Because, let’s face it – who has time to catch up on all the journal articles published in Canadian history?

Welcome back to the Best New Articles series, where each month, I posted a list of my favourite new articles! Don’t forget to also check out my favourites from previous months, which you can access by clicking here.

This month I read articles from:

Here are my favourites:

Délice Mugabo, “Black in the City: On the Ruse of Ethnicity and Language in an Antiblack Landscape,” Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power (2018): 1-18. (Early release)

Author’s Twitter: @UwokwaMugabo

Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1070289X.2018.1545816

What it’s about: This article focuses on Black life in Montreal in the 1990s to argue that the city is divided along racial lines, shaped more by race and antiblackness than language. Mugabo’s analysis relies on afropessimism, or the idea that “western society is inherently antagonistic to Africanity and Black people” and therefore can never be reformed, as a theoretical framework. (p. 4) Further, she argues Blackness was/is an ontological position, as opposed to an ethnicity. For much of the twentieth century, Montreal was home to a significant community of formerly enslaved Black peoples, from Nova Scotia, the US, and the Caribbean. These English-speaking peoples lived largely in the west end of the city. However, many chose to leave the province following the Quiet Revolution. This coincided with the first waves of Haitian immigration to Quebec. These French-speaking immigrants lived mostly in the east end of the city. However, Quebec’s justification in encouraging Haitian immigrants was the idea that language would trump race, that the Haitian immigrants were a distinct ethnicity (as opposed to part of the larger Black community in Montreal), and would therefore be easily assimilated into Quebecois society. Local activists, particularly members of the Alliance of Afrikan-Canadians, perceived their experiences as based inherently on Blackness and their Black identities, and sought to bring together Anglophone and Francophone Black communities, recognizing that language did nothing to protect to Haitian immigrants and their descendants from violence. In doing so, they worked to create new Black identities and geographies in a city that sought to divide them.

What I loved: When I read Mugabo’s argument that Montreal was divided along racial lines, she totally blew my mind. In a great way! It totally makes sense in my mind, especially since her argument is also relevant for linguistic divisions in the Montreal Jewish community, especially the prevailing idea that English- and French-speaking Jews are necessarily aligned with their British and Quebecois counterparts. It really highlights the racial aspect of nationalism in Quebec, and the ways in which linguistic geography is used to mask this. I also found her discussion of the problems of ethnicity as an operational concept, and how it serves to disguise systemic racism, particularly thoughtful. This really hits home, since I am a historian of ethnicity. I can definitely see her points, though I would hesitate to call Jews a race. Definitely going to do some more research on this.

Favourite quote: “The narrative about Montreal being divided between a French-speaking East and an English-speaking West assumes that white and Black people occupy those parts of the city in the same way. […] As a matter of fact, when we take stock of the events that occurred in the period under study, what stands out is how Black people’s presence everywhere in the city was violently contested.” P. 12

Suggested uses: This piece would be fantastic in an upper-level or graduate course on Canadian and Quebec identity. I think it’s also essential reading for scholars who are interested in the history of race and ethnicity, spatial geographies, and activism. And of course, this will definitely be of interest to scholars of Montreal and Black history in Canada.

Edward Dunsworth, “Race, Exclusion, and Archival Silences in the Seasonal Migration of Tobacco Workers from the Southern United States to Ontario,” Canadian Historical Review 99, no. 4 (December 2018): 563-593

Author’s Twitter: @ehewey 

Link: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711168

What it’s about: In this article, Dunsworth explores the ways in which provincial and federal officials sought to formally and informally exclude Black seasonal tobacco workers who came to Ontario between the 1920s and 1960s. Over much of the twentieth century, Ontario’s tobacco industry depended heavily upon seasonal tobacco workers from the Southern US, for both labour and knowledge. Until 1966, seasonal tobacco worker programs only accepted white workers. With the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the US, Canadian civil servants tied themselves in circles to remove racial language from existing seasonal tobacco worker programs, while still ensuring that the majority of workers were white. In doing so, Dunsworth emphasizes that even when policy and legislation is “deracialized,” a careful consideration of archival silences reveals the extent to which the Canadian government attempted to maintain white supremacy.  

What I loved: There are many aspects to this article that just really worked for me! First of all, I really loved the transnational element. I also really loved the focus on seasonal workers. I also really appreciated Dunsworth’s work to show how racialized ideology continued to influence Canadian immigration policies, even as the official policy of immigration selection based on ethnicity was ended and even after the introduction of the points system. But, for me, what I really appreciated was how he used archival silences to demonstrate the informal methods that were used to exclude undesirable immigrants (read: not-white). This type of work is essential for undermining dominant narratives of Canada as a land of equality and opportunity, free of racism. 

Favourite quote: “In a memorandum detailing a telephone conversation with External Affairs staffer J.J. Deutsch, Immigration Branch director A.L. Jolliffe, after addressing various other points discussed, noted, “I then suggested that it be indicated that coloured labour should not be included in this arrangement. Mr. Deutsch thought, however, that they could not make any official statement to this effect as the American Government is very sensitive re this matter – no discrimination in race or colour. I further suggested that possibly this point might be covered by some unofficial mention by our legation officials to the appropriate American officers at Washington.” P. 580

Suggested uses: This is a significant contribution to the history of race and the Black experience in Canada. It would be fantastic in any course on Canadian history, especially in upper level courses on race and ethnicity and postwar Canada. And of course, any scholar of immigration, labour, race, and government will want to read this piece.

Also Recommended:

I’m finally all caught up! Woo hoo! Ahem. I hope you enjoyed this blog post! If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice. And don’t forget to check back on Sunday for a brand new Canadian History Roundup! See you then!

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