Black History Month: Viola Desmond - Canada's Rosa Parks?

We thought you might be interested in a book we've recently read and highly recommend.

Cape Breton University history professor Graham Reynolds has written a book - Viola Desmond's Canada: A History of Blacks and Racial Segregation in the Promised Land.

Long title - fascinating tale! Basically, Viola was a successful business woman in Halifax. While waiting for her car to be fixed one day, she decided to view a movie. She asked to sit downstairs, as she had poor vision and would see the film more easily from the downstairs area of the theatre.

Little did Viola know that the theatre was racially segregated. The theatre employees explained the circumstances to her but the police were called and Viola was forcibly removed and jailed.

When brought before a magistrate, there wasn't any mention of racial segregation at all. Instead, she was charged with and found guilty of defrauding the province of an amusement tax. This tax represented the difference in the theatre ticket price between seating downstairs and seating upstairs! Can you imagine how Viola felt? That's why we think of her as Canada's Rosa Parks!

We learned some astounding things from this book. We were dismayed to discover that in 1930's Canada, the Ku Klux Klan operated freely. We had no idea!

Viola Desmond was charged so wrongly, so cynically in 1946. She wasn't pardoned until after her death - in 1965.

You can order this interesting book from Chapters/Indigo. If you read it, please share your thoughts with us!

Learn more about Viola's story and other interesting Black History Month topics at Historica Canada: Black History Month.

The Book of Negroes, illustrated edition containing photos, works of art and documents that inspired Lawrence Hill to write his award-winning novel. 

It's time to celebrate Black History Month and honour the contributions people of African descent have made to our cultural heritage. Please join us on our journey to learn more!