Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 – February 7, 1965) was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she used, which was more expensive. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada.[3]
In 2010, Viola Desmond was granted a posthumous free pardon, the first to be granted in Canada.[4][5] A free pardon deems the person granted the pardon to have never committed the offence and cancels any consequence resulting from the conviction, such as fines, prohibitions or forfeitures.[6] However, it was not until 2021 that the government repaid the $26 (worth $368 CAD as of 2021) fine to her estate in the form of a $1,000 scholarship that adjusted the amount to reflect the time value of money.[2] The Crown-in-Right-of-Nova Scotia also apologized for prosecuting her for tax evasion and acknowledged she was rightfully resisting racial discrimination.[7]
Viola Desmond was born on July 6, 1914, one of ten children of James Albert and Gwendolin Irene (née Johnson) Davis.[11] She was raised by her father and mother in Halifax. In 1917, Viola, then three years old, survived the Halifax Explosion, alongside her family.[12] Viola's father worked as a stevedore for a number of years before he became a barber.[13][14]
Growing up, Desmond noted the absence of professional hair and skin-care products for black women and set her sights on addressing this need.[15][11] Being of African descent, she was not allowed to train to become a beautician in Halifax, so she left and received beautician training in Montreal, Atlantic City, and one of Madam C. J. Walker's beauty schools in New York. Upon finishing her training, Desmond returned to Halifax to start her own hair salon called Vi's Studio of Beauty Culture. Her clients included Portia White and Gwen Jenkins, later the first black nurse in Nova Scotia.[16]
A tin of sepia face powder sold by Viola Desmond
In addition to the salon, Desmond opened The Desmond School of Beauty Culture so that black women would not have to travel as far as they had to receive proper training. Catering to women from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, the school operated using a vertical integration framework.[11][17] Students were provided with the skills required to open their own businesses and provide jobs for other black women within their communities. Each year as many as fifteen women graduated from the school, all of whom had been denied admission to whites-only training schools.[11] Desmond also started her own line of beauty products, Vi's Beauty Products, which she marketed and sold herself.[13][14][16][18]
Viola Desmond joined her husband, Jack Desmond in a combined barbershop and hairdressing salon on Gottingen Street. On November 8, 1946, while she was on a business trip to Sydney to sell her beauty products, Viola Desmond's car broke down in New Glasgow. She was told that she would have to wait a day for it to be fixed. To pass the time while waiting, she went to see The Dark Mirror starring Olivia de Havilland at the Roseland Film Theatre.[19][20]
There were no segregation laws for movie theatres in Nova Scotia, and the theatre had no sign telling its patrons about the policy, but main floor seats were reserved for white patrons, a discriminatory practice permitted in all Canadian provinces. Desmond was sold a ticket to the balcony. Unaware of the segregation and, being nearsighted, she went to sit in the floor section to be close to the screen. When she was asked to move, she realized what was happening, and refused to move because she had a better view from the main floor. When she requested to exchange her balcony ticket to the main floor for an additional cost, she was refused and forcefully removed from the theatre which caused an injury to her hip. She was also arrested and spent 12 hours in jail, and had to pay a $26 fine for tax evasion. The tax on the balcony price of 30 cents was two cents; the tax on the floor price of 40 cents was three cents. She was convicted of depriving the government of one cent in tax.[14] Desmond was kept in jail overnight and was never informed about her right to legal advice, a lawyer, or bail.[18][19]
Roseland film theatre
Upon returning to Halifax, Desmond discussed the matter with her husband, and his advice was to let it go. However, she then sought advice from the leaders of her church, the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, where the Minister William Pearly Oliver and his wife Pearline encouraged her to take action. With their support, Desmond decided to fight the charge in court.
Following the decision to fight the charge, Carrie Best broke the story of Desmond in the first edition of The Clarion, the first black-owned and published Nova Scotia newspaper.[21] Best closely covered the story of Desmond on front page as she had herself previously confronted the racial segregation of the Roseland Theatre.[22]
During subsequent trials the government insisted on arguing that this was a case of tax evasion. A provincial act regulating cinemas and movie theatres required the payment of an amusement tax based on the price of the theatre ticket. Since the theatre would only agree to sell Desmond a cheaper balcony ticket, but she had insisted upon sitting in the much more expensive main floor seat, she was only one cent short on tax. The statute used to convict Desmond contained no explicitly racist or discriminatory language.
Bissett's appeal rested on two grounds, both of which fell flat. First, he argued that Desmond had been denied what he called "natural justice," which would later be called due process. At the time, the concept of due process was contentious, and Bissett's use of this concept was not accepted by the court.[23] Second, he argued that the evidence of tax evasion was insufficient. This argument failed and was seen in hindsight as a poor approach. Several months later, a Canadian Bar Review article pointed out that Bissett could have instead argued that the courts had no right to enforce racial segregation, which would have forced a decision on the legitimacy of such an argument.[24] When dismissing the case, Justice William Lorimer Hall said:
Had the matter reached the court by some other method than certiorari there might have been an opportunity to right the wrong done this unfortunate woman. One wonders if the manager of the theatre who laid the complaint was so zealous because of a bona fide belief that there had been an attempt to defraud the province of Nova Scotia of the sum of one cent, or was it a surreptitious endeavour to enforce a Jim Crow rule by misuse of a public statute.
— Justice William Lorimer Hall, when dismissing Desmond's application (1947)[25]
Her lawyer, Bissett, refused to bill Desmond, and the money was used to support William Pearly Oliver's newly established NSAACP.
After the trial and encounter with the legal system of Nova Scotia, her marriage ended. Desmond closed her business and moved to Montreal where she could enroll in a business college. She eventually settled in New York City, where she died from gastrointestinal bleeding on February 7, 1965, at the age of 50.[26] She is buried at Camp Hill Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
William Pearly Oliver later reflected on Desmond's legacy:
... this meant something to our people. Neither before or since has there been such an aggressive effort to obtain rights. The people arose as one and with one voice. This positive stand enhanced the prestige of the Negro community throughout the Province. It is my conviction that much of the positive action that has since taken place stemmed from this ...
— William Pearly Oliver, reflecting on the case 15 years later.[27]
Desmond is often compared to Rosa Parks, given they both challenged racism by refusing to vacate seats in "Whites Only" sections and contributed to the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, despite there having been no law specifically enforcing segregation in theatres.[28]
Viola Desmond has been widely commemorated across Canada in recognition of her role in the civil rights movement and her contributions to the advancement of racial equality. The following are some notable honors and memorials dedicated to her legacy:
Cape Breton University launched a scholarship campaign in honor of Viola Desmond and her sister Wanda Robson, and established the Viola Desmond Chair in Social Justice, held by Dr. Graham Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds, alongside Wanda Robson, co-authored two books: Viola Desmond: Her Life and Times and Viola