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Racism, Anti-racism in Canada
This page points to overviews, scholarly analysis, and primary source materials that focus on the history of racism in Canada.
Compiled with the support of the History Anti-Racism Taskforce.
Please provide feedback and suggestions to Mike Chee, History Librarian.
Sections on this page
Racism, Anti-racism in Canada
Speakers for the Dead, a documentary about the lost Black settlement of Priceville, Ontario, 2000. National Film Board of Canada. 50 minutes.
1. Overviews: with suggested further readings
- "Racism" results from The Canadian EncyclopediaBrowse some 350 article headings
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography - entries for notable Black CanadiansCovers 1771 - 1930
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography - entries for Indigenous peopleCovers 1771 - 1940
2. Scholarly research: databases
- America History and LifeIdentifies articles, book reviews, and dissertations on American and Canadian history and culture from prehistoric times to the present.
Coverage: mid 1950s - present - Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North AmericaIndexes books, articles, and government documents about Indigenous peoples of North America, covering the 1500s to the present.
Coverage: 1500s - present - CBCA (Canadian Business & Current Affairs)Full text of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles relating to business, culture, current events, education, language, agriculture, history, and politics in Canada.
Coverage: 1982 - present
3. Scholarly works by theme
The sampling of subjects below links to lists of books and articles available through Omni, the Library's catalogue.
Race, Racialization and Antiracism in Canada and BeyondPublication Date: 2007
Clearing the Plains by Publication Date: 2014
"Métis": Race, Recognition, and the Struggle for Indigenous Peoplehood by Publication Date: 2014
Race, Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada by Publication Date: 1997
4. Topics and incidences relating to Canada
Missing & Murdered. CBC podcast
5. Primary sources: databases
- Abolitionist Newspapers of the 1850sSearch anti-enslavery newspapers published in Windsor (Sandwich), Chatham, and Toronto, Ontario (Canada West) by Black abolitionists.
Coverage: 1851 - 1876 - Indigenous Newspapers in North America (formerly American Indian Newspapers)A collection of papers from Indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada.
Coverage: 1828 - 2016
- The Black Press in 19th-century Canada and BeyondExplore the writings of intellectuals such as Mary Ann Shadd and Henry W. Bibb.
- Black Women's Suffrage Digital CollectionFind correspondence, speeches, event programs, oral histories, photos, and more relating to Black women’s rights, voting rights, and civic activism.
Coverage: 1850s - 1960s - Canadian Parliamentary Historical ResourcesThe Senate and House of Commons Debates, commonly known as "Hansard", contain the transcribed, edited, and corrected record of full deliberations of both Houses of Parliament.
Coverage: From Parliament 1, Session 1, 1867 until coverage on www.parl.ca begins - Canadiana
Find documents from 1st European contact to recent student activism, including items relating to Indigenous-settler relations, cookbooks, women's writings, and more.
Coverage: Pre-1970 - Curio.caVideos and sound recordings of selected documentaries produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC / Radio-Canada). Find a selection of English and French language television and radio programs, and news reports.
Coverage: 1945 - present
- Data on Racialized PopulationsThis guide consists of a curated list of datasets that include ethnicity and race variables which can be used to facilitate anti-racism research in Canada.
Via Scholars Portal: a service of the Ontario Council of University Libraries.
Coverage: 2000s - present
- Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement and Colonial EncountersThemes include Indigenous peoples, land & property, business, religion, and women's history. Find both primary sources and commentaries relating to the migration of Europeans to Africa, Australasia, and North America.
Coverage: 1650 - 1920 - Globe and Mail, Canada's Heritage from 1844 [digital archive]Search news, editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements, historical photos, stock photos, and advertisements.
Coverage: 1844 - 4 years ago
- Hamilton Black History DatabaseSources relating to Black people in and around Hamilton, Ontario
Coverage: 1600s - present
- HeinOnlineArticles on law and legal history, court judgments, tribunal decisions, statutes and regulations from Canadian, U.S. and UK jurisdictions.
Coverage: varies - Indigenous Peoples of North AmericaFacilitates the study of invasion and colonization. Find materials relating to customs, dance, music, warfare, peace treaties, removal grants, legends, and myths.
Coverage: 1600s - 2000s - Iportal: Indigenous Studies Portal
Articles, theses, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc. Focusing on Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States.
Coverage: varies - Maclean's [digital archive]Canada's national weekly current affairs magazine.
Coverage: 1905 - 2015 - Nexis UniNews, legal, and business sources from around the world, Find news, legislation, case law, statutes, company profiles, market & industry reports.
Coverage: 1970s - present - NFB.ca (National Film Board of Canada)Link to documentaries, animations, experimental films, and fiction produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
Coverage: 1930s - present
- Ontario Black Historyvia OurDigitalWorld. Find profiles of communities and individuals who lived in Ontario. Includes newspaper clippings and photographs.
Coverage: 1600s - 1950s
- Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal NarrativesFind diaries, letters, biographies, oral histories, government documents, videos, and periodicals, and more originating from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Scholarly commentary also included.
Coverage: 1960-1974 - Toronto Star [digital archive]Search for news, editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements, historical photos, stock photos, and advertisements.
Coverage: 1894 - 3 years ago
6. Recommended reading
- Black Lives Matter – Canadian reading listUpdated: 2022. This list is based on the Black Lives Canada Syllabus // #BlackLivesCDNSyllabus created in 2016 by Anthony N. Morgan and later compiled as a web-based list by Huda Hassan.
- A Guide to Online Resources for Teaching and Learning about Black History in Canada, 2017From: Unwritten Histories, a blog founded by Andrea Eidinger (editor).
- Indigenous peoples in CanadaThe list includes biographies, memoirs and fictional accounts of lived experiences during and after the end of the residential school system as well as links to the reports of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
- Sankofa: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies"a peer-reviewed journal that supports the amplification of subaltern and marginalized voices at the University of Waterloo."