Читать книгу Benjamin Drew. The Refugee. Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada онлайн

59 страница из 90

The active participation of the African Canadians ex-slaves is also corroborated in 1852, with the arrival of the Great Western Railway and what it represented as a – takeoff moment for Canada West. In his ethnographic endeavor and his interviews, Drew was particularly impressed by the Black self-help “True Band” associations that so desired to improve schools, provide for the sick and impoverished, and thereby work against the “begging” system. This is another important aspect to take into account, since by rejecting the “begging” system, the Black citizens were showing their capability to provide for their new country and to eagerly demonstrate their attachment to the ethical values of hard-work and responsibility, which were fundamental in the Anglo-Canadian religious ethics. This is also the living proof of the Black Canadians’ truthful effort to be considered and be part of their new country, as has been explained above.

Not surprisingly, A North-Side View of Slavery: The Refugee, or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada eschews a topic that was also present in the new reality of Black Canadians when they arrived in the country: racism and prejudice. Even if the fugitive slaves were welcomed with mixed feelings of acceptance and racism, Drew’s testimonies wished to overlook this thorny issue fearing that it could stain their ultimate goal: to picture an image of the U.S. as a slavery-based and racist society versus the benevolent and desirable Canada, which should be finally chosen as the new place to be for free Black people. Thomas Hedgebeth’s testimony can be singled out as one of the scarce moments in which we can read a negative racist-driven image of Canada: “In regard to Canada, I like the country, the soil, as well as any country I ever saw. I like the laws, which leave a man as much freedom as a man can have, – still there is prejudice here. The colored people are trying to remove this by improving and educating themselves, and by industry, to show that they are a people who have minds, and that all they want is cultivating”. And the honest view of R. van Branken is also worth bringing up: “Among some people here, there is as much prejudice as in the States, but they cannot carry it out as they do in the States: the law makes the difference” (305).