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Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present
Delving behind Canada's veneer of multiculturalism and tolerance, Policing Black Lives traces the violent realities of anti-blackness from the slave ships to prisons, classrooms and beyond. Robyn Maynard provides readers with the first comprehensive account of nearly four hundred years of state-sanctioned surveillance, criminalization and punishment of Black lives in Canada.
While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state's role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labour practices, disproportionate child removal and low graduation rates.
Emerging from a critical race feminist framework that insists that all Black lives matter, Maynard's intersectional approach to anti-Black racism addresses the unique and understudied impacts of state violence as it is experienced by Black women, Black people with disabilities, as well as queer, trans, and undocumented Black communities.
A call-to-action, Policing Black Lives urges readers to work toward dismantling structures of racial domination and re-imagining a more just society.
While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state's role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labour practices, disproportionate child removal and low graduation rates.
Emerging from a critical race feminist framework that insists that all Black lives matter, Maynard's intersectional approach to anti-Black racism addresses the unique and understudied impacts of state violence as it is experienced by Black women, Black people with disabilities, as well as queer, trans, and undocumented Black communities.
A call-to-action, Policing Black Lives urges readers to work toward dismantling structures of racial domination and re-imagining a more just society.
280 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2017
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May 9, 2018
Policing Black Lives took me almost an entire month to read, which is virtually unheard of, and it’s not a very long book. It is, however, very dense, academic, and not at all happy reading. Nevertheless, it is an important book. I first heard about it, and from Robyn Maynard, on an episode of the Canadaland Commons podcast devoted to the gaps in Canada’s curriculum on the history of slavery and anti-Blackness. Since I grew up with the Canadian education system, this is definitely something that applied to me. Conveniently, Maynard has a whole book on the subject. This is that book. Well, actually, this is a review of that book, if you want to get really technical.
Perhaps the most obvious plus of Policing Black Lives is precisely the fact that it is so heavily focused on Canada. Much of the discussion of anti-Black racism and state violence against Black people centres on the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. And it’s very frustrating to see fellow Canadians look down their noses at our neighbours to the south and promulgate this idea that Canada is somehow more tolerant and less racist—at the same time, it’s hard to engage with that line of thinking because, honestly, up until now I was only vaguely aware of the ways in which our intolerance and our anti-Black racism manifests. Although Maynard references events and research from the United States where appropriate, as this book’s subtitle promises, this is about state violence in Canada, no mistake about it—and that is so powerful and useful.
In addition to an introduction and conclusion, Maynard presents 8 chapters for consideration. The first two chapters chronicle the history of anti-Blackness in the country, from slavery during Canada’s time as a British and French possession to the state-sponsored segregation of the early days of the dominion. The next chapters focus on the inequities in the justice system, with particular case studies and examples for how Black women are targeted, stigmatized, and punished. This moves into an examination of misogynoir, the intersection of misogyny and anti-Blackness, with the scope broadened from the justice system towards issues of welfare, child protection, access to employment, and public safety. Next, Maynard considers how Canada’s immigration policies, both official and unofficial, have been racist and violent towards Black people. Finally, she addresses the systemic racism towards Black children and their parents in our school system.
Basically, a more tongue-in-cheek yet accurate title for this book might be, Everything You Wanted to Know About Anti-Black Racism in Canada But Were Too Lazy to Ask.
This book is also rigorously cited. I mean rigorously, like at least one or more citations per sentence in some paragraphs. This is one of the reasons it took me so long to get through the book. Maynard approaches these subjects from a highly academic perspective. That is not a bad thing, mind you, nor would I accuse this book of being dry or inaccessible. However, it does mean that I tend to slow down while I read, to make sure I’m following all of the lines of reasoning and understanding it completely. This is not the kind of non-fiction book you would like to take on the beach with you; it might be the kind of non-fiction book you could read on your commute for a few weeks, though.
By grounding her arguments and education in this academic territory, Maynard avoids producing a polemic and instead delivers a truly scathing critique of our society. Like, I would definitely say I was sympathetic to these notions going into the book. I don’t really see how anyone who claims to be swayed by rational, dispassionate appeals to logos could read this and not agree that there is rampant, systemic anti-Blackness. One might disagree on what we should do about it, but Maynard leaves the reader with little choice but to conclude that there are numerous and various problems within our society, from government to policing to the education system.
Maynard also demonstrates a dedication to intersectionality. She never fails to highlight the ways in which gender, age, sexuality, disability, etc., also influence and perhaps alter the extent to which Black people experience oppression and violence. Similarly, she frequently mentions the parallels between anti-Blackness and the colonial oppression of Indigenous peoples. In this way, Maynard effectively establishes the root of the problem, which is not necessarily some nefarious belief of inferiority of Black people, but the fact that the very power of the Canadian state is rooted in the oppression of Black and Indigenous bodies for the purposes of exploitation and production of capital on behalf of white people and settlers.
Policing Black Lives also took a while to read just because it’s very dark, in a very clinical way. Of course, it’s part of my white privilege that I get to be a tourist here, learning in an academic way what Black people have to experience and endure throughout their lives. But I mention it because I want to be upfront about what you will experience reading this book.
Pair this selection with the exquisite So You Want to Talk About Race from Ijeoma Oluo; or, if you want a parallel education in Indigenous issues, Indigenous Writes , by Chelsea Vowel.
Perhaps the most obvious plus of Policing Black Lives is precisely the fact that it is so heavily focused on Canada. Much of the discussion of anti-Black racism and state violence against Black people centres on the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. And it’s very frustrating to see fellow Canadians look down their noses at our neighbours to the south and promulgate this idea that Canada is somehow more tolerant and less racist—at the same time, it’s hard to engage with that line of thinking because, honestly, up until now I was only vaguely aware of the ways in which our intolerance and our anti-Black racism manifests. Although Maynard references events and research from the United States where appropriate, as this book’s subtitle promises, this is about state violence in Canada, no mistake about it—and that is so powerful and useful.
In addition to an introduction and conclusion, Maynard presents 8 chapters for consideration. The first two chapters chronicle the history of anti-Blackness in the country, from slavery during Canada’s time as a British and French possession to the state-sponsored segregation of the early days of the dominion. The next chapters focus on the inequities in the justice system, with particular case studies and examples for how Black women are targeted, stigmatized, and punished. This moves into an examination of misogynoir, the intersection of misogyny and anti-Blackness, with the scope broadened from the justice system towards issues of welfare, child protection, access to employment, and public safety. Next, Maynard considers how Canada’s immigration policies, both official and unofficial, have been racist and violent towards Black people. Finally, she addresses the systemic racism towards Black children and their parents in our school system.
Basically, a more tongue-in-cheek yet accurate title for this book might be, Everything You Wanted to Know About Anti-Black Racism in Canada But Were Too Lazy to Ask.
This book is also rigorously cited. I mean rigorously, like at least one or more citations per sentence in some paragraphs. This is one of the reasons it took me so long to get through the book. Maynard approaches these subjects from a highly academic perspective. That is not a bad thing, mind you, nor would I accuse this book of being dry or inaccessible. However, it does mean that I tend to slow down while I read, to make sure I’m following all of the lines of reasoning and understanding it completely. This is not the kind of non-fiction book you would like to take on the beach with you; it might be the kind of non-fiction book you could read on your commute for a few weeks, though.
