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Canada and the Transnational Civil Rights Movement

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Canada and the Transnational Civil Rights Movement CANADA AND THE TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT A MARCH FROM SELMA TO CANADA: CANADA AND THE TRANSNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT BY ROSANNE P. WATERS, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Rosanne Waters, May 2015 McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2015) Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: A March from Selma to Canada: Canada and the Transnational Civil Rights Movement AUTHOR: Rosanne Waters, B.A. (Hon.) (Brock University), M.A. (University of Toronto) SUPERVISOR: Professor Ruth A. Frager NUMBER OF PAGES: ix; 330 ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines transnational connectivities centred on anti-discrimination and human rights activism, discourse, and policy spanning the Canada-United States border during the 1950s and 1960s. It focuses specifically on Canadian interactions with the African American civil rights movement, with particular attention to the ways Canadian activists contributed to the American movement, as well as the significance of the American movement to Canadian rights activism and policy. This dissertation contributes to historical understanding of the transnational nature of the American civil rights movement by illustrating how Canadian activists and organizations impacted directly on the American movement through financial and moral support. It also argues the American movement had important implications for Canadian rights activism and policy. Canadian anti-discrimination activists followed American civil rights campaigns, adapting ideas and techniques when relevant to their own efforts. Most significantly, they leveraged examples from south of the border and elsewhere around the world when pressing for change in local contexts. Through their local and global efforts, Canadian activists achieved notable successes in pushing Canadian public policy towards stronger human rights protections. While generating pressure for change, the international framework acted simultaneously as a restraining force on more fundamental transformations in conceptualizations of human rights in Canada. Many Canadians observed the civil rights movement from a sanctimonious perspective, denying that international examples carried applicability for their own country. Whether acting as a pressure for strengthened human rights protections, or a restraining force against the advent of more fundamental measures, this dissertation argues that Canadian human rights activism, discourse, and policy in the 1950s and 1960s can only be fully understood when intersections between local, national, and global contexts are considered. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, McMaster University’s Department of History, the Armstrong Award, and the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History for their generous funding of this project. My dissertation committee has offered invaluable guidance and much-needed support throughout my Ph.D. studies. Karen Balcom and Nancy Bouchier always encouraged me and helped me think through ideas. Their advice and feedback has made me a better writer and scholar. Ruth Frager is everything one could hope for in a supervisor. Always available to chat, she has challenged me intellectually while helping me work through every aspect of this project. Throughout this process, she has also been unfailingly kind, thoughtful, and sincere. It has been such a privilege to work with her. Getting to know Karen, Nancy, and Ruth has been a true highlight of this process. McMaster’s Department of History has been a wonderful place to pursue graduate studies. Professors Juanita De Barros and H.V. Nelles offered valuable suggestions during course work, around the department, and at Wilson Institute events. Wendy Benedetti and Debbie Lobban provided friendly support and encouragement. The graduate student office was a great place to unwind with colleagues. I am especially appreciative of Jennifer Tunnicliffe’s friendship. Academics at other universities have also influenced my development as a scholar. At Brock University, Tami Friedman, Murray Wickett, and Mark Spencer encouraged my emerging interest in history. Thank you to Karen Flynn, James W. St. G. Walker, and Stephanie Bangarth for their suggestions and assistance. I am indebted to Sean Mills, who asked extremely thoughtful questions and provided detailed comments, suggestions, and advice as the external examiner at my defence. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the individuals who agreed to be interviewed for this project. Philip Alexander, Howard McCurdy, Donald Oliver, Clayton Ruby, Paul Saltzman, and Freida Steele were all extraordinarily generous with their time, and I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet them and to hear their stories first hand. Spending time with each of them was truly inspiring on a personal level, and is something that I will always remember and be grateful for. Throughout the ups and downs of graduate school, my various teammates, the ‘interns,’ and old friends have kept me smiling. My in-laws, Cathy, Graham, Colin, and Noelle instantly made me feel at home. My sister Eugenie has always looked out for me, and I am thankful for her and Alex’s unwavering love. There has been no better break from writing than playing with my nephews Gabriel and Eric. My parents Deborah and Robert have always helped me strive to be the best version of myself. I am so fortunate to have them. I cannot put into words how grateful I am to my husband Brandon. It is no exaggeration to say that I could not have finished this without him by my side, and I am so lucky to know that he will be there for whatever comes next. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................ vi CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TIMELINE .................................................. viii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: African Canadian Anti-Discrimination Activism, Transnationalism, and the American Civil Rights Movement ....................... 32 CHAPTER 2: Student Activists, the Friends of SNCC, and Transnational Human Rights Organizing ................................................ 103 CHAPTER 3: The Press, Public Opinion, and Human Rights in Domestic and Global Contexts .......................................... 173 CHAPTER 4: Politics, Public Policy, and Transnational Human Rights Organizing in Canada ............................................................. 236 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 299 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 307 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS African Canadian Liberation Movement (ACLM) African United Baptist Association (AUBA) Black Panther Party (BPP) Black United Front (BUF) Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Canadian Commonwealth Federation (CCF) Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) Canadian League for the Advancement of Colored People (CLACP) Canadian Negro Women’s Association (CNWA) Colored Political and Protective Association (CPPA) Combined Universities Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CUCND) Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Economic Research and Action Project (ERAP) Halifax Human Rights Advisory Committee (HHRAC) Interdepartmental Committee on Human Rights (ICHR) Jewish Labour Committee (JLC) Joint Public Relations Committee (JPRC) Juliette Derricotte Service Group (JDSG) Martin Luther King Fund (MLK Fund) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) vi Member of Parliament (MP) Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) New Democratic Party (NDP) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) National Black Coalition (NBC) Negro Citizenship Association (NCA) New Brunswick Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NBAACP) Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NSAACP) Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) Sir George Williams University (SGWU) South Essex Citizen’s Advancement Association (SECAA) Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Student Union for Peace Action (SUPA) Union Générale des Étudiant du Québec (UGEQ) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) United Nations (UN) Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) vii CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TIMELINE *Note: This is a limited timeline, focused on African American civil rights movement events that received notable attention in the Canadian media and general public in the period under consideration. These events were therefore particularly relevant to Canadian-American links and influences. It is intended as a quick reference for civil rights movement events that are discussed in this dissertation, not as a comprehensive timeline of key civil rights movement events. 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Ruling 1955 Emmett Till Lynching Montgomery Bus Boycott 1957 Little Rock School Integration Crisis 1958 Jimmy Wilson Case 1960
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