Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Viola Was NOT Alone



Viola's story at 18:00 minutes into the documentary. 

This documentary, Journey to Justice by Roger McTair is a must watch that proves that Viola Desmond was not alone on her journey to fight racism in court. 

Thursday, 4 December 2014

Viola Desmond Day, Herald News



Viola's Next Steps

Viola’s business plans did not continue as planned. Viola did not go through with setting up a franchise for her beautician supplies throughout Canada. She had a new plan, “She began to invest her money in real estate, believing that this represented greater security in a racially torn society. She bought up homes, renovated them, and rented them out to Black families” (Backhouse 1999, 270). Eventually Viola moved to Montreal where she wanted to pursue another dream of becoming a consultant for the entertainment industry. She then continued to expand her dream and moved to New York City. Shortly after Viola moved to New York she became very sick and died of a gastro-intestinal hemorrhage in 1965. Viola died at age 51 and never fully lived out her dreams. Although she did not live to see her dreams come true she has made a legacy and has had huge impact on Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada.
Viola’s “lawsuit was framed in such a manner that the real issues of white racism were shrouded in procedural technicalities. The judges turned their back son Black claims for racial equality, in certain respects openly condoning racial segregation” (Backhouse 1999, 270-271).

“The legal challenge touched a nerve within the Black community, creating a dramatic upsurge in race consciousness” (Bachbouse 1999, 271).

“Neither before or since has there been such an aggressive effort to obtain rights. The people arose as one and with one voice. This positive stand enhanced the prestige of the Negro community throughout the Province” (Backhouse 1999, 271).

Racism in Nova Scotia has not subsided since. People may not disregard a black person from eating at a restaurant but hostilities are still taking place, racial slurs are still a huge part of our vocabulary and many white people see nothing wrong with it. Our racial knowledge stems from a way in which we were taught, raised and grown in certain societies and cultures. Is there a way this can be changed? Or will experiences like Viola’s continue to happen? Will racism ever subside?

"Viola Awakened Nova Scotia to Human Rights"




Something You Might Not Know About Canada


After the Trial.. The Humiliation

Viola’s sister tells the people what Viola thought after she was in trial and charged for tax evasion,

“The day she came back from the court, knowing she had lost the case, she was very disappointed. A person like my sister never liked to lose. A person like my sister, who was such a hard worker, had always been told if you do hard work, you’re going to win. If you’re Black or Negro or whatever, you’re going to work hard, get that scholarship and win. We forgot about our colour and educated ourselves. She felt that she should have won the case, and she was bitterly disappointed” (Backhouse 1999, 267).

The Clarion, the New Glasgow newspaper run by Black citizens stated,

“The court did not hesitate to place the blame for the whole sordid affair where it belonged. […] It is gratifying to know that such a shoddy attempt to hide behind the law has been recognized as such by the highest Court in our Province. We feel that owners and managers of places of amusement will now realize that such practices are recognized by those in authority for what they are, - cowardly devices to persecute innocent people because of their outmoded racial biases” (Backhouse 1999, 268).

Both Viola’s sister and The Clarion see how the white courts did not bring up the fact that Viola was a Black women, and denied to relate any of her charges based on the colour of her skin. She was charged for something no white individual would have done based on the fact that she is a black woman and was not permitted to sit in the main floor seating of a movie theatre.

Carrie Best also replies to what took place in the court room and the response to the racism in Nova Scotia,

“We do have many of the privileges which are denied our southern brothers, but we often wonder if the kind of segregation we receive here is not more cruel in the very subtlety of its nature […]        
True, we are not forced into separate parts of public conveyances, nor are we forced to drink from separate faucets or use separate washrooms, but we are often refused meals in restaurants and beds in hotels, with no good reason.
Nowhere do we encounter signs that read ‘No Coloured’ or the more diplomatic little paste boards which say ‘Select Clientele’, but at times it might be better. At least much consequent embarrassment might be save for all concerned” (Backhouse 1999, 269).


Viola was very disappointed, humiliated and disgusted by the Canadian law and the white people who caused this on to her. Viola became stuck and was unsure of how to move on…. 

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Response to Racism

Carrie M. Best a Black editor of The Clarion, a well known Black newspaper that was part of the New Glasgow community wrote a letter to the community of why we should stick up for the Blacks and the incidents that take place in their community and within their country,

Carrie Best
“It is sometimes said that those who seek to serve are ‘looking for trouble.’ There are some who think it better to follow the line of the least resistance, no matter how great the injury. Looking for trouble? How much better off the world would be if men of good will would look for trouble, find it, and while it is merely a cub, drag it out into the open, before it becomes the ferocious lion. Racial and Religious hatred is trouble of the gravest kind. It is a vicious, smoldering and insidious kind of trouble, born of fear and ignorance. It often lays dormant for years until some would be Hitler, Bilbo or Rankin emerges to fan the flame into an uncontrollable catastrophe. It is heartening to know how many trouble shooters have come to the aid of The Clarion since the disgraceful Roseland incident. They are convinced, as are we, that it is infinitely wiser to look for trouble than to have trouble looking for them” (Backhouse 1999, 248).


People continue to ignore race altogether allowing for racism to never end. People believe that they are not racist if they ignore race completely. When a racial incident happens for example, Viola’s incident at the theater, people merely take in what happened as racist and continue with their lives by ignoring the racial discrimination that takes place in our society. This Racial Liberalism continues to happen today in the 21st century. As we see today, the case with Michael Brown, a Black man shot to death for no necessary reason. People put blame on radicalized minorities to ensure that they are not a racist individual. As Mills states, “Just as the white citizenry increasingly insist that the surest way of bringing about a raceless society is to ignore race and that those (largely people of colour) who still claim to see race are themselves the real racists”, proves that people will go out of their way to make sure that there actions seem not to be racist when actually they are brutally are.  Racism has not yet diminished as we see brutal deaths and public humiliation of black individuals who are left uncared for by the white citizens of North America. Viola Desmond was a victim of direct racism when she was dragged out of the Roseland Theater and humiliated by white individuals. 

Backhouse, Constance. 1999. Colour-Coded, A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.