By grounding her arguments and education in this academic territory, Maynard avoids producing a polemic and instead delivers a truly scathing critique of our society. Like, I would definitely say I was sympathetic to these notions going into the book. I don’t really see how anyone who claims to be swayed by rational, dispassionate appeals to logos could read this and not agree that there is rampant, systemic anti-Blackness. One might disagree on what we should do about it, but Maynard leaves the reader with little choice but to conclude that there are numerous and various problems within our society, from government to policing to the education system.
Maynard also demonstrates a dedication to intersectionality. She never fails to highlight the ways in which gender, age, sexuality, disability, etc., also influence and perhaps alter the extent to which Black people experience oppression and violence. Similarly, she frequently mentions the parallels between anti-Blackness and the colonial oppression of Indigenous peoples. In this way, Maynard effectively establishes the root of the problem, which is not necessarily some nefarious belief of inferiority of Black people, but the fact that the very power of the Canadian state is rooted in the oppression of Black and Indigenous bodies for the purposes of exploitation and production of capital on behalf of white people and settlers.
Policing Black Lives also took a while to read just because it’s very dark, in a very clinical way. Of course, it’s part of my white privilege that I get to be a tourist here, learning in an academic way what Black people have to experience and endure throughout their lives. But I mention it because I want to be upfront about what you will experience reading this book.
Pair this selection with the exquisite So You Want to Talk About Race from Ijeoma Oluo; or, if you want a parallel education in Indigenous issues, Indigenous Writes , by Chelsea Vowel.
January 7, 2021
A dense, thorough history of state-sanctioned anti-Black racism in Canada, covering slavery, segregation, policing, education, poverty, immigration, education, and the child welfare system over the course of hundreds of years.
Maynard pays particular attention to intersectional identities, using examples and detailing how anti-Black racism interacts with sexism, ableism, homophobia, and more. She also frequently notes the links between anti-Black racism and colonialism.
I can't imagine the kind of emotional labour it took Maynard to research and write this book (on top of the regular kind of labour, obviously). It is an infuriating and essential read, particularly for white settler Canadians like me.
I learned a ton from reading this book, but I think my biggest overarching takeaway is that many Canadian institutions and their laws/policies that purport to address certain often seemingly unrelated or "race neutral" problems are in reality functioning as ways to uphold white supremacy and control and criminalize Black people (among other marginalized folks). This includes drug laws, immigration policies, discipline in schools, social workers' child apprehension practices, and lots more.
Maynard pays particular attention to intersectional identities, using examples and detailing how anti-Black racism interacts with sexism, ableism, homophobia, and more. She also frequently notes the links between anti-Black racism and colonialism.
I can't imagine the kind of emotional labour it took Maynard to research and write this book (on top of the regular kind of labour, obviously). It is an infuriating and essential read, particularly for white settler Canadians like me.
I learned a ton from reading this book, but I think my biggest overarching takeaway is that many Canadian institutions and their laws/policies that purport to address certain often seemingly unrelated or "race neutral" problems are in reality functioning as ways to uphold white supremacy and control and criminalize Black people (among other marginalized folks). This includes drug laws, immigration policies, discipline in schools, social workers' child apprehension practices, and lots more.
September 1, 2020
This book should be required reading for Canadians. I was quite angry as I read it. Why was I angry? There was so much in here that I did not know. I was not aware that we had slavery in Canada for 200 years, or that the Canadian government actively discouraged Blacks from immigrating by telling them they couldn't survive in this climate. This book is full of gems and you will learn so much by reading it. I urge you to read it, because the facts in here will blow your mind and make you angry at your public school education.
My one quibble- this is a very academic book, and that took away from my enjoyment. But I would have enjoyed this book as a reference in university.
My one quibble- this is a very academic book, and that took away from my enjoyment. But I would have enjoyed this book as a reference in university.
May 13, 2021
Robyn Maynard researched extensively and includes notes, numerous references and an index at the back of her book, POLICING BLACK LIVES:State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present.
I read this book slowly as it contains so much information that was unknown to me.
While there are numerous important quotes in this book, I have chosen to share the following ones.
"The high rate of poverty in Black communities stems largely from structural racism, and a full two-thirds of Black children in Canada live in poverty. Discriminatory treatment within child welfare agencies is compounded and exacerbated by inequitable access to safe housing, employment, nutrition and childcare, all of which affect the ability to provide a nurturing home environment... Material conditions, compounded with racial discrimination within child welfare, are what actually lead to the removal of so many Black children."
Pages 197,198
"The Nova Scotia Association of Black Social Workers has created programs to help Black foster children in white homes learn about their culture and background."
Page 206,207
"Trauma, poor education outcomes and poor life outcomes are experienced by youth of all backgrounds in state care...and it is clear that child welfare requires significant institutional changes toward the actual protection of all poor families and children needing support. However, child welfare agencies have, since their inception, further entrenched white supremacy by destroying, on a large scale, the familial and communal networks of Black and Indigenous people. They have helped to establish a system of widespread surveillance, punishment
and criminalization of Black families more broadly. Because of this, nothing short of a radical transformation of the institution - grounded in principles of economic and racial justice - is likely to reverse the trend of family dislocation and provide redress for the countless Black youth whose futures have been constricted, or even destroyed, by the child welfare system."
Page 207
Robyn Maynard is a black feminist writer, grassroots community organizer and intellectual based in Montreal. Her work has appeared in the Star, the Montreal Gazette, World Policy Journal and Canadian Women Studies Journal.
"POLICING BLACK LIVES has detailed many different aspects of how the state directly and indirectly inflicts spiritual, economic, psychological and physical harm onto Black communities: the able-bodied, the migrant, the young, the disabled, the mentally ill, the cis and transgender, the law-abiding and the lawbreaking."
To quote Angela Y. Davis, "This book should be read not only by those who have a specific interest in Canadian histories and social justice movements but by anyone interested in the abolitionist and revolutionary potential of the Black Lives Matter movement more broadly."
Robyn Maynard's closing statement is
"...the attainment of investing in economic, racial and gender justice is a matter of priority. It is a matter…of prioritizing life over death, of investing in education, health and safety over criminalization and cages...The fact that radical changes may be necessary to achieve racial and economic justice should not deter us from believing that we can, and should, work toward a society that deprioritizes, disinvests and dismantles institutions that mandate the violent subordination of our most vulnerable."
Do you accept her challenge?
4.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
I read this book slowly as it contains so much information that was unknown to me.
While there are numerous important quotes in this book, I have chosen to share the following ones.
"The high rate of poverty in Black communities stems largely from structural racism, and a full two-thirds of Black children in Canada live in poverty. Discriminatory treatment within child welfare agencies is compounded and exacerbated by inequitable access to safe housing, employment, nutrition and childcare, all of which affect the ability to provide a nurturing home environment... Material conditions, compounded with racial discrimination within child welfare, are what actually lead to the removal of so many Black children."
Pages 197,198
"The Nova Scotia Association of Black Social Workers has created programs to help Black foster children in white homes learn about their culture and background."
