Africville
Was racism an issue in the 1960’s?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ2OM
03mtmg&feature=related
• Caution – the N-word is in this CBC clip –
and responded to by a young Black man.
• So … was Halifax racist?
Remembering Africville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28cvg6iD
7lA
Questions
Notes
- Majority of the residents were descendents of
the black refugees from the War of 1812.
- It was initially known as Campbell Road, but
because the residents were black it was
changed to Africville
- Although the residents paid the city taxes, there
was a lack of basic services such as sewers,
running water and paved roads
- It became the home to Rockland Prison (1853),
an infectious disease hospital (1870s), a
trachoma hospital (1905) and a slaughter house.
Notes
• Residents were given $500-700 to
relocate
• They owned their homes in Africville, but
were moved to public housing and some
had to pay rent. This caused a lot to go on
welfare.
• They were moved in City dump trucks
• The two main areas they were moved to
were: Uniacke Square and Mulgrave Park
Notes
• It is now a national historic site known as
Seaview Memorial Park
Apology
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVAIuKr
RUic
• Was this an acceptable apology? Is it
enough?
Eddie Carvery – Hermit of Africville
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ofNn
8e_ik&feature=related
GhettoChild – Welcome to Nova
Scotia
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvUczv
3Rt_M&feature=related
Answers
1. Where was Africville
located?
- North end of Halifax, NS
- Beside the MacKay
Bridge at the edge of the
Bedford Basin
Answers
2. When and how did Africville form?
- 1848
- Through a Land Purchase
Answers
3. What was the base of the community?
- The Seaview Baptist Church
Answers
4. How were the people of Africville
industrious?
- They worked as labourers and in
service jobs in Halifax
- Halifax stonemasons helped construct
many of Halifax’s public buildings
- Worked on ships and at the ship yard.
Answers
5. Why was land expropriated from the
community in the 1850’s?
- Railroad tracks and sewage disposal
pits were located there.
Africville
6. What did the city council locate just a
“stone’s throw away” in the mid-1950s?
- A large dump
Answers
7. Why did city council vote to expropriate
Africville in 1964?
- In the name of “urban renewal”
- They believed that Africville was slums
and there was an article in a newspaper
calling it a black ghetto.
Africville
Homework
You are a resident of Africville who has been asked to
relocate. Write a letter to the City Council asking them to
keep Africville instead of destroying it. You must defend
your argument by using examples.
length = app. 150 to 200 words