The Impact of Black Civil Rights in the USA and Canada: A Comparative Analysis

1. Black Civil Rights The United States story compared and contrasted to the Canadian story

2. 1600s – new arrivalsUSA Canada • 1619 – first shiploads of African slaves to Jamestown, Virginia • Used for farming economy • 1605 – First named black person in Canada  free man • 1685 – King Louis’ Code Noir •  Slavery for economic purposes • 1689 – slavery permitted in N. France

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo79PHVI-ck&feature=related (1:25)

5. 1700s – Independence for whom?USA Canada • 1775 – Lord Dunmore’s Declaration that “every person capable of bearing arms. . . report for duty” • “Ethiopian Regiment” • 1777 – Vermont abolishes slavery  stress between north and south • 1776 – Canada a safe • haven for black • loyalists • 1784 – First race riot •  Nova Scotia – black • loyalists seen as a threat • on the job scene  hostility • 1790 – Imperial Statute – settlers could bring slaves • 1792 – Loyalists leave

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlLzeCQ_ZdM&feature=related

8. 1800s – Tensions RiseUSA Canada • 1820 – Missouri Compromise – slavery abolished north of the Missouri • 1849 – Harriet Tubman escapes slavery in Maryland • 1812 – War of 1812 • fought for British • Fear of returning to • slavery • 1819 – veterans granted tracts of land • 1830 – Uncle Tom helps American slaves escape

10. 1800s (cont’d)USA Canada • 1833 – Brit. Parl’t abolishes slavery • 1851 – Canadian Anti-Slavery Society • number of abolitionists grew to influence public opinion • 1861-65 – Civil War • 11 Southern States try to secede from the Union to maintain slavery as a “southern way of life” • 1863 – Emancipation Proclamation • Declaration of freedom for any slave by Lincoln • 1867- 77 – Reconstruction – resolving the aftermath of the Civil War

12. 1800s (cont’d)USA • 1868 – 14th Amendment to American Constitution  Blacks given full citizenship • 1870 – Black males given right to vote with conditions • 1875 – Civil Rights Act – equal treatment in public and on public transportation • 1877 – Jim Crow laws – segregation in public facilities “separate but equal”

15. 1900 - 1940USA Canada • 1909 – NAACP • 1929-41 – Roosevelt’s New Deal (first fired never hired) • 1946 – Supreme Court bans segregation • 1911 – Frank Oliver – tighter restrictions on immigration • 1916 – WWI - all-Black battalion with Cdn. Forestry Corps. • 1939 – originally rejected and later accepted

16. 1930 – 40Canada • 1939 – Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters  assumed responsibilities for those overseas  labour unions • 1944 – Ontario – Racial Discrimination Act • Prohibited publication and display of any signs that expressed ethnic, racial or religious discrim. • 1946 – Viola Desmond – NSAACP – supported Desmond in case against theatre

19. 1950s – Violence EruptsUSA Canada • 1954 – Brown vs. Board of Education • 1955 – Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks, MLK Jr. • Emmet Till – murdered and perpetrators found NOT guilty by all white jury • 1954 – ongoing discrimination despite laws against  Dresden, Ont. • Restaurant • Testers

22. “I have a dream” Speech • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiF2aAx0kds&feature=related

24. 1950s (cont’d)USA • 1957 – Civil Rights Act (again) – all important parts blocked by southern States • 1959 – Little Rock Nine – nine black students blocked from entering school  Eisenhower sends in the National Guard to intervene

25. 1960sUSA Canada • 1961 – Freedom Riders – test new laws  attacked • 1963 • Birmingham Bombings • March on Washington “I Have a Dream • Medgar Evars murdered • Brutality on TV • 1960 – Bill of Rights • 1963 – 1st Black person elected to Parliament in Ontario • 1964 – Africville “ghetto” demolished • 1965 – Klan established in Amherstville  cross burnings and vandals

28. http://archives.cbc.ca/society/racism/clips/15154/

29. 1960sUSA Canada • 1967 – immigration • points system – seen • as an improvement • 1964 – Malcolm X “Ballot or Bullet” speech • 1964 – Civil Rights Act (again) – fed. gov’t right to enforce desegregation • 1964 – 24th Amendment – abolishes poll tax

31. Black Power • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pEVkv2tEVQ

32. 1960s (cont’d)USA • 1965 – Bloody Sunday – Montgomery and police brutality on protesters • 1965 - Voting Rights Act – took away literacy tests, tax and other restrictions • 1966 – Black Power organizations – fight for liberation • 1968 – MLK Jr. assassinated • 1968 – Civil Rights Act (again) – sale and rental of housing

34. 70s, 80s, 90s and presentUSA Canada • 1992 – jury acquits white police officers for beating Rodney King • 1970 – Canada’s multicultural policy changes in reaction to “bicultural and bilingual” focus • 1982 – guaranteed equality rights in s. 15 of the CCRF

35. Present Issues • Overpopulation of Black Americans in jail, in poverty and receiving sub standard educations • Reaction of US President GW Bush after Hurricane Katrina • Uniake Square, NS (police discrimination) • Jamaican immigrants to Toronto