Why was africville demolished

The village was populated by African-Canadians and was a thriving seaside community before it was systematically demolished by the Halifax government in the s.

This Black community lived a few kilometres north of the city, on the southern shore of the Bedford Basin in the area that came to be known as Africville. However, the first official record of Africville is from , when the land was granted to a number of white families. There is also evidence to indicate that Africans from Jamaica who escaped enslavement, called the Maroons, moved to the basin in when they were resettled in Nova Scotia by the British government.

In addition, Black refugees from the War of , many of whom were once enslaved in the Chesapeake area of the United States, also lived in the area. Other families soon followed and by the next year, the village was home to about 80 residents. Scroll through archival photos of Africville from the Halifax Municipal Archives below:. The Seaview African United Baptist Church opened its doors in and soon became the centre of the village.

A school was opened in Africville in , after a lot of petitioning from residents. Before the school, a local resident was teaching children in the village. Job opportunities for Black people in Halifax, where they faced anti-Black racism, were limited to domestic help or porters on trains. Residents in Africville, however, ran their own fishing businesses or farms and many opened small stores toward the end of the 19th century.

Africville was also a culturally significant place, with its own hockey team — The Africville Brown Bombers. It was also home to singer Portia White and boxer George Dixon — the first Black boxing world champion. While the City of Halifax collected taxes from Africville, the village saw none of the benefits afforded to taxpayers including paved roads, sewers or running water. Municipal services like garbage collection, police protection and public transportation were non-existent all the way into the first half of the 20th century.

Even more land was taken over for the railway in and the s. The disaster is considered one of the largest man made explosions pre-dating the atomic bombs in and it wiped out the north end of Halifax and damaged Africville. Close to 2, people were killed, another 9, were injured and 25, were left homeless. The City of Halifax did not survey Africville for damage but as per oral history, several homes were badly damaged and lost their roofs.

Even though millions of dollars poured in due to a global relief effort, none of the money went to rebuilding Africville. All through the s, Africville residents continued to petition the city for basic services like running water, electricity, sewage disposal and a cemetery — requests which were, by and large, denied. In , the City of Halifax revived and approved plans to turn Africville into an industrial zone.

The school in Africville was closed in when Nova Scotia de-segregated its school system. Many Black schools across the province were closed and Black students were sent to the nearest white school.

Reports prepared for city council in and recommended rehousing residents to make way for industrial projects. By the time the s rolled around, Africville was called a slum by white Halifax residents and was seen to be built around the dump by scavengers — which possibly made it acceptable to demolish it. The first plot of land was taken over in and over the next five years, homes were razed to the ground lot by lot.

The Seaview United Baptist Church was destroyed in the spring of , in the middle of the night. The land where Africville once stood was converted into the Fairview Container Terminal, ramps for the A. Murray MacKay Bridge and private housing. The central area was tuned into a dog park named Seaview Park. Africville residents faced discrimination and stigma in Halifax, which was further compounded by being moved to the city in dump trucks.

In Halifax, former Africville residents found it difficult to find housing with the paltry sums they had been paid for their land and jobs were hard to come by, with businesses refusing to hire Black people. The Africville Action Committee was formed in to keep the community alive and seek redress for the injustices they suffered.

A former resident, Eddie Carvery, returned to the site of Africville in in protest, demanding a public inquiry and compensation for former residents.

His protest lasted, on and off, for more than 50 years. In , four elders from the Seaview United Baptist Church organized the first gathering of the community since they had been relocated, with a church service and picnic.

A decade later, in , the Africville Genealogy Society was formed for the same reasons as the action committee in the late 60s. Many former residents and their descendants camp on the site of their former homes.

The area was named Africville Park. The Africville Heritage Trust manages the museum and the voluntary board is made up of a majority of Africville family members. It is both a place for former residents to connect and where other Nova Scotians and tourists can learn about Africville. The Museum is the first stage of the Africville Project, which will later include an Interpretive Centre. On Nova Scotia Heritage day this year, the provincial government announced that a bell that once hung in the original Seaview church would be placed outside the Africville Museum.

It survived the demolition and was kept safe at a church in Beechville for over 50 years. Waterloo regional police have launched an investigation into a video that appears to show a man living with disabilities being aggressively kicked out of a Kitchener restaurant after an apparent dispute over his Police say a year-old woman has died from injuries she suffered during the April van attack in Toronto, when Alek Minassian deliberately targeted pedestrians, killing 11 and injuring many others.

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Summary Africville was founded when enslaved Africans built the city of Halifax, founded in The village was prosperous and considered a haven for Black people, away from the racism they faced in Halifax The village was systematically destroyed due to a denial of necessities and expropriating land for industrial purposes.

Post contains a featured video. But it also used the language of human rights, claiming that relocation would improve the standard of living for residents. Before this decision was made, there was no meaningful consultation with residents of Africville to gather their views.

In fact, it was later reported over 80 per cent of residents had never had contact with the Halifax Human Rights Advisory Committee, which was the group charged with consulting the community. Two Halifax City officials standing outside an Africville house prior to the demolition of the community.

Officials and experts used the language of human rights to argue for the destruction of the community, despite the fact that many residents had stated their opposition to the plan.

The destruction of Africville took several years. Residents who could prove they owned their land were offered payment equal to the value of their houses.

Those who resisted relocation could have their lands expropriated by the city. There were also some accounts of bribery and intimidation being used against residents to force them from the neighbourhood. In the end, despite resistance, all residents were relocated; the last remaining Africville home was destroyed in January of I spoke to Sunday Miller, the former Executive Director of the Africville Heritage and Trust, about how hard the relocation was for many residents.

She told me about a City worker who had helped move an old woman out of her home in a garbage truck. They could have taken her anywhere. To make matters worse, the City of Halifax dismantled the support structures intended to assist former residents only three years after relocation began. Many residents found it difficult to adjust to their new lives. Miller explained it very well:. When they took them off this land and forced them to be a ward of the government, which is what happened for those who went into social housing, you took their dignity from them.

Living in Africville, we had our own home. It might not have been a mansion, but it was a home. Laura Howe, former Africville resident. Former Black residents also faced racism in their new homes.

In one case, a white neighbour is reported to have begun a petition opposed to accepting a Black family. In another, a man moving from Africville to the neighbourhood of Hammond Plains received a letter threatening to burn his house down if he and his family did not leave.

Despite these challenges, former residents did take action and seek justice. In the s, the Africville Genealogy Society was formed and it began to seek recompense for all the suffering caused by the destruction of the community. In , a settlement was reached and the Mayor of Halifax made a public apology for the razing of Africville.

Part of the settlement was used to rebuild Seaview Church, which now serves as the Africville Museum.

Not all former residents accepted the apology, however, and some are continuing to seek individual compensation for what they suffered. Over the next several years the committee sought to ameliorate the terms and conditions of the destruction of Africville, and, armed with the results of their testing, urged the provincial government to improve the enforcement of human rights laws.

The association continued to press its usual concerns, for greater access to employment and housing and particularly for improved educational opportunities. Debating Dissent: Canada and the Sixties. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Archives Readings Historians External Resources.

This section includes histories of of human rights events and issues, as well as resources for further research.