories of segregation. So I don't know if we can measure things. Let me say more or less, what does that mean? But what we can say is it's longstanding and there's been a long unexamined history of it

that then plays itself out today. So in Nova Scotia today, you still see black communities that are isolated. You can go into North Preston and there's still no grocery stores. There's still, you can go into North Preston and there's still no grocery stores. There's still no sidewalks. And North Preston is a historically almost completely black community

about a half an hour from Halifax, I believe. It's the largest black community in Canada. So it's 98, 99% black and still doesn't have resources. Can I ask you if there are any bright spots here? I know that the mayor of Halifax has recognized that systemic racism is an issue, that that needs to be fixed. Is there anything happening on any levels of government or in civil society that you feel

is positive? I mean, I think the positive thing is always with the community and with the people. So when we return to why are African Nova Scotians celebrating, I think we always have to take that moment to say, you know, this is a victory for people. The pardon of Viola Desmond was because we had a black lieutenant governor, Mayanne Francis, who pardoned Viola Desmond and worked very hard to get her story out there. We've had black filmmakers that have told her story, black journalists that have told her story. Her story in the first place was known because of Carrie Best, who was a history of resistance and a history of community here that people, no matter what they're facing, have a very strong community identity. And those communities are very tight knit. So we always can recognize that and see great hope in that. I would suggest that it's always through this work of the people, through the organizing of people and the pushing of people that we push things forward. So whatever we're dealing with right now, there's big issues with police checks here in the city

where black people are police checked, stopped on the streets three times more than people of other races. And you're seeing people speaking, pushing back against that and speaking out. So at every turn where you look, whether it's the young people and people coming out to protest the nail gun shooting or people marching against the police

or people pushing back on their workplaces. So we're constantly seeing that. So to me, that is the spirit of Viola Desmond we have to hold on to. We have to remember that, first of all, black women have always been at the forefront of this work in Canada, of liberation work and of whatever you want to call it, rights work, of the work of pushing society forward. That work has taken place on the backs of black women

who have relentlessly spoken out and sacrificed. And that's still going on today. What do you think Viola Desmond would have to say about all of this? We know, I mean, we have Wanda Robeson who can tell us about Viola and how thrilled she is. But I think for any Black person who's looking at what's happening today, I imagine that all of our ancestors cheer us on, right, in this work of liberation, which is never ending. We always have to be doing it and we have to be doing it collectively. So, of course, I believe that Viola Desmond would be looking and pushing us forward. I also believe that we can't stop by only recognizing Viola Desmond. We have to continue to uncover these histories. continue to uncover these histories. Women like Perlene Oliver, women like Lynn Jones. I could list hundreds of women, dozens of women in Nova Scotia that also I wish to see on bills and on streets and on ferries and on buildings

because this history is so powerful. So I think I also challenge us to not just sort of look at Viola Desmond and the bill, say, oh, look, black people have arrived. This is a sign of equality. Great. Without looking at, as we're talking about, battles, we still have to fight against systemic racism and also without continuing to do the work to uncover the history, particularly of black women, but also of black communities in this country, which have still been erased. And

we still have so little knowledge of this history in this country. Elle, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. Thank you very much. You just heard Elle talking about Wanda Robson, Viola Desmond's sister. She was on hand yesterday at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, where Viola's $10 bill was launched. Here's Wanda Robson, Viola Desmond's sister. She was on hand yesterday at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, where Viola's $10 bill was launched. Here's Wanda. I find everything she says so charming. To think

that my sister, a woman, a Black woman, is on a $10 bill. The queen is in good company. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks for listening to FrontBurner.

For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts. It's 2011 and the Arab Spring is raging. A lesbian activist in Syria starts a blog. She names it Gay Girl in Damascus. Am I crazy? Maybe. As her profile grows, so does the danger. The object of the email was, please read this while sitting down. It's like a genie came out of the bottle and you can't put it back.

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