Page 206,207
"Trauma, poor education outcomes and poor life outcomes are experienced by youth of all backgrounds in state care...and it is clear that child welfare requires significant institutional changes toward the actual protection of all poor families and children needing support. However, child welfare agencies have, since their inception, further entrenched white supremacy by destroying, on a large scale, the familial and communal networks of Black and Indigenous people. They have helped to establish a system of widespread surveillance, punishment
and criminalization of Black families more broadly. Because of this, nothing short of a radical transformation of the institution - grounded in principles of economic and racial justice - is likely to reverse the trend of family dislocation and provide redress for the countless Black youth whose futures have been constricted, or even destroyed, by the child welfare system."
Page 207
Robyn Maynard is a black feminist writer, grassroots community organizer and intellectual based in Montreal. Her work has appeared in the Star, the Montreal Gazette, World Policy Journal and Canadian Women Studies Journal.
"POLICING BLACK LIVES has detailed many different aspects of how the state directly and indirectly inflicts spiritual, economic, psychological and physical harm onto Black communities: the able-bodied, the migrant, the young, the disabled, the mentally ill, the cis and transgender, the law-abiding and the lawbreaking."
To quote Angela Y. Davis, "This book should be read not only by those who have a specific interest in Canadian histories and social justice movements but by anyone interested in the abolitionist and revolutionary potential of the Black Lives Matter movement more broadly."
Robyn Maynard's closing statement is
"...the attainment of investing in economic, racial and gender justice is a matter of priority. It is a matter…of prioritizing life over death, of investing in education, health and safety over criminalization and cages...The fact that radical changes may be necessary to achieve racial and economic justice should not deter us from believing that we can, and should, work toward a society that deprioritizes, disinvests and dismantles institutions that mandate the violent subordination of our most vulnerable."
Do you accept her challenge?
4.5 stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️💫
December 16, 2020
I don’t even know where to start with this book. It’s heartbreaking and disgusting to think that the country I live in could be so racist. I also feel terribly uneducated, I had no idea how badly Black people were treated by Canada. But it is my responsibility as a Canadian to know and to educate myself about my country and to fight against such terrible injustices being inflicted. After reading this book, I vow to do better and fight racial injustice in my country in every way that I can. It is incredibly well written and very easy to understand despite the complicated and very heavy subject matter. I think this is an absolutely NECESSARY read for every single Canadian, it should be mandatory reading in schools. If you think Canada is not a racist country and if you think that with what’s happening in the States right now that we are above them because we are not a racist country, think again and look into it. Racism is very present in Canada and always has been.
February 13, 2018
I have been reading a fair bit lately about race and antiracist theory, but most of what I’ve been reading has been written in an American context, though of course much is broadly applicable to the situation in Canada, too. Much of the Canadian material I have been able to access has focused on indigenous issues. So I was particularly happy to learn of the publication of Robyn Maynard’s Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present.
Maynard is a Black feminist writer and grassroots community organiser who has been on the forefront of resistance to police violence for over a decade.
“Working with racialized youth in state care and in street-based economies, as well as with adult street-based sex workers, I have been constantly and painfully aware of the gross racial and economic injustices at the fault lines of Canadian society. Though I have not worked exclusively with Black communities, I’ve regularly witnessed enormous and disproportionate levels of what can only be called state-sanctioned violence and concerted neglect of Black people.”
Maynard writes that she began writing Policing Black Lives as a response to her experiences, and to the realisation that little literature on this issue in a Canadian context existed.
“In combing through the world of research for something that would describe the realities that I was seeing, I realized that there was still far too little literature addressing, in one place, the specificities of how criminal and immigration laws, inequitable access to work and housing and other state policies and institutions interact to shape the conditions of Black life in this country. It has become increasingly clear that none of these incidents are isolated; they are part of a larger pattern of the devaluation of Black life across Canada.
I felt compelled to write this book because anti-Blackness, particularly anti-Blackness at the hands of the state, is widely ignored by most Canadians.”
Maynard begins by interrogating the myth of Canada as a place of racial tolerance and multi-culturalism. She argues that anti-Black racism and state violence are endemic, but unregarded, in Canada, to the point that many white Canadians are unaware of the extent to while the various institutions of the state regulate, dehumanise and injure Black Canadians, and that, like institutional racism in the United States, has its roots in the transatlantic slave trade.
As the book’s full title suggests, Maynard starts her narrative of Black experience of systemic state oppression and violence with the often ignored history of slavery in the British and French colonies that would come to be identified as Canada. While not all Black people living in the colonies prior to the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire were enslaved, many were. The ships engaged in the transatlantic slave trade made stops at ports such as Halifax. During the American Revolution, Black Americans who fought for the English were given freedom and promised land in Nova Scotia - at the same time that white American Loyalists migrated north with their household slaves, who remained property.
One consequence of the existence of slavery and the ideologies that supported it in early Canadian culture is that free Black Canadians were devalued as citizens, denied many of the rights and privileges accorded to other colonial settlers, and subjected to race-based discrimination and sometimes violence. Racism was endemic. The freedom runners who followed the Underground Railway north to Canada may have escaped literal enslavement, but they did not arrive in the mythologised land of racial tolerance Canadians imagine our country to have been.
“The segregation of Black communities — which, like slavery, was a form of controlling Black movement and institutionalizing subordination — was based on the idea that Black people were both inferior and dangerous to whites. Formally and informally, segregation was one of Canada’s foremost strategies for maintaining white dominance across all aspects of society after slavery’s end. In the United States, Jim Crow referred to the de jure segregation of Black from white in the public facilities of the former Confederate states. Canada had its own iteration of practices that separated Black from white in what some historians call “Canada’s Jim Crow.” Canadians produced “their own distinct language and rationalizations” when “propping up white supremacist ideology and practices.” Segregation in the post-abolition period cut across all aspects of society. Public education, immigration, employment and housing were all subject to a veiled Jim Crow-style segregation that either formally or informally kept Black persons in social, economic and political subjugation.”
Maynard discusses the ways in which Black people have been associated with a presumption of criminality, beginning with the presentation of Black freedom runners as criminals who had escaped from their lawful owners. The presence of escaped slaves was used to justify scrutiny by both police and the general public. After abolition, vice laws were used to continue scrutiny of Blacks; assumption about the general immorality of Black people resulted in the frequent use of prostitution laws against Black women in public places, and of drug laws against Blacks, and particularly Black men. Black men were also at risk of accusations of rape committed against white women, while at the same time, it was almost impossible for a white legal system convinced of the sexual immorality of Black women to consider rape against them as a crime.
“After slavery, associations between race and crime, and particularly between Blackness and crime, took hold as an important means of legitimating the ongoing state surveillance and control over Black people’s lives. Beyond prostitution and drug laws, the creation and application of criminal laws in general were used by the Canadian government to manage deep-seated fears and anxieties about Blackness. Tracing the lineage of racism in Canada’s legal system from the 1700s to the present day, Black Canadian legal scholar Esmerelda Thornhill concludes that “the law has colluded — and continues to collude — with race in ways that accommodate and foster ongoing … anti-Black racism”. The data supports this claim. Examinations of court records between the years of 1890 to 1920 found open racism in the sentencing of Black offenders by many magistrates. From 1908 to 1960, Blacks convicted of violent offences would receive far more severe sentences. The result of these court decisions was a consistently disproportionate rate of incarceration for Black people. In 1911, Black males were incarcerated at a rate eighteen times higher than that of white males, while in 1931 they were incarcerated at a rate ten times higher than whites. Incarceration had replaced enslavement as a legal means to literally strip people of their freedom, as well as separate families and inhibit future employment opportunities. Black incarceration was thus highly effective in maintaining Black disenfranchisement and subjugation in post-abolition Canada. The association of Blackness with danger allowed for the policing of Black peoples’ lives by white settler society, law enforcement and immigration agencies — Black emancipation had not yet been actualized.”
