29 articles · page 1 of 3
Africville: uprooted at home
To belong is to be expected. You can be exiled without leaving your country, as the story of Africville reminds us.
ReadFrom Haiti to Montreal: exile that takes root
Since the 1960s, thousands of Haitians have fled dictatorship for Montreal, where, through mutual aid, they built a community essential to Quebec.
ReadKomagata Maru: two months outside the harbour
In 1914, 376 passengers from India were kept for two months in Vancouver's harbour. In 2016, Canada apologized to them.
ReadMaking the other a stranger
Othering turns a difference into a border. From everyday glances to dehumanization, it follows a slope we can learn to climb back up.
ReadSaint-Jérôme, first stop after fifteen years in a camp
In December 2008, the first Bhutanese refugees welcomed by Canada arrived in Saint-Jérôme. Their story raises a question: how do we make people want to stay?
ReadThe "boat people" and a medal for a whole people
In 1979-1980, thousands of Canadians sponsored refugees from Southeast Asia. In 1986, the UN honoured the entire Canadian people.
ReadThe St. Louis: a ship no one was waiting for
In 1939, Canada refused to take in more than 900 Jewish refugees from the liner St. Louis. In 2018, Ottawa apologized to them.
ReadThe head tax: the price of a door
From 1885 to 1923, Chinese immigrants had to pay to enter Canada. In 2006, Ottawa offered a full apology.
ReadOne shared breath
From Morton's skulls to spirometers "corrected" by race, science long served hierarchy; today it is learning to undo it.
ReadMay my curiosity be a form of care: SLĀV and cultural appropriation
In 2018, the show SLĀV divided Montreal. An opportunity to ask how to borrow from a culture without erasing its history.
ReadThe mirror: one species, very real categories
Science confirms it: human races do not exist in biology. Racism, however, invented categories that still wound.
ReadThe unspoken: seeing yourself through others' eyes
The Clarks' doll test showed how children end up believing the prejudices held about them. Naming this internalized racism helps free us from it.
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