Remember Africville Essay

What distinguishes the Africville urban renewal project from similar projects in the second half of the 20th century was its transformation “from a symbol of civic and humanitarian progress to a symbol of Black consciousness and white racism.” Although other similar relocation projects during this era might have exceeded the Africville relocation project in sheer scope, the negative associations concerning the Africville project, even in contemporary Canada, are still not forgotten. Drawing upon the relevant readings and the documentary Remember Africville by Shelagh Mackenzie, the clash between governmental interests on the one hand and the interests of the Africville inhabitants on the other hand will be analyzed in this essay. Although

One of the first orders of business in order to justify paternalistic encroachment of the state was to frame Africville as a slum. Post World War II “Africville became regarded by outsiders as harbouring a risky deviance service centre and being a model of social disorganization.” This stigmatization of Africville as harboring vice and illegal activity helped to perpetuate the slum imagery. In reality, however, white and other non-Africville black Haligonians, often visited Africville to participate in these underground activities; however, economic distress and the subsequent neglect of Africville by the city government made the deviant aspect of Africville less tolerable. Moreover, issues regarding deeds and landownership resulted in “Africville [being] almost completely illegible to the state.” This illegibility had some very practical issues in the relocation processes; for example, it was very hard to figure out who actually had claim to certain properties. For the Halifax government the illegible status of Africville accompanied with their obliviousness concerning the informal land conveyance in Africville “created a situation that stigmatized virtually all residents and in effect legitimated the City's neglect of Africville.” Ultimately this

One of these assumptions was that Black Africville residents were naturally a homogenous unit. However, even in a relatively small and perhaps seemingly homogenous community great differences existed internally. The city government of Halifax at best did very little to acknowledge these differences and at worst blatantly ignored them. Daniel McNeil identifies how within the black communities “Black Caribbean residents in Nova Scotia can be viewed as competitors for jobs.” Thus, the black communities in Nova Scotia at large were all but homogenous units with their own internal rivalries. Furthermore, as Donald Clairmont identifies, differences in how Africville was perceived existed internally in the Africville community and varied greatly according to social grouping; some Africvillers agreed that it was a slum while others vehemently opposed such framing. Even the Dalhousie report fails to even mention in-group differences that might exist in the Black population in Halifax. This report groups Halifax’s black population, for example in Table 1, in two classes: “Mid-city Negroes” and “Africville Negroes.” It is hard to imagine that an extensive survey into the living habits of white Haligonians would warrant similar categories. Surely the ethnicity of the white population would be taken into consideration and categories such as Irish, Scottish, etc.,