Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark
To sum up, there's no question that the whole Africville situation was appalling on many levels, and I'm sure a good portion of this was racially motivated, but I also don't think it's fair to cast off what happened in other neighborhoods as being inconsequential, since the actions and results to the residents were similar in both cases.
In my opinion, for the sake of fairness, I think that we should try to look at all situations with the same 20-20 hindsight and throw away the rose-coloured glasses. Our goal should be historical accuracy considered from many perspectives, IMHO.
Hopefully we never repeat the mistakes of the past. 
Please note that my intention is not to spark a debate on Africville but to hopefully try to add some context to this thread. |
I think you make some good points and I recommend that anyone preparing to comment further on this first go back and read the Stevenson report from 1957 where he discusses Africville. In contrast to the rewriting of history that has happened in recent years regarding that issue, it is clear from reading his report that the intentions were good and the facts he portrays in the report the best that were known at the time in regard to ownership of land in the area, etc. It came down to making people realize that the city had to do something with the area, and his recommendations were the best that he could come up with given the constraints and plans known at the time.