Emancipated, but not free.
That’s the point Western sociology professor emeritus Anton Allahar wants to drive home when he speaks at a ceremony to mark Emancipation Day on Aug. 1.
“Many people think of emancipation as a synonym for freedom. While slaves may have been emancipated, they were not set free, because of the ideologies of race, racism, inferiority. All of those things continued for years afterward,” Allahar said.
“We, in Canada, often like to point our fingers south of the border for examples of racism. But we live in a country in denial about race and racism. We delude ourselves, all the time, into thinking we are so free and fair and open and welcoming.”
Professor emeritus Anton Allahar (Anton Allahar photo)
Allahar and Carl Cadogan, the chair of the London Black History Coordinating Committee, will speak at the event at London Public Library’s central branch, Aug. 1 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Emancipation Day marks the day the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into effect, a year later. It’s meant to recognize the struggle and enslavement of Black and Indigenous people in Canada. Though Canada’s role in the Underground Railroad, a secret route of safehouses and resting places for enslaved African Americans fleeing the U.S., is well known, thousands of Black and Indigenous people were enslaved in what was then Upper and Lower Canada, according to historical estimates.
“Indeed, enslavement and slavery played a really important role in development of the Western world – the British, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch colonial systems,” Allahar said.
Master of library and information science (MLIS) students taking LIS 9160, a class on Antiracism in Library and Information Science taught by PhD candidate Amber Matthews, are coordinating the Emancipation Day event.
Ana Strbac, an MLIS student and member of the organizing team, said her class is working to put their education in anti-oppressive and anti-racist practices into action.
“I hope the event shines a huge spotlight on the history of slavery in Canada and brings more awareness and education,” she said.
Originally from the Northwest Territories where she was a social worker, Strbac said planning the Emancipation Day event helped introduce her to new faculty members at Western and their areas of expertise. She worked with a team of classmates, including Sam Li, Kuan Lu, Lily Sue, Qianzheng Wang and Hu Xu.
Allahar, a professor emeritus who won multiple teaching awards, said he plans to give a “short but provocative talk” to reflect on Emancipation Day and the current realities for Black and Indigenous people in Canada.
Pay disparity is one example.
“Our migrant workers from Mexico and Jamaica don’t have to be paid minimum wage. Yet, without them, it would be $5 or $6 for a pound of tomatoes. I am not certain we in Canada really want to get rid of that kind of inequality, because we are not prepared to pay top dollar,” Allahar said.
He pointed to education and awareness as necessities to inspire real change.
“I’m not saying this to disparage Canada, but rather for us to recognize we do have issues, we do have problems, and we do need to address them squarely, not point fingers at others and say: ‘Everyone is messed up, but we are less messed up than they are,’” Allahar said.
The Emancipation Day event is free and open to anyone in the Western community, or wider London region.