The association of Black communities and crime has continued. Black protest is criminalised, with protestors and civil rights activists seen as thugs and hoodlums. Despite evidence that Black people are no more likely than white people to use illegal drugs, the War on Drugs focused on Black communities, with Blacks far more likely to be arrested, charged and convicted on drug offenses. Racial profiling ad carding disproportionately target Blacks, particularly Black youth.
“Though not only Black people were arrested for drug infractions, the increased police surveillance and repression of Black communities mandated by drug law enforcement had direct impacts on Black incarceration in the period immediately following Mulroney’s War on Drugs. In 1995, a large-scale investigation in Ontario documented a massive influx of Black prisoners during the period spanning 1986–1987 to 1992–1993. By the end of this period, Blacks were incarcerated at a rate five times higher than their white counterparts. Though the CSR Report found that Black and white communities engaged in crime at comparable rates in that same period, this period saw the rate of incarceration of Blacks increase by over 200 percent, compared to white persons, whose rates rose by just over 20 percent. Black women, though arrested in smaller numbers than Black men, were found to face even more disproportionate rates of incarceration than men. By the end of 1993, Black women were incarcerated at a rate of seven times that of white women. Admissions at Vanier Centre for Women increased the rate of admission of Black women by 630 percent, whereas white women’s admissions at the same prison went up by 59 percent.”
Maynard devotes several chapters to the examination of the ways in which Black women, and particularly Black trans women, are treated by the police ad other agents of the state. Presumptions of engagement in sex work are common for Black women in public spaces. Poor Black women receiving social assistance are often represented as likely to commit fraud, or other crimes, and live under heightened scrutiny in their private lives by agents of social welfare agencies. Verbal, physical and sexual abuse by state agents is common. Black Caribbean women who travel between Canada and their home countries are frequently profiled as drug couriers.
Maynard also examines other aspects of the ways in which Black Canadians are surveilled, regulated, policed and denied privacy and autonomy: the issues of migrant Blacks, including refugees, and the policing of borders and concepts of citizenship; the scrutiny and interference in Black families, pathologising of Black family life and removal of Black children from their families; and the institutionalised racism Black youth face within the educational system.
I don’t often say things like this. But in this case, I think it’s essential. Maynard’s book should be read, and seriously deliberated on, by every white person in Canada. We are far too find of congratulating ourselves for being better than the US on racism. The truth is, we aren’t. We are just further behind on having it out in the open for everyone to see.
Maynard is a Black feminist writer and grassroots community organiser who has been on the forefront of resistance to police violence for over a decade.
“Working with racialized youth in state care and in street-based economies, as well as with adult street-based sex workers, I have been constantly and painfully aware of the gross racial and economic injustices at the fault lines of Canadian society. Though I have not worked exclusively with Black communities, I’ve regularly witnessed enormous and disproportionate levels of what can only be called state-sanctioned violence and concerted neglect of Black people.”
Maynard writes that she began writing Policing Black Lives as a response to her experiences, and to the realisation that little literature on this issue in a Canadian context existed.
“In combing through the world of research for something that would describe the realities that I was seeing, I realized that there was still far too little literature addressing, in one place, the specificities of how criminal and immigration laws, inequitable access to work and housing and other state policies and institutions interact to shape the conditions of Black life in this country. It has become increasingly clear that none of these incidents are isolated; they are part of a larger pattern of the devaluation of Black life across Canada.
I felt compelled to write this book because anti-Blackness, particularly anti-Blackness at the hands of the state, is widely ignored by most Canadians.”
Maynard begins by interrogating the myth of Canada as a place of racial tolerance and multi-culturalism. She argues that anti-Black racism and state violence are endemic, but unregarded, in Canada, to the point that many white Canadians are unaware of the extent to while the various institutions of the state regulate, dehumanise and injure Black Canadians, and that, like institutional racism in the United States, has its roots in the transatlantic slave trade.
As the book’s full title suggests, Maynard starts her narrative of Black experience of systemic state oppression and violence with the often ignored history of slavery in the British and French colonies that would come to be identified as Canada. While not all Black people living in the colonies prior to the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire were enslaved, many were. The ships engaged in the transatlantic slave trade made stops at ports such as Halifax. During the American Revolution, Black Americans who fought for the English were given freedom and promised land in Nova Scotia - at the same time that white American Loyalists migrated north with their household slaves, who remained property.
One consequence of the existence of slavery and the ideologies that supported it in early Canadian culture is that free Black Canadians were devalued as citizens, denied many of the rights and privileges accorded to other colonial settlers, and subjected to race-based discrimination and sometimes violence. Racism was endemic. The freedom runners who followed the Underground Railway north to Canada may have escaped literal enslavement, but they did not arrive in the mythologised land of racial tolerance Canadians imagine our country to have been.
“The segregation of Black communities — which, like slavery, was a form of controlling Black movement and institutionalizing subordination — was based on the idea that Black people were both inferior and dangerous to whites. Formally and informally, segregation was one of Canada’s foremost strategies for maintaining white dominance across all aspects of society after slavery’s end. In the United States, Jim Crow referred to the de jure segregation of Black from white in the public facilities of the former Confederate states. Canada had its own iteration of practices that separated Black from white in what some historians call “Canada’s Jim Crow.” Canadians produced “their own distinct language and rationalizations” when “propping up white supremacist ideology and practices.” Segregation in the post-abolition period cut across all aspects of society. Public education, immigration, employment and housing were all subject to a veiled Jim Crow-style segregation that either formally or informally kept Black persons in social, economic and political subjugation.”
Maynard discusses the ways in which Black people have been associated with a presumption of criminality, beginning with the presentation of Black freedom runners as criminals who had escaped from their lawful owners. The presence of escaped slaves was used to justify scrutiny by both police and the general public. After abolition, vice laws were used to continue scrutiny of Blacks; assumption about the general immorality of Black people resulted in the frequent use of prostitution laws against Black women in public places, and of drug laws against Blacks, and particularly Black men. Black men were also at risk of accusations of rape committed against white women, while at the same time, it was almost impossible for a white legal system convinced of the sexual immorality of Black women to consider rape against them as a crime.
“After slavery, associations between race and crime, and particularly between Blackness and crime, took hold as an important means of legitimating the ongoing state surveillance and control over Black people’s lives. Beyond prostitution and drug laws, the creation and application of criminal laws in general were used by the Canadian government to manage deep-seated fears and anxieties about Blackness. Tracing the lineage of racism in Canada’s legal system from the 1700s to the present day, Black Canadian legal scholar Esmerelda Thornhill concludes that “the law has colluded — and continues to collude — with race in ways that accommodate and foster ongoing … anti-Black racism”. The data supports this claim. Examinations of court records between the years of 1890 to 1920 found open racism in the sentencing of Black offenders by many magistrates. From 1908 to 1960, Blacks convicted of violent offences would receive far more severe sentences. The result of these court decisions was a consistently disproportionate rate of incarceration for Black people. In 1911, Black males were incarcerated at a rate eighteen times higher than that of white males, while in 1931 they were incarcerated at a rate ten times higher than whites. Incarceration had replaced enslavement as a legal means to literally strip people of their freedom, as well as separate families and inhibit future employment opportunities. Black incarceration was thus highly effective in maintaining Black disenfranchisement and subjugation in post-abolition Canada. The association of Blackness with danger allowed for the policing of Black peoples’ lives by white settler society, law enforcement and immigration agencies — Black emancipation had not yet been actualized.”
