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The accidental activist

In the 1970s, in a dress shop on Barrington Street, a straight salesperson provides professional and helpful service to Halifax’s emerging drag queen population. Is she a gay crusader, or just a decent person? Or are they the same thing?
- by Lezlie Lowe
- Jul 22, 2010
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Halifax's hidden racism

Haligonians are shocked---shocked!---at charges of racism.

by Lezlie Lowe

It's almost impossible to see signs of racism in Halifax.

Not because they aren't there---because they're hidden in plain sight all around us.

Sure, we can convince ourselves everything's just tickety-boo. We're a cosmopolitan city with a healthy respect for Charter rights, aren't we? Lynch mobs, last I checked, don't roam the streets. So on the surface, it would seem, all is well.

Underneath? Not so much. And locked-up black hair products at a Dartmouth Shoppers Drug Mart might---key word: might---show that.

Maybe you heard the story last week? CBC reported the drugstore kept many of its black hair products under lock and key. A nearby salon owner spelled out in the report her take on what that implies: Black customers steal more than white customers.

The Shoppers franchise directed anyone seeking comment to its head office. CBC.ca readers, however, didn't hold back.

There were 350 comments posted by the end of the weekend alone---the overwhelming majority decrying the mere insinuation that there was racism involved in the store's policy. Racism? Well I never!

People were quick to draw parallels between the locking up of black hair-extension clips to car insurance rates for men. Meaning? Insurance rates are higher because men are behind more insurance pay-outs, just like black Dartmouthians must be behind more shoplifting. Other commenters made use of the logic theorem known as reductio ad absurdum---saying their local drugstores must be sexist, because they lock up men's razor blades. In other words, if you agree that argument is absurd, it follows that the people alleging racism for locked-up do-rags are loonies, too.

What's interesting here? Not that some people didn't believe racism was the root of the store's practice. I would realistically expect some people to say the act is discriminatory and others to argue that it isn't. But what's really interesting is the public's automatic, overwhelming and in most cases vehement defence of the store. And not one of these people had yet heard the store's reasoning.

That response only shows that Halifax's ingrained racism---which may or may not have been a motivator in the store's practice---is far from being on its way outthe door.

No surprise. Africville and its destruction 40 years ago are still thick in the soup of this city. (The city's wrongs won't be erased quickly or easily; my personal dig is to say the bucking-up of long-promised government cash to rebuild the Seaview Baptist Church as a historic site would be a good gesture.)

Would the bulldozing of Africville happen today? Likely not. As a city and a province we're been cured of our most obvious discriminatory missteps: from slavery and the lopsided Loyalist land grants of the 18th century to relatively more recent practices of prejudice like segregated schools, separate seating in public spaces and white-only clubs.

But generations of discrimination don't disappear in a flash. Slavery was outlawed, segregation found itself on the losing side of our cultural norms and African-Nova Scotians began to take their rightful places in our classrooms, courtrooms and boardrooms. So where did the racism go? Into the catacombs of everyday culture.

Examples?

Consider the fiancee of a friend of mine, a 32-year-old human resources manager who is black and who has more than once been denied entry to a prominent downtown bar. Something about his clothing for a night on the town just doesn't seem to make the cut.

My friend herself? She's walked into stores and been ignored---not even greeted---while sales associates have helped the white friend she's been shopping with.

Another friend? Her black 14-year-old son was stopped and questioned by police last month on his way home from his aunt's. He matched the description of someone, the officers told him, who had been reported breaking windows in the area. That's the MO of racial profiling everywhere.

And consider the black hair products at the Tacoma Drive Shoppers Drug Mart. Consider, for that matter, the placement of black hair products in any drugstore. Just go check it out. See if there are electronic theft-detection devices on the boxes and bottles. Is it racist if there are? Perhaps no one can say for sure. And that's the problem.

A racial slur spray-painted on a building? Any idiot can recognize and label that kind of bigotry. But when there's just a shade of doubt---a dress code, busy salespeople, eager cops, maybe randomly locked-up merchandise---it leaves just enough room for that subtler racism to stick around and fester.

Have you experienced racist behaviour?

Tell Lezlie Lowe what happened at lezliel@thecoast.ca.

Comments (50) RSS

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To "Someone Somewhere": Lets say you're right and black people across North America and Europe do commit more crimes. The numbers are there yes, but only because we as white people allowed it to be. If African Americans were given complete equality, the financial gap between our 2 cultures would close and you're statement would be baseless. The fact is, white people (and all supremacists) don't like to see any other visual denomination prosper as well as them ... or even at all.

Posted by ajdube on August 19, 2010 at 3:16 PM | Report this comment

I moved here in 2002 from Ottawa but am originally from New Brunswick. I'm of French decent and gay male as well. Across the country you hear people telling stories of Maritimers are so nice and gracious and that's the Maritimes are a great place to spend time. Well, all I can say is that I think Halifax and more so NOVA SCOTIA is the exception to that rule. In all the places I've lived, I have not come across such bigotry and racism in all my life. I went to school and lived in Ottawa for 8 years and I loved every minute, it was clean, alive, multi-cultural and inviting. When I moved here, I found it disturbing how many people have this negative outlook on Ottawa and most of Upper Canada which I can honestly say is based on nothing tangible. What shocked me the most was that I fully expected to encounter some sort of anti-gay sentiment when coming here, but apparently more people were offended by my French heritage than anything else. My point here is, unless you're white, conservative and/or religious ... people in NS will find something they don't like about you!

Posted by ajdube on August 19, 2010 at 3:02 PM | Report this comment

When people realize that we are ALL the same race, the human race, then certain incidents won't be seen as a reflection on a person's ethnic origin, but rather a reflection of that person, no matter the colour of their skin. Racism belittles the racist, not the race.

Posted by Oceanchick on August 19, 2010 at 11:25 AM | Report this comment

My first night in Halifax was in September 1988. My African-American best friend and I went to the liquor dome. The bouncer checked our ID-- my best friend's Harvard ID provoked a look of surprise from the bouncer, who then proceeded to charge us $30 to enter. Being from New York, we didn't find that steep entry fee too shocking, though the bouncer seemed surprised again that we would pay it. It was only later that we noticed nobody else was asked to pay anything at all to get in. I've never been back to the dome. I'm of Irish descent like so many folks around here, but I've never forgotten how they treated my friend.

Posted by Agnes Grey on April 19, 2010 at 8:00 PM | Report this comment

This is a Reply to Southendrage,

I can understand frustration, but you really can't judge an entire race based on a few. I live in Ottawa in an area known for it's bars and clubs.. and the rowdy people come in every shade. One needs to remember that every person is an individual,and will act out in their own way regardless of their ancestry. Try getting to know these people. Say hi to the man on the phone. You don't know what his story is, so you shouldn't judge. It's like the rude waitress... she probably just had a very bad day.It's ok and normal to sometimes have negative opinions of other races as long as you don't let it affect you. Who knows... your very best friend might one day be asian or indian. People have to remember that hate doesn't ever solve problems.

Posted by Katia on March 17, 2010 at 7:00 PM | Report this comment

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