Too Late For Africville

‘The municipal government took advantage of a human rights issue, and took away the land of the Africville residents to use it for industrial purposes. As Africville was located on the southern shore of the Bedford Basin in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the city saw that this land would be perfect for new industries and facilities. During the 1940’s and 1950’s, many of the federal, provincial, and municipal governments worked together to relocate the people who lived in communities referred to as “slums” to so-called “better housing” and to use the land for buildings and industries: “The city used the humanitarian justification as an excuse to appropriate what was then seen as an ideal area for industrial development”. The Africville residents had a lot of pride in their home ownership, because their houses were brightly painted, and they took excellent care of them, but the city took this away from them. Starting in 1964, the city forced the residents of Africville out of their houses, and only gave them $500 for their houses and land. They put them into public housing, which was a massive downgrade from the tightknit, highly spirited community that they used to live in. Later, in 1969, even though the city promised to keep the heart of Africville, the Seaview African United Baptist Church, the church was demolished, and was done so at night to avoid controversy. Today, in the place of where Africville used to be, there is the A. Murray Mackay Bridge that travels across the Halifax Harbour, but most of the land is still unused, which shows that it was unnecessary to evict the whole community. The Seaview African United Baptist Church was recently rebuilt in 2011, but doesn’t hold regular services. The government destroyed the community of Africville, and nothing sufficient enough was done by the present government to make up for what had happened.’