Africville During the American RevolutionEssay Preview: Africville During the American RevolutionReport this essayAFRICVILLEDuring the American Revolution and the War of 1812, the African population grew vastly in Nova Scotia. When they first arrived here in the City of Halifax, they encountered white colonists who viewed them as inferior on account of their race.[1]
Black people have lived in Nova Scotia since before the founding of Halifax in 1749. However, it was only after the American Revolution, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, that large groups of Black settlers began to arrive in the province. Many of them were former enslaved people who had been promised freedom and land in Nova Scotia.[2]
They were forced to settle on the most uninviting land in the province. In spite of this, they developed a spirited and tenacious community ‒ Africville. “Africville was a poor, black neighborhood in the North End of Halifax that was systematically destroyed by the city.”[3] The residents of Africville were treated very poorly; undesirable structures were built next to their land, they were declined basic amenities and services, and their entire community was relocated and destroyed. “Africville got the shaft in comparison with the rest of Halifax, which reduced the area into an industrialized slum by the first half of the 20th century.”[4] Africville is an example of the issue of marginalization in Halifax because the residents were ignored and disregarded on the basis of racism.
This African-Canadian neighborhood was located on the south shore of the Bedford Basin during the 19th and 20th century. It was a vibrant, self-sustaining community that thrived despite the harshest opposition.[5] Poverty was very common among the Africville inhabitants because of the racial discrimination that they faced. “65% of the Africville residents worked as domestic servants”[6] due to the fact that not very many people would employ a person of colour. There was also very little access to education in the community. Africville didn’t receive its first school until 1883; the school was later closed in 1953. This led to the children being discriminated against tremendously at the “white” schools they were obligated to go to. Africville pulled through many other hardships as well; for example, the Halifax Explosion. In 1917, the Halifax Explosion wreaked havoc in the north end of Africville. Several houses and properties were sorely damaged. Despite the fact that donations were made to help rebuild the detrimental effects of the explosion, the City of Halifax made no effort, whatsoever, to assist with repairing the damages in Africville.
Africville was heavily disregarded when it came to what the rest of the people in Halifax wanted. The City of Halifax placed countless undesirable structures in and next to Africville during the second half of the 19th century, including: a fertilizer plant, slaughterhouses, Rockhead Prison (1854), the “night-soil disposal pits” (human waste), and the Infectious Diseases Hospital (1870s).[7] All of the structures that were built were hazardous and could have health risks involved or put the residents in some sort of danger. For example, Halifax built an open-pit dump only 350 meters away from Africville. The open-pit dump caused there to be an infestation of rats all throughout Africville, jeopardizing the locals’ health. The City of Halifax was not concerned that these things were endangering the citizens; and when the residents of Africville protested, they were completely ignored. The residents of Africville also protested due to the fact that they were declined basic amenities and services that the rest of Halifax took for granted. “The City of Halifax collected taxes in Africville, but did not provide services such as paved roads, running water, [electricity,] or sewers.”[8] The residents asked the City numerous times if they would provide them with these services, but they were overlooked every time. The city council eventually chose to relocate the residents of Africville and destroy their community instead of giving them the proper municipal services.
By the late 1960’s, after years of debate, the City Council voted for the relocation of Africville residents. When the decision was officially made, some people saw it as an opportunity to improve the residents’ poor living conditions; many others saw it as the destruction of a community. Either way, the relocation proved that the residents had little to no influence in their own community.[9] The first building to be torn down was the community church. It was torn down in the middle of the night without any of the residents’ knowledge. After the church was knocked down, the City started to destroy the locals’ homes. Some homes were demolished without the owner’s knowledge, and others were only given a few hours to collect their belongings and find a place to go. “Africville disappeared and its people scattered—some
In 1966, the residents of Africville were given a temporary home. The decision was made by the Planning Commission of North London to build the new community church and move it to an industrial area with much larger potential, although the Community Church of South Africa had been established in a different setting.[10] However, the Community Church of South Africa is one of the few black churches in North London. In 1965 it was designated as a “race based church” by the Planning Commission. At that time, African Christians were becoming more active in the town.[11] Since then, Africville community have turned into something of a local event. In 2009 and 2010, the Africville Black Pride parade took place in the neighborhood of Africville Hall and brought in a large number of participants. In 2013 the police announced that they are currently looking into the possibility of a hate crime for a potential hate crime involving Africville.[12]
In the year of 2014, the Africville Pride is planned to bring in a group and rally, at the start of April, with Black and white and black supporters of Africville as their primary participants. The aim is to show solidarity (and perhaps a few of black political or anti-Black ideology) with Africville and get the black community into alignment (which is possible if we support the efforts of both sides of these issues). The event was led by Mayor John T. Johnson and the city’s mayor, Daniel C. Hildredge, who attended the event and thanked all African-American and Asian residents of Africville.[13] This was a way to share the good feelings of the African-American community with the public. The event was also sponsored by the Mayor’s Office.
At the beginning of 2014 this community had a large Muslim community in the midst of a rapidly expanding community of people with very different views and culture.[14] According to the Council of the Board of Trade, Africville had a “sensitized society” and was not as multicultural as other towns. The “black community” consisted of different ethnic/racial groups and communities of different backgrounds, ages and gender patterns.[15] This meant African-Americans and others in particular had to “stand up for themselves and to be better neighbors to each other.”[16] While the community was in many ways a very small community, they needed to support each other and they had to cooperate. The council decided in 2014 to allow African-American and non-Ager citizens in Africville a full, equal membership of the council and to accept a total of 40 African-American/Asian American and 23 non-Ager persons, with non-African-Canadian people in charge. Many Africville residents also signed on—including some who felt that that was unacceptable. This meant that an African American and a non-Ager were excluded from the council.[17]
The next year included the start of the Black Pride Parade. African-Americans were present so that people would have more time to express their views and express their values. It was a successful demonstration for one reason—the city of Africville allowed non-African American and non-Ager guests to attend.[34] The Black & White Pride march was held in