The association of Black communities and crime has continued. Black protest is criminalised, with protestors and civil rights activists seen as thugs and hoodlums. Despite evidence that Black people are no more likely than white people to use illegal drugs, the War on Drugs focused on Black communities, with Blacks far more likely to be arrested, charged and convicted on drug offenses. Racial profiling ad carding disproportionately target Blacks, particularly Black youth.
“Though not only Black people were arrested for drug infractions, the increased police surveillance and repression of Black communities mandated by drug law enforcement had direct impacts on Black incarceration in the period immediately following Mulroney’s War on Drugs. In 1995, a large-scale investigation in Ontario documented a massive influx of Black prisoners during the period spanning 1986–1987 to 1992–1993. By the end of this period, Blacks were incarcerated at a rate five times higher than their white counterparts. Though the CSR Report found that Black and white communities engaged in crime at comparable rates in that same period, this period saw the rate of incarceration of Blacks increase by over 200 percent, compared to white persons, whose rates rose by just over 20 percent. Black women, though arrested in smaller numbers than Black men, were found to face even more disproportionate rates of incarceration than men. By the end of 1993, Black women were incarcerated at a rate of seven times that of white women. Admissions at Vanier Centre for Women increased the rate of admission of Black women by 630 percent, whereas white women’s admissions at the same prison went up by 59 percent.”
Maynard devotes several chapters to the examination of the ways in which Black women, and particularly Black trans women, are treated by the police ad other agents of the state. Presumptions of engagement in sex work are common for Black women in public spaces. Poor Black women receiving social assistance are often represented as likely to commit fraud, or other crimes, and live under heightened scrutiny in their private lives by agents of social welfare agencies. Verbal, physical and sexual abuse by state agents is common. Black Caribbean women who travel between Canada and their home countries are frequently profiled as drug couriers.
Maynard also examines other aspects of the ways in which Black Canadians are surveilled, regulated, policed and denied privacy and autonomy: the issues of migrant Blacks, including refugees, and the policing of borders and concepts of citizenship; the scrutiny and interference in Black families, pathologising of Black family life and removal of Black children from their families; and the institutionalised racism Black youth face within the educational system.
I don’t often say things like this. But in this case, I think it’s essential. Maynard’s book should be read, and seriously deliberated on, by every white person in Canada. We are far too find of congratulating ourselves for being better than the US on racism. The truth is, we aren’t. We are just further behind on having it out in the open for everyone to see.
January 7, 2022
this really should be in canadian school curriculum, I learned so much while reading
March 30, 2019
Some books should be read by everyone. This is is one of them.
February 15, 2021
really glad I read this. I would say I think every Canadian should read this, but honestly the language was fairly academic at times and I’m grateful I was listening to it rather than reading bc I think that made it easier for me to digest. but idk how accessible this would be for someone without an academic background or like an understanding of gender, race, and sexuality terminology. but maybe I’m being a snob who can say. so anyways I guess I should say I think every Canadian should learn the stuff inside this book.
though the title may seem to suggest this is a book about police violence, it’s actually about state violence more broadly. so this book covered a lot of ground including slavery, police violence, immigration policy, welfare policy, child apprehension, and education. and probably a few other things.
for me, the first 2-3 chapters were probably the most impactful. for one, I just never learned very much about the history of slavery in Canada, or about immigration policies regarding Black people. so it was really interesting to learn about all the ways in which m anti-Black racism isn’t new and isn’t just an American problem. it did not surprise me to learn that from the very beginning of Canada as a state the Canadian party line has been “if there are no Black people here that means there is no racism”. it’s interesting to see that initial stance being replicated in policy decisions such as Canada’s frankly appalling lack of race based data. I don’t know how much longer we are going to let ourselves get away w pretending the problem isn’t there bc we can’t see it when the reason we can’t see it is because we are deliberately obscuring and ignoring it. race based data collection has been a bit of a hot topic lately bc of covid and I really hope Canada will start collecting data properly as soon as possible.
a big part of why I wanted to read this book is because I felt it was important to get a Canadian context for anti-Black racism. because I’m Canadian and I tend to prefer to start at home when I think about addressing social problems. and the reason it’s hard to get Canadian perspectives on things isn’t just that america/American media is so culturally dominant it’s also because Canada doesn’t WANT you to know about problems here. we didn’t want Black people to immigrate here and we don’t want to collect race based data. but it’s our problem too. this book did help me to understand more clearly the early connections between American and Canada when it comes to the origins of Black Canadians, so I guess I understand why we have to talk about america all the god damned time. and once again bc we don’t have good enough data we have to EXTRAPOLATE. can you tell how mad I am about data collection right now. how can you fix something if you refuse to examine it properly!!
the other early aspect of this book that struck a chord w me was the discussion of Canadian multiculturalism. this is something that I’ve always been proud of as a Canadian, and as much as i know and have learned about Canada as a racist settler state, it’s still really hard to let go of that pride and the belief that our general public attitudes about multiculturalism and tolerance mean something good. but I guess the issue is who does it serve? why should I or anyone else be proud of a policy of multiculturalism when it doesn’t really do racialized Canadians any good. I guess I’m still an optimist about it, and I think that pride in a multicultural society is better than a society that is openly hostile to diversity, but if this attitude isn’t being used to drive changes in policy and institutions that improve the lived conditions of minorities in this country, what is the point? and if this pride is stopping us from actually making society a safe place for Black people and other racial minorities what are we proud for? our Brand is probably doing more harm than good. and I think as a white Canadian this is hard to accept, or at least it is for me. but there’s no sense patting yourself on the back when the job’s barely been started. anyways excuse me while I interrogate my whiteness on goodreads dot amazon dot com.
the later chapters of the book which explored in depth how anti-Blackness is ingrained in a variety of Canadian public institutions were also very informative. the chapter about the extreme level of surveillance that social assistance agents are granted to use on poor Black people honestly blew my mind. I think this book was really valuable in broadening my understanding of what state violence looks like and why it’s not just physical violence.
