By: Mason Mattu, News Writer
Content warning: forced displacement and racial violence are central topics in this article.
Imagine sitting at home one day and looking outside your window. There, you see a garbage truck parked outside. A city employee raps loudly on the door and demands you leave your home. This home has been in your family for generations and is a cornerstone to your connection to your heritage. It would probably be one of your worst nightmares; your entire livelihood taken away from you. For the residents of Africville, who were forced from their homes during the massive destruction of the neighbourhood, this nightmare was reality.
Africville was a “close-knit Black community” established in 1848 on Mi’kmaq territory at what is colonially known as Halifax, Nova Scotia. Following the American Revolution and War of 1812, Canada experienced a large influx of Black British loyalists — those who had fought for Britain in the War of 1812 and were promised freedom in return. Canada was supposed to be a “haven.” When they arrived in Nova Scotia, however, they arrived to white settlers who didn’t think them worthy. Black Canadians then settled into an area together to produce collective security.
For more than 120 years, the community served as a cultural hub for Black Nova Scotians; to thrive, live, and work in an environment where they were equally appreciated by members of their own community who understood the challenges they faced. After World War II, upwards of 400 Black Canadians lived in this community, and the Halifax municipal government treated them as subhuman. They refused to provide basic amenities like “access to clean water and garbage disposal,” and functional sewage.
In 1964, instead of improving infrastructure and providing necessities to residents of Africville, the Halifax City Council voted to relocate residents to supposedly “improve [their] standard of living.” To the very few residents who were able to prove a land deed for their home, the city paid them the value of their houses. However, many residents did not have any proof and were offered a measly $500. The last house was demolished in 1970.
Residents of Africville and their descendants are alive today and harmed by the dissolution of their community, and it is up to the sitting City Council and impassioned allies to purposefully hold space for Black Canadians.
Let’s call this what it is. The painful loss of Africville paints a broader picture of the patterns of expropriation of racialised peoples and their communities. Losing Africville was not isolated or accidental. Vancouver’s very own Hogan’s Alley, a community that was home to a prominent immigrant and Black population, was continuously destroyed beginning in 1967 to make room for a freeway that was never built. From Vancouver to Halifax, institutionalized racism has deprived Black Canadians of their individuality, communities, and right to life.
Nearly 55 years after the last home in Africville was destroyed, conversations about revitalization have just started to begin. The City of Halifax is in the midst of phase one of their community revitalization plan. Earlier in 2024, public open houses were held to “focus on topics such as active transportation, land use, and possibilities for the future.”
It is absolutely essential that these revitalization plans do not fall out of focus, and that the voices of former residents of Africville are heard. In an interview with CBC, a former resident called for the community church to hold faith services once again. The original church was demolished one night in 1967, and the rebuilt standing building is used as a museum. Other community members have alternative perspectives on land use which are equally important and pertinent to the future of Africville. For instance, Irvine Carvery of the Africville Genealogy Society suggests returning the land that was made into the national historic landmark “Africville Park” and letting former residents determine the future of developments. “They’re the ones who are going to tell you what it was, what it could be, and what it should be.”
As for funding, it is essential that the City of Halifax and even the Nova Scotian governments remain a key role in keeping the community alive through funding. For many years, Black Canadians in these communities paid income tax to the government and saw no returns. It is now time for money and support to be promised and secured for revitalization in Africville so that it does not become a bygone historical artifact. Residents of Africville and their descendants are alive today and harmed by the dissolution of their community, and it is up to the sitting City Council and impassioned allies to purposefully hold space for Black Canadians.
For more information about Africville and to make a donation to their museum, visit africvillemuseum.org.
