‘An Absented Presence’: Canada’s Hidden History of Blackface Minstrelsy
The unearthing of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appearances in blackface and brownface has been jarring for many Canadians. Although some want to view these incidents as multiple missteps in judgement, it is important we interpret them in a broader Canadian cultural context. Trudeau’s actions echo a vicious legacy of minstrelsy in which Canadians of all walks and origins indulged. Much of the information here is thanks to Maxime Tam and Margaret Lehman, with whom I spent many hours exploring the archive when I first learned of this legacy.
Being Black in Canada is a trip. Being a Black academic is also somehow worse, because you are obliged to cite sources when you say things like ‘Being Black in Canada is a trip”. Since lived experiences are so often dismissed as “anecdotal evidence”, I thought an archival exploration would suffice for a necessary unpacking of this history.
This is not everything. This is barely anything. This is one tiny corner of Southwestern Ontario which happened to leave behind some self-incriminating evidence. This doesn’t address the stories of those who suffered, or Canada’s fascination with the Gold Dust Twins, or the generation that craved the mammy caricature. And this is certainly not a defense for Trudeau’s nauseating and inexcusable acts, of which he is a repeat offender. This is a starting point for people like me, who grew up believing anti-Black racism was an “elsewhere” problem.
Guelph, Ontario is a city where one might believe Blackness is absent. The city’s sanitized narrative and historical revisionism make it difficult to believe Black people have resided in the area since the founding of the Queen’s Bush Settlement in the early nineteenth century. Guelph boasts the University of Guelph, a gorgeous Arboretum, and a long and hideous relationship with minstrelsy.
The Ontario Agricultural College (later consolidated as part of the University of Guelph) also hosted a series of minstrel shows. The March 1912 Minstrel Show is described in the corresponding issue of The OAC Review as taking the audience back to the “Dear Old South.” It included “Southern jokes and songs […] rendered in first class style” and a sketch entitled “Befo’ de War”. The December 1943 OAC Review describes a minstrel show in which the chorus sang “Old Black Joe” and “Darktown Strutters Ball.” They also sang “Dixie,” the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy and the most infamous ballad born of blackface minstrelsy.
Yes, that caption is correct. The above photo was taken in 1996. No amount of diversity policies and Black History Month assemblies can erase that this occurred in a high school. What are the implications of Blackface minstrelsy being aided and abetted in an educational setting? How do we begin to atone? Why is acknowledging this history like pulling teeth?
I’d like to close with something I think everyone needs to know. In Anthems and Minstrel Shows: The Life and Times of Calixa Lavallée, 1842–1891, Brian Christopher Thompson introduces us to Calixa Lavallée, a French Canadian musician who would gain international recognition. Lavallée is infamously known for leading a travelling blackface minstrel troupe, which performed across Canada and the United States. He is also the composer of our national anthem.
This is paradox of Blackness in Canada. It is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere, and we are both accosted by its presence and startled by its absence. We believe Blackness, and subsequently anti-Black racism, is always elsewhere. In actual fact, racism is as Canadian as ‘O Canada’.