I also thought the book did a really good job of weaving in Indigenous experiences when relevant and linking colonial violence to anti-Blackness.
highly recommend this. give the audiobook a go to help make it more accessible. read it in chunks. start w the first couple chapters and sit w them, I think you will find a lot to think about.
though the title may seem to suggest this is a book about police violence, it’s actually about state violence more broadly. so this book covered a lot of ground including slavery, police violence, immigration policy, welfare policy, child apprehension, and education. and probably a few other things.
for me, the first 2-3 chapters were probably the most impactful. for one, I just never learned very much about the history of slavery in Canada, or about immigration policies regarding Black people. so it was really interesting to learn about all the ways in which m anti-Black racism isn’t new and isn’t just an American problem. it did not surprise me to learn that from the very beginning of Canada as a state the Canadian party line has been “if there are no Black people here that means there is no racism”. it’s interesting to see that initial stance being replicated in policy decisions such as Canada’s frankly appalling lack of race based data. I don’t know how much longer we are going to let ourselves get away w pretending the problem isn’t there bc we can’t see it when the reason we can’t see it is because we are deliberately obscuring and ignoring it. race based data collection has been a bit of a hot topic lately bc of covid and I really hope Canada will start collecting data properly as soon as possible.
a big part of why I wanted to read this book is because I felt it was important to get a Canadian context for anti-Black racism. because I’m Canadian and I tend to prefer to start at home when I think about addressing social problems. and the reason it’s hard to get Canadian perspectives on things isn’t just that america/American media is so culturally dominant it’s also because Canada doesn’t WANT you to know about problems here. we didn’t want Black people to immigrate here and we don’t want to collect race based data. but it’s our problem too. this book did help me to understand more clearly the early connections between American and Canada when it comes to the origins of Black Canadians, so I guess I understand why we have to talk about america all the god damned time. and once again bc we don’t have good enough data we have to EXTRAPOLATE. can you tell how mad I am about data collection right now. how can you fix something if you refuse to examine it properly!!
the other early aspect of this book that struck a chord w me was the discussion of Canadian multiculturalism. this is something that I’ve always been proud of as a Canadian, and as much as i know and have learned about Canada as a racist settler state, it’s still really hard to let go of that pride and the belief that our general public attitudes about multiculturalism and tolerance mean something good. but I guess the issue is who does it serve? why should I or anyone else be proud of a policy of multiculturalism when it doesn’t really do racialized Canadians any good. I guess I’m still an optimist about it, and I think that pride in a multicultural society is better than a society that is openly hostile to diversity, but if this attitude isn’t being used to drive changes in policy and institutions that improve the lived conditions of minorities in this country, what is the point? and if this pride is stopping us from actually making society a safe place for Black people and other racial minorities what are we proud for? our Brand is probably doing more harm than good. and I think as a white Canadian this is hard to accept, or at least it is for me. but there’s no sense patting yourself on the back when the job’s barely been started. anyways excuse me while I interrogate my whiteness on goodreads dot amazon dot com.
the later chapters of the book which explored in depth how anti-Blackness is ingrained in a variety of Canadian public institutions were also very informative. the chapter about the extreme level of surveillance that social assistance agents are granted to use on poor Black people honestly blew my mind. I think this book was really valuable in broadening my understanding of what state violence looks like and why it’s not just physical violence.
I also thought the book did a really good job of weaving in Indigenous experiences when relevant and linking colonial violence to anti-Blackness.
highly recommend this. give the audiobook a go to help make it more accessible. read it in chunks. start w the first couple chapters and sit w them, I think you will find a lot to think about.
August 23, 2020
Read this excellent, well-researched book & then scream into a pillow.
February 23, 2018
Really well researched and argued. All chapters are well constructed and contribute to drive the main point of the author. After reading, I can say I have a deeper understanding of institutional and systemic racism in Canada. The text is fairly easy to follow and should be accessible for someone who doesn't have a strong background in racial/discrimination studies; it makes for a good introduction to the field.
July 24, 2020
This is a thoroughly researched, well-structured and expansive look at how the Canadian state oppresses Black people. A bit tough to read at times because of the academic writing style and overwhelming statistics, but absolutely worth the effort. Highly recommended.
April 24, 2021
This book provides a uniquely Canadian look at anti-black racism, salvery, segration, policing, education, poverty, immigration, mass incarceration, and child welfare in this country. The writing is very academic and well researched which results in a dense but important read.
May 13, 2018
Some people might be "put off" by the "academic" tone of this book. Personally, I feel that it was the perfect approach. A more "emotional" tone could possibly lend the topic less credibility.
By not making emotional statements, and by constantly citing academic references and sources to the many examples the author gives of institutionalized racism, Ms. Maynard, over the course of the book, creates an incontrovertible argument that the racist actions of government(s) in Canada have continued from the times of Slavery to this day, only in varying and different guises.
Some people might state that her conclusion is merely an "opinion." However, when you cite this many examples (once is an anomaly, twice is a pattern, many occurrences prove a point), and back it up with concrete evidence, then what is presented is no longer is just an opinion, but an indisputable pattern of injustices, consciously or unconsciously perpetrated.
While I'm sure that there will be people who will disagree with Ms. Maynard's individual conclusions and overall conclusion, I, personally, find them to be cogent and (due to her many citations) indubitable. This is an important book, one which brings together a wealth of knowledge from many sources, and presents the information in one place, logically presented, in a thoughtful and forceful manner.
Recommended without reservation.
By not making emotional statements, and by constantly citing academic references and sources to the many examples the author gives of institutionalized racism, Ms. Maynard, over the course of the book, creates an incontrovertible argument that the racist actions of government(s) in Canada have continued from the times of Slavery to this day, only in varying and different guises.
Some people might state that her conclusion is merely an "opinion." However, when you cite this many examples (once is an anomaly, twice is a pattern, many occurrences prove a point), and back it up with concrete evidence, then what is presented is no longer is just an opinion, but an indisputable pattern of injustices, consciously or unconsciously perpetrated.
While I'm sure that there will be people who will disagree with Ms. Maynard's individual conclusions and overall conclusion, I, personally, find them to be cogent and (due to her many citations) indubitable. This is an important book, one which brings together a wealth of knowledge from many sources, and presents the information in one place, logically presented, in a thoughtful and forceful manner.
Recommended without reservation.
November 6, 2020
4.5 A comprehensive dissection of anti-Black racism across history, in Canada, and across all borders. If repetitious it's as a direct reflection of unrelenting anti-Black demonisation, surveillance, containment, and violence in all our societal structures. Policing Black Lives is intersectional, potently researched, and crystal clear.
March 19, 2024
This should be required reading for all Canadians!!! It was completely eye-opening on the systemic racism and injustices faced in Canada by Black people.
June 19, 2020
i absolutely recommend reading this book
December 19, 2020
My Rating: 4 stars
Policing Black Lives goes over extremely important topics such as police brutality, the school-to-prison pipeline, and countless other inequalities that Black Canadians face every day that many Canadians have no idea about and just think that these things are "American problems".
My Breakdown:
- Although this took me almost a month to read, which is super long by my standards, it is not because this is a long book. This book is dense with information and not a happy read whatsoever. But it is still super important. I know that before reading this book, I was unaware of a solid portion of the things that were covered in this book (and not because I'm just a teenager, these things are glossed over in the media and never mentioned in history textbooks, and god forbid that they're spoken about in educational and other settings). Canada has a huge problem and we have to help fix it.
- One huge reason why people, especially Canadians, is because Canadians mainly believe that "we aren't like the States, it's much worse there". Um, no. Yes, it's terrible in the U.S.A., however, it's almost identical here. Instead of ignoring the racism and injustices that happen in Canada and only point fingers at our neighbours to the south, why don't we do something to help fix the situation here, no? Reading this book is a good way to start and get an idea of how fucked up it is in this country.
- Some books should be read by everyone. This is one of them. Need I say more?
