Hello John Knox!
Our names are Esther, Sydney, and Timothy, and we are grade 8 students here at John Knox Secondary. As a final interdisciplinary project for English and Socials, we were asked to bring awareness to our chosen topic. The topic we chose was Africville, and over the past few weeks, we have researched as well as written an essay on the tragic story of a former black community just north of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Halifax was founded in 1749 when African slaves dug out roads and built most of the city. Eventually, these African slaves formed a community a few kilometres north of Halifax, which would later be called Africville. However, the black Canadians faced plenty of discrimination, and the village did not receive services such as running water, paved roads, and sewage. Eventually, this led to the demolition of the whole Africville area, starting in 1964. In order to dodge any foreign criticism, the City of Halifax used the language of human rights and the excuse to end segregation. Despite this racist discrimination against the black Canadians, the citizens of Africville supported each other and formed strong community bonds with each other, to help push through this tragic experience.
Although efforts have been made in recent years to recompense for this tragic story, the past cannot be undone nor forgiven completely. Unfortunately, the story of Africville is only one of the many instances of discrimination in Canada’s history. Too often we see or hear about a discriminatory act, and think, Wow that’s terrible, then we move on with our lives. In order to save the future from corrupt humanity, we need to find ways to make amends for our past actions. “Fix the past, save the future”
If you have any questions or suggestions on ways we can help fight discrimination, email them to awarenessafricville@gmail.com.”