Sociology 433

“Introduction” by James & Shadd (pp.1-7)

“Where are you really from?” by Shadd (pp.10-16)

1. Adrienne Shadd describes how much she gained from growing up in a segregated, all-black community.  Did this surprise you?  After reading her text, how do you feel about the black-focused school in Toronto?

Some interesting facts:

• The Africentric Alternative School in Toronto opened in 2009, with 90 students.  By the end of September, 130 students were enrolled and new teachers had to be hired.  The school now has a waiting list.
• Ontario has over 35 catholic school boards (and about the same quantity of public non-religious school boards) and one protestant school board.

2. Adrienne Shadd describes that she is often asked “where are you from?”, to which she replies “Canadian”.  She notes that white English Canadians are the least likely to probe further while recent immigrants ask her follow-up questions.  Why do you think that is?

3. Do you agree that “the four-hundred-year presence of Blacks has been written out of our history and obliterated from the Canadian psyche in general”?

4. Have you had an experience like Adrienne Shadd’s in which someone insisted you were not Canadian when you told them you were?

Summary (Provided by Melissa Boizot-Roche)

Adrienne Shadd argues that the existence of black Canadian has been obliterated from Canadian history and identity.  Canada is perceived, particularly by immigrants, as being entirely white.  As a result, when she says that she is Canadian, she is not believed.  People often react with frustration and continue to ask her questions, hoping that the truth will come out.  They simply cannot understand that people of colour can be Canadian.

But in reality, she grew up in North Buxton, Ontario.  North Buxton is a black community where ex-slaves settled when they arrived to Canada from the United States.  To outsiders, North Buxton is thought to be “on the wrong side of the tracks” simply because the people that live in the community as seen as inferior.  But to those that grew up within it, like Adrienne Shadd, North Buxton is a place where they can develop self-confidence and pride in their identity before being faced with the racism present in racially integrated communities.

“I Want to Call Myself Canadian” by Szepesi (pp.33-34)

1. Although Szepesi is “white”, she still finds herself treated like a minority.  What are your thoughts on this disclosure?

2. The author suggests that our identity is shaped by the labels we are given in our environment:

“Both of my names are Hungarian so I am forced to identify with my Hungarian heritage.  My mannerisms have become more Hungarian than those of my brother or my sister.  Others have made me who I am.”

To what extent do you agree with her?

3. According to Szepsi, native peoples refuse to call themselves Canadian, and Blacks and Asians will never achieve the title.  Based on what we have discussed so far on what it means to be a “Canadian”, what drives one to call oneself Canadian?  (i.e.  Why would one refuse the title while others embrace it?)  In a multicultural society of Canadian citizens, is it possible to remain a minority?