---
Rep: N/A
TW: police brutality, transatlantic slave trade, deportation, death, drug use, seizing of children
Policing Black Lives goes over extremely important topics such as police brutality, the school-to-prison pipeline, and countless other inequalities that Black Canadians face every day that many Canadians have no idea about and just think that these things are "American problems".
My Breakdown:
- Although this took me almost a month to read, which is super long by my standards, it is not because this is a long book. This book is dense with information and not a happy read whatsoever. But it is still super important. I know that before reading this book, I was unaware of a solid portion of the things that were covered in this book (and not because I'm just a teenager, these things are glossed over in the media and never mentioned in history textbooks, and god forbid that they're spoken about in educational and other settings). Canada has a huge problem and we have to help fix it.
- One huge reason why people, especially Canadians, is because Canadians mainly believe that "we aren't like the States, it's much worse there". Um, no. Yes, it's terrible in the U.S.A., however, it's almost identical here. Instead of ignoring the racism and injustices that happen in Canada and only point fingers at our neighbours to the south, why don't we do something to help fix the situation here, no? Reading this book is a good way to start and get an idea of how fucked up it is in this country.
- Some books should be read by everyone. This is one of them. Need I say more?
---
Rep: N/A
TW: police brutality, transatlantic slave trade, deportation, death, drug use, seizing of children
January 24, 2021
A very informative read that includes a wide variety of data pertaining to the history of and current policing of black people in Canada. I was particularly horrified by some of the details and statistics in the chapter on immigration and detainment centres, especially with how Canada handles deportation to Somalia.
That being said, as other reviewers have indicated, this is a very dense read. It reads much more like a textbook than some of the other books I have read on the subject, which were more autobiographical style. As such, I think this book might be inaccessible for those without an academic background or a real passion for non fiction/history, which is a shame because it has a wealth of important information.
That being said, as other reviewers have indicated, this is a very dense read. It reads much more like a textbook than some of the other books I have read on the subject, which were more autobiographical style. As such, I think this book might be inaccessible for those without an academic background or a real passion for non fiction/history, which is a shame because it has a wealth of important information.
February 17, 2021
This book should be required reading for everyone who lives in Canada.
The first chunk of it is basic Canadian history about slavery, which is not taught in our schools. We teach the Underground Railroad and that's about it. The book goes on to discuss current Canadian policy, and I learned a lot. It laid things out really well to explain how we as a country got to where we are.
It's meticulously researched, but not boring to read. While it's primarily looking at anti-Black racism, it also addresses some Indigenous and LGBTQ+ issues as well, and where all those things intersect.
Read it.
The first chunk of it is basic Canadian history about slavery, which is not taught in our schools. We teach the Underground Railroad and that's about it. The book goes on to discuss current Canadian policy, and I learned a lot. It laid things out really well to explain how we as a country got to where we are.
It's meticulously researched, but not boring to read. While it's primarily looking at anti-Black racism, it also addresses some Indigenous and LGBTQ+ issues as well, and where all those things intersect.
Read it.
December 9, 2023
Suuuch a dense read, yet each sentence was so rich with information I felt like everything was note-worthy! A thorough and detailed book; should be required reading on Canadian history—5 stars!
November 16, 2020
This book is incredibly powerful and important. Canada would be a much better place if everyone read and reflected on this text. Truly, a book I’ll never forget.
February 27, 2022
Essential reading for literally every person in "Canada."
August 17, 2018
In what feels like the distant past now—last summer—I was keen on writing smaller pieces for a budding tea company in Calgary, Alberta called Sarjesa: loose leaf tea. This inspirational company is operated by a good friend of mine from undergrad who shares a similar love for books, knowledge, and social justice. Most importantly, Sarjesa is committed to “working with Elders and community members” in creating locally sourced tea blends and donating proceeds to support local marginalized communities.
I introduce this review with a word about my friend and Sarjesa because I haven’t been following through with my commitment to writing for Sarjesa, which nevertheless hosts some fantastic and important voices on social justice. I encourage everyone to check out Sarjesa's wonderful variety of tea blends along with the accompanying blog.
Sarjesa's commitment to solidarity has impacted my own approach to the books I chose to read and the kinds of questions I chose to raise in the margins of the page. In other words, solidarity has become an important concept in my own thinking. As such, one thing I value greatly in a book I read—whether it be a theoretical text or a cozy novel—is the ways in which it builds solidarity with its community.
I think that Robyn Maynard’s recent book, Policing Black Lives: State in Violence from Slavery to the Present, builds solidarity within critical scholarship, which critical scholarship all too often lacks. During my two year stay at Western University, I have come to notice this lack with my peers and the philosophical and political literature I would take up. Part of my reading habit then has been to change what kinds of work I engage with.
Though Maynard’s ultimately focuses on how the Canadian government has effectively oppressed black populations both historically and contemporarily, she doesn’t accomplish this by ignoring Indigenous struggles. Maynard identifies historical moments and legal structures in Canada that share the same modus operandi: the extraction of wealth from and the incarceration of the many Indigenous and black communities that are foundational to Canada. However, she does not accomplish this scholarly solidarity by necessarily naming these parallel phenomenon as the same. Indigenous struggles against state violence are not the same as black struggles against state violence. Nevertheless, both struggles often intersect, which is important to identify, I think, when imagining what solidarity looks like between social justice movements that might originate within different struggles.
As someone who has invested the last six years in developing his “academic know-how,” I value Maynard’s contribution to scholarly work on social justice. On the one hand, this is because Maynard meticulously cites her sources. If you are looking for a detailed and confident excavation of black oppression in Canadian history, look no further than Policing Black Lives. Along with expert scholarship, Maynard follows through with accessible language—something academics often take for granted (and subsequently wonder why their work isn't taken up more broadly).
On the other hand, as I have stated but I believe this cannot be stated enough, Maynard’s detailed account of black oppression does not sacrifice its intersections with Indigenous oppression. Sometimes, in what is called academic “knowledge production,” blind spots emerge in even well-meaning scholarship. Surprisingly, in the knowledge of social justice, particularly in the realm of “post-colonialism” and black struggles, Indigenous perspectives are left out. This blind spot in knowledge is especially true in the context of the Canadian academy. That is not to say, however, that academics aren't working to change this trend in scholarship.
In this important work, to put it briefly, you will find a diligent and rigorous account of racism in Canada both historically and how it exists today in new but typically unseen forms. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in social justice. But I also recommend Policing Black Lives for readers who are keen on understanding the lived experience of black lives in our contemporary moment where black persons are continuously harassed, assaulted, and murdered by police—even in Canada. Indeed, the violence enacted upon black bodies is not exclusive to the United States. In fact, it is a common and widespread problem in Canada that too often goes unnoticed. The same can be said about Indigenous bodies and their communities.
I introduce this review with a word about my friend and Sarjesa because I haven’t been following through with my commitment to writing for Sarjesa, which nevertheless hosts some fantastic and important voices on social justice. I encourage everyone to check out Sarjesa's wonderful variety of tea blends along with the accompanying blog.
Sarjesa's commitment to solidarity has impacted my own approach to the books I chose to read and the kinds of questions I chose to raise in the margins of the page. In other words, solidarity has become an important concept in my own thinking. As such, one thing I value greatly in a book I read—whether it be a theoretical text or a cozy novel—is the ways in which it builds solidarity with its community.
