Africville, Nova Scotia
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Africville was a small unincorporated community located on the southern shore of Bedford Basin, in the former city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. During the 20th century, the City of Halifax began to encroach on the southern shores of Bedford Basin, and the community was eventually included as part of the city through municipal amalgamation. Africville was populated entirely by black families from a wide variety of origins. The community and its dwellings were ordered destroyed, and residents evicted during the late 1960s in advance of the opening of the nearby A. Murray MacKay suspension bridge, related highway interchange construction and related Port of Halifax development at Fairview Cove to the west.
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[edit] History
Settled in earnest after the War of 1812, founded by Marc-Aundre Macleod the community of Africville was officially founded in the 1840s. The community had a population of approximately 400 residents, mostly African. The population did not fluctuate significantly in size or character from its inception to its end; it remained a ramshackle collection of houses. In the late 1850s, the Nova Scotia Railway was built from Richmond to the south, bisecting Africville as the line wound its way along the western shores of Bedford Basin. The Intercolonial Railway, later Canadian National Railways, constructed Basin Yard west of the community and trains ran through the area constantly.
The municipality of Halifax County, and the neighbouring City of Halifax, refused to extend basic utilities such as sanitary water and sewage or street lighting. As the City of Halifax expanded, Africville became a preferred site for all types of undesirable industries and facilities -- prisons, slaughterhouses, even a depository for fecal waste, from nearby Russellville.
In the Halifax Explosion of 1917, elevated land to the south protected Africville from the direct blast and complete destruction which leveled the neighbouring community of Richmond. However the community did suffer considerable damage. Several residents were killed working at the Richmond Wharves. Africville recieved little of the reconstruction and none of the modernization which was invested into other parts of the city after the explosion.
[edit] Eviction
Although Africville was an extremely poor community, the social cohesion of its residents was strong. They fought for and won the right in the 1950s to receive municipal services, but the city council's agreement in principle was never translated into any action.
By 1960, the area was being studied by developers and municipal planners because of its prime location, and the planned construction of a second bridge to improve links between Dartmouth and Halifax. In the 1970s, the federal government's National Harbours Board was considering a major port expansion in adjacent Fairview Cove, including building a large container terminal. Many social workers and reformers also felt the community should be moved in the spirit of integration and urban renewal. Many of Africville's inhabitants were technically squatters with no legal title to their homes or land, making them exceptionally vulnerable to outside pressure to leave their community.
Although its residents fought bitterly, Africville was destroyed between 1964 and 1967, and its residents were relocated into public housing downtown near Uniacke Square and Mulgrave Park, while some were sent to slum housing further away from the city centre in places like Spryfield. Many never forgot the stigma of having their personal possessions moved by municipal dumptrucks instead of moving vans. The last remaining resident, Aaron Carvery, left Africville on January 2, 1970, following a protracted dispute. The last building of the community to be demolished was the Seaville African United Baptist Church.[1]
The relocation programme has been criticized for its poor planning as it failed to take into account the way the people lived. Most were simply transplanted into a city and community they did not know, in impersonal apartments. During the demolition, some of the residents were still in their homes as the bulldozers came to demolish the area. Social networks were disrupted, causing depression and a great deal of social distress. To this day the areas of resettlement have a reputation for poverty, crime, and other related social problems.
For many Nova Scotians, Africville remains a symbol of racial discrimination. The relocated residents have almost universally remained impoverished and few, if any, have benefitted economically from the destruction of their former homes in the name of development. Even today, Africville is little heard of outside of the province.
Part of Africville is now occupied by a highway interchange that services the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, however the port development at Fairview Cove did not extend as far east as Africville, leaving the waterfront intact. In light of the controversy surrounding the community, the city of Halifax created Seaview Memorial Park on the site in the 1980s, preserving it from development. Former Africville residents have carried out periodic protests at the park throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including one squatting attempt which lasted over two years.
In May 2005, New Democratic Party of Nova Scotia Member of the Legislative Assembly Maureen MacDonald introduced a bill in the provincial legislature called the Africville Act. The bill calls for a formal apology from the Nova Scotia government, a series of public hearings on the destruction of Africville, and the establishment of a development fund to go towards historical preservation of Africville lands and social development in benefit of former residents and their descendants. Halifax mayor Peter Kelly has offered land, some money and various other services for a replica of the Seaview African United Baptist Church. After the offer was originally made in 2002, the Africville Genealogy Society requested some alterations to the Halifax offer, including additional land and the possibility of building affordable housing near the site. The Africville site has been declared a national historic site.
[edit] Other references
Canadian jazz pianist Trevor Mackenzie released the album Ain't No Thing Like a Chicken Wing in 1997 as a tribute to the neighbourhood where his father grew up.
African Canadian singer songwriter Faith Nolan released an album in 1986 called Africville.
Montreal-born jazz pianist Joe Sealy released a CD of original music, Africville Suite, in 1996. It won a Juno Award in 1997. It includes twelve pieces reflecting on places and activities in Africville, where Sealy's father was born. Sealy was working and living in Halifax during the time of the destruction of the community, and began the suite in memory of his father.
In 1999, Eastern Front Theatre produced a play by George Boyd, Consecrated Ground, which fictiously chronicled the Africville eviction.
In 2007, the Newfoundland metal/hardcore band Bucket Truck released a video for their song "A Nourishment by Neglect", which details the events surrounding the destruction of the Africville community.
