The Children of Africville

The Children of Africville by Christine Welldon is a short juvenile book of 81 pages. It was fully illustrated with mostly black-and-white pictures, plus a few that were included in colour. The cover photo was colorized. I chose to read it because I am interested in the subject and how it was presented to children. The book had large type and it was better suited as storytime material than a book which children might pick up to read on their own. It explained the meaning of racism, for example, and what prejudice means, which seemed better coming from an adult, who could then continue the discussion among the children being read to.

Three people who lived in Africville when they were children shared their stories. Bernice, Irvine and Terry told us about the tight community they shared where everyone knew each other and helped their neighbours. The children had happy times in Africville where they could pick blueberries and take a dip in the Bedford Basin, yet I was saddened to read one part of Irvine’s story. Irvine loved to read, yet when he had to leave the community to go to school, his teacher wouldn’t allow him to take schoolbooks home as white students were able to. The teacher thought that the Africville students would lose the books. This would be an example for adult readers to show children how racism is put into practice. In order for Irvine to satisfy his passion for reading, he could only do so during recess. Other students may have been outside playing yet Irvine used that time to read.

Welldon wrote about the forced evictions and razing of Africville in the late sixties. People who were relocated finally had amenities such as running water and garbage collection (which they, even as tax-paying citizens, the City of Halifax did not extend to them) yet for all these improvements in their day-to-day lives, the sense of community was lost. I was glad to see that the author included the official apology given by the mayor of Halifax to the citizens of Africville in 2010.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Archives