I think that Robyn Maynard’s recent book, Policing Black Lives: State in Violence from Slavery to the Present, builds solidarity within critical scholarship, which critical scholarship all too often lacks. During my two year stay at Western University, I have come to notice this lack with my peers and the philosophical and political literature I would take up. Part of my reading habit then has been to change what kinds of work I engage with.
Though Maynard’s ultimately focuses on how the Canadian government has effectively oppressed black populations both historically and contemporarily, she doesn’t accomplish this by ignoring Indigenous struggles. Maynard identifies historical moments and legal structures in Canada that share the same modus operandi: the extraction of wealth from and the incarceration of the many Indigenous and black communities that are foundational to Canada. However, she does not accomplish this scholarly solidarity by necessarily naming these parallel phenomenon as the same. Indigenous struggles against state violence are not the same as black struggles against state violence. Nevertheless, both struggles often intersect, which is important to identify, I think, when imagining what solidarity looks like between social justice movements that might originate within different struggles.
As someone who has invested the last six years in developing his “academic know-how,” I value Maynard’s contribution to scholarly work on social justice. On the one hand, this is because Maynard meticulously cites her sources. If you are looking for a detailed and confident excavation of black oppression in Canadian history, look no further than Policing Black Lives. Along with expert scholarship, Maynard follows through with accessible language—something academics often take for granted (and subsequently wonder why their work isn't taken up more broadly).
On the other hand, as I have stated but I believe this cannot be stated enough, Maynard’s detailed account of black oppression does not sacrifice its intersections with Indigenous oppression. Sometimes, in what is called academic “knowledge production,” blind spots emerge in even well-meaning scholarship. Surprisingly, in the knowledge of social justice, particularly in the realm of “post-colonialism” and black struggles, Indigenous perspectives are left out. This blind spot in knowledge is especially true in the context of the Canadian academy. That is not to say, however, that academics aren't working to change this trend in scholarship.
In this important work, to put it briefly, you will find a diligent and rigorous account of racism in Canada both historically and how it exists today in new but typically unseen forms. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in social justice. But I also recommend Policing Black Lives for readers who are keen on understanding the lived experience of black lives in our contemporary moment where black persons are continuously harassed, assaulted, and murdered by police—even in Canada. Indeed, the violence enacted upon black bodies is not exclusive to the United States. In fact, it is a common and widespread problem in Canada that too often goes unnoticed. The same can be said about Indigenous bodies and their communities.
September 21, 2020
A spectacularly well-written, thorough exploration of anti-black state violence and racism in Canada throughout history and the ongoing effects, legacies and systems that continue that violence in the present day. Academic language, to be sure, but still approachable. Should be required reading for non-Black Canadians; I could see very clearly in it the framework of the lies and convenient stories that were a part of my educations both formal and social. There is so much more work to be done.
October 5, 2020
Good information. Lots of repetition, difficult read. City names used without reference to which province. Could have used more editing to make it more readable. It is an important subject that deserves a better treatment. Feels like a series of individual essays that was combined to be published in book format. I still liked it but it was not a pleasant read. I would not recommend it unless you have a real interest in the topic.
December 5, 2020
This should be required reading for all Canadians. We are far too comfortable in our ignorance of our country’s history and present of systemic racism.
VIDEO REVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3_v...
VIDEO REVIEW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3_v...
June 30, 2023
Policing Black Lives is essentially a 234-page-long academic lit review—one which casts a very wide net, from the history of Canadian slavery to specific legal regimes such as immigration and child welfare. The result (notwithstanding the plethora of citations) is a book that never really provides all that much detail on a given topic. Rather than describing arguments, for instance, Maynard tends to simply summarize a conclusion at a fairly high level. One would need to explore the sources themselves to get a better sense of nuances and particulars.
The breadth of the book also means that it occasionally falters in the details. Not only does it contain relatively little American-Canadian comparative data, despite its stated aim of showing how anti-Black racism is not a uniquely American phenomenon, but I found myself repeatedly coming up against sources that didn't quite align with the propositions for which they were cited—something completely understandable, of course, given a text whose "References" section runs over 30 pages.
Two random (and not at all egregious) examples:
These quibbles do not seriously detract from the book's thesis. But they do sort of undermine the utility of the book as a tool to help change the minds of those not already on-board.
The breadth of the book also means that it occasionally falters in the details. Not only does it contain relatively little American-Canadian comparative data, despite its stated aim of showing how anti-Black racism is not a uniquely American phenomenon, but I found myself repeatedly coming up against sources that didn't quite align with the propositions for which they were cited—something completely understandable, of course, given a text whose "References" section runs over 30 pages.
Two random (and not at all egregious) examples:
(1) In describing the history of slavery in "New France," Maynard cites Brett Rushforth's Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France for the proposition that the French enslaved and brutally mistreated both African and Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) galley slaves (p 21). Without detracting from that proposition, it appears that Rushforth's book advances the slightly more nuanced thesis that "Indian slavery in New France emerged at the nexus of two very different forms of slavery: one indigenous to North America and the other rooted in the Atlantic world."
(2) The book is also a bit fast and loose when it comes to specific Canadian laws, from the inexact paraphrases of Baker and other cases to the claim that Ontario "welfare eligibility review officers" are empowered "to enter a woman's house at any time, without a warrant, to 'collect evidence'" (p 135). (Some quick research shows, for instance, that the officers possess no such powers.)
These quibbles do not seriously detract from the book's thesis. But they do sort of undermine the utility of the book as a tool to help change the minds of those not already on-board.
September 26, 2020
If you ever wanted a book with an answer to nearly every question regarding anti-Black racism in Canada, this is it. A deep dive into history, a comprehensive look at the present day, and a guiding light for the future all at once, this book addresses Black struggle and resistance from an intersectional feminist perspective. In all honesty, I didn't love that it read more like a textbook than an average "leisure" read, but it is totally something I wish had been assigned reading during my time as a Women's Studies minor. In fact, one of my former professors was cited in it. Pretty cool! Anyways, add this to your feminist/anti-racist reading list immediately.
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January 11, 2023Very dense, but luckily had access to the audiobook.
I can't remember how I heard about this, but I'm glad there's literature like this that focuses on anti-Blackness in Canada. It is so common to consider Canada a racial haven when compared to the US -- even growing up as a person of colour experiencing/witnessing racism, you tend to gaslight yourself into thinking it's not that bad because "at least we're not the US". There is a primary focus on state violence against Black people, but Maynard also mentions the similar instances of violence enacted against Indigenous peoples when relevant. She does not try to compare the two or treat them as equivalent, but more to consider the issue in an intersectional manner, which is appreciated.
I can't remember how I heard about this, but I'm glad there's literature like this that focuses on anti-Blackness in Canada. It is so common to consider Canada a racial haven when compared to the US -- even growing up as a person of colour experiencing/witnessing racism, you tend to gaslight yourself into thinking it's not that bad because "at least we're not the US". There is a primary focus on state violence against Black people, but Maynard also mentions the similar instances of violence enacted against Indigenous peoples when relevant. She does not try to compare the two or treat them as equivalent, but more to consider the issue in an intersectional manner, which is appreciated.
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