Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

Making the “Familiar” Strange 667
speak. In Canada, blacks live in and through the shadow of the productivity and visibility of black
American and black British scholars, writers, and cultural practitioners. The ensuing outline
is meant to draw attention to the fact that students and teachers alike encounter and negotiate
beliefs and representations about race (in addition to nation and gender) from a variety of sources
(e.g., visual and print media, family, friends, school), which influence their sense of self and
other. These varied perspectives regarding difference and identity are significant because they
affect educational practices; they influence students’ construction of their own identities and they
structure their interaction in the classroom.
The meaning(s) of racial and ethnic identities in Canada as well as questions about belonging,
are integrally tied to the cultural symbols, in addition to the economic and political formations
that exist within the country. Thus, in order to understand Canadian configurations of black
racial identity, it is necessary to identify some of this nation’s distinct characteristics. Canada, the
largest country in the Western Hemisphere, consists of ten provinces and three territories (i.e., the
Yukon, Northwest, and Nunavut). The diverse terrain of the land (e.g., prairies, wilderness, arctic,
Maritimes) constitutes unique geographic, economic, cultural, and political regions. Correspondingly,
the structure and organization of this country is shaped by competing and contradictory
ideologies about unity and our national identity. Here I am referring to the legacies of the history
of European settlement which produced Canada, such as the indentured labor of Chinese workers
who built the railroad and the enslavement and displacement of aboriginal peoples from their
land. Moreover, in 1988 the federal government instituted the Multiculturalism Act as a way of
acknowledging and embracing the diverse population of the nation. Accordingly, this policy says
that all citizens have the right to equal participation in the building of the Canadian nation. In
addition, the ongoing struggles between the competing voices of the two “founding” colonial
powers, Britain and France, are key sources of national/regional/provincial/local tension. The
fact that Canada is officially a multicultural and bilingual country also influences the manner in
which racism is interpreted and lived.
The racial and ethnic composition of Canada also varies by region: the majority of the population
lives in the eastern provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Although the genealogy of black
settlement in Canada is diverse, extending from the west to the east coast, and dates back several
centuries, the details of this history are largely absent from national discourses and curricula.
The historical privileging of white ethnicities over other racial groups has contributed to the
invisibility and silencing of the Canadian component of the African diaspora in both curricula
and in the public imaginary. For example, few are aware of the fact that slavery and segregation
were also practiced within the borders of Canada. The legacy that is oft repeated is that blacks
who reside in Canada are the descendants of former slaves who traveled north to escape slavery.
Part of the reason this particular connection between American and Canadian blacks is embraced
is due to our geographical proximity to the United States and our susceptibility to American
racial discourses. However, this narrative is troubling because it implies that Canadian blacks are
ultimately a derivative of American blacks and the United States readily becomes the “home”
of all things “black.” Consequently, this narrative also strengthens the extant belief that racism
in Canada is not as odious as that which is practiced in the United States. Depending upon the
character of the experience that is being described one might hear “Well you would expect that
in the United States, not here.” In Canada, we engage in a kinder and gentler version of racism
than that which is practiced south of border.
Furthermore, the ubiquity of black American culture suppresses our knowledge of the experiences
of black Canadians who have emerged from different circumstances. For example, as
a result of the end of World War II, and a change in Canadian immigration laws, the black
population grew as many West Indians migrated to Canada. Nevertheless, despite their length of
stay, black West Indians are still seen as “recent arrivals.” One of the consequences of the lack of