‘Nova Scotia’s Best Kept Secret’: African Nova Scotian Perceptions of the Police in Digby by Jessica Bundy Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Sociology) Acadia University Spring Convocation 2017 © by Jessica Bundy, 2017 This thesis by Jessica Bundy was defended successfully in an oral examination on October 28th, 2016. The examining committee for the thesis was: _____________________________________ Dr. Robert Pitter, Chair _____________________________________ Dr. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, External Reader _____________________________________ Dr. Anthony Thomson, Internal Reader _____________________________________ Dr. Claudine Bonner, Supervisor _____________________________________ Dr. Zelda Abramson, Head/Director This thesis is accepted in its present form by the Division of Research and Graduate Studies as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree Master of Arts (Sociology). ..................................................................... ii I, Jessica Bundy, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. I, however, retain the copyright in my thesis. _________________________________ Author _________________________________ Supervisor _________________________________ Date iii Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................... VIII ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. IX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 THESIS OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 7 AFRICAN NOVA SCOTIANS AND THE STATE ................................................................................... 7 NOVA SCOTIAN CONTEXT ........................................................................................................... 14 NATIONAL CONTEXT ................................................................................................................... 27 AMERICAN CONTEXT ................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 3: THEORY ............................................................................................................... 47 Construct of ‘Race’ ................................................................................................................. 47 FOUCAULT AND POWER ............................................................................................................... 49 INTERSECTIONALITY .................................................................................................................... 53 Black Criminality .................................................................................................................... 55 Black Masculinity ................................................................................................................... 57 Black Femininity ..................................................................................................................... 58 Socioeconomic Status ............................................................................................................. 59 Rurality ................................................................................................................................... 60 CRITICAL RACE THEORY ............................................................................................................. 61 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 66 CRITICAL RACE METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 66 METHODS .................................................................................................................................... 70 iv PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS ..................................................................................................... 71 Ethics ...................................................................................................................................... 74 ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................... 74 Data Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 77 CHAPTER 5: RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 81 TRUMP ENVIORNMENT ................................................................................................................ 81 Digby Community ................................................................................................................... 83 Systemic Racism ..................................................................................................................... 86 Digby African Nova Scotian Community ................................................................................ 89 Community Support ........................................................................................................................... 90 Black versus White Digby ....................................................................................................... 92 DAILY BLACKNESS ...................................................................................................................... 95 Axes of Intersectionality ......................................................................................................... 95 (a) Black Criminality ..................................................................................................................... 96 (b) Black Masculinity .................................................................................................................... 98 (c) Black Femininity .................................................................................................................... 102 (d) Socioeconomic Status ............................................................................................................ 103 ‘Race Card’ .......................................................................................................................... 104 COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES ....................................................................................................... 106 Personal Experiences ........................................................................................................... 107 (a) Vicarious Experiences ........................................................................................................... 109 Relationship with the Police ................................................................................................. 111 (Lack of) Protection .............................................................................................................. 115 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ................................................................ 119 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 120 Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 132 Recommendations for Future Research ................................................................................ 133 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 134 v Improvements........................................................................................................................ 135 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................. 139 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 140 vi List of Tables Table 1: Participant Demographics…………………………………………………….66 vii List of Figures Figure 1: The town of Digby, Nova Scotia in relation to Conway, Jordantown, and Acaciaville………………………………......…………………………………….…Page 3 viii Abstract The purpose of this research is to uncover the perceptions members of the African Nova Scotian community have of the police in Digby, Nova Scotia. This study aimed to provide a venue for the African Nova Scotian community to have their voices heard, to tell their stories, describe their experiences, and to have other communities and organizations hear these narratives. There has been a history of conflict between the police and the African Nova Scotian community that has been well documented. While