The unanimous vote in the Canadian Parliament to proclaim August 1 as Emancipation Day means nothing unless the federal government apologizes for slavery, argues historian Elise Harding-Davis.
The former curator of the Freedom Museum in Amherstburg, Ont., sees the proclamation as a form of acknowledgment of the harm done to Black Canadians by slavery and its side effects. According to her, having refused to apologize for several years despite requests is “shameful”.
“An apology would be an acknowledgment that we have been slaves in this country,” said Prof. Harding-Davis. This would be an improvement over the harsh treatment black people have endured. People would recognize that we have contributed honestly to the history of this country and its development. »
Emancipation Day salutes the abolition of slavery in 1834 in most British colonies, including the territories that would later form Canada. Tens of thousands of slaves were brought from Africa to Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Lower Canada and Upper Canada.
Before 1760, there were slaves in New France, but the majority of them were indigenous, according to historians.
The Abolition of Slavery Act, which came into force on August 1, 1834, freed all slaves, including Aboriginal people. “The determination to liberate black people has helped free all slaves and that is important,” said Prof. Harding-Davis.
The historian fears that a majority of Canadians are unaware of the country’s slave past.
“We put that aside. We hid it under the rug. The movement against racism in vogue for the last ten years […] found that only a minority of Canadians are aware that black people have been mistreated in Canada. »
A history professor at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Afua Cooper, has been calling for a formal apology from the federal government since 2007. She notes that the government has issued apologies to various other groups since that time.
“There can be no other explanation than a specific form of racism against blacks,” says the principal researcher at the Black History of Canada project. Blacks are not full citizens. For the federal government, it’s its way of saying “too bad”. »
Some may argue that an apology is unnecessary since Canada was not founded until 1867, more than three decades after the abolition of slavery. For Pre Cooper, Canada was not born spontaneously.
” Okay. So why not apologize to the black community for what happened after 1867? she asks, referring to segregation and a government proposal to ban black immigrants from entering the country in 1911.
The last segregated school in the country — in Lincolnville, Nova Scotia — closed in 1983.
Wanda Thomas Bernard, a senator from Nova Scotia, agrees that the time has come for the federal government to apologize. However, if no action is taken, an apology will be meaningless.
“What do we do next?” she asks. There is a great need for education. There is a great need to raise awareness in the world. There is a need for us to engage in action. »
The federal Department of Housing, Diversity and Inclusion, did not immediately comment.