Confederate States of America and Canada

What if the South had won the American civil war? What if Abraham Lincoln hadn't been assassinated but exiled to live the rest of his days in Canada? What if slavery hadn't been abolished?

These are some of the hypothetical scenarios presented in the thought-provoking faux documentary, The Confederate States of America, produced by Spike Lee and written/directed by Kevin Willmott. This afternoon, Maryn and I saw the screening which was part of a important conference at Yale University entitled, Slavery & Public History: An International Symposium. While the film was a hysterical satire, it confronts race issues that still haunts not only the United States but the entire world.

In the film, the only non-CSA nation in the Western Hemisphere is Canada, which becomes a home for refugee abolitionists and blacks; the wall constructed to separate the two countries is referred to as the "Cotton Curtain".

While it was nice to see Canada portrayed as a utopian nation, Maryn and I were both troubled by how our country seems to be portrayed in these types of films. In Michael Moore's controversial Bowling for Columbine, Moore tries to contrast the security-minded attitude of US residents with neighbourhoods in Canada near the US border where people leave their doors unlocked and seem unconcerned with crime and security.

In Willmott's film, Canada is also viewed as the voice of reason in a world gone backwards. Now it is true that Canada does not share the same racial baggage as the United States:

When the eleven southern states seceded to form the real CSA, the Vice President, Alexander Stephens declared that the "cornerstone" of the new government "rest[ed] upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery - subordination to the superior race - is his natural and normal condition."

I love Canada, however, the country is not perfect - no country is - and it is certainly not immune to racism. One example that immediately comes to mind is the community of Africville in Nova Scotia.

After years of neglect and racism from the city of Halifax, the city's oldest and largest black community had become one of the worst slums in Canada. However, rather than use their money to help rebuild Africville, the government decided the best move would be to bulldoze the area and relocate all its residents - against their wishes - resulting in the end of a once vibrant community. To learn more, please visit Africville: Expropriating Nova Scotia's blacks, where you can see old CBC television and audio clips about the incident.

In school we were taught that Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad led to freedom in Canada, however, stories like that of Africville are not as widely known around the country. Many other Canadian communities have also faced prejudice: The internment of Japanese Canadians in World War II, the rampant anti-semitism in Quebec during the 1930s, the Chinese "Head Tax and Exclusion Act" in British Columbia, and the discrimination of First Nations people.

So when people outside the country applaud Canada for its progressive ideals, it is tempting to pat ourselves on the back but it is important to remember that there is always room for improvement. By educating our youth and citizens about the complex and sometimes uncomfortable history, without "Heritage Canada" sugar-coating it, by having public discussions and acknowledging that these societal problems have existed and still do exist in various forms, can we begin to come close to that "ideal" Canada we are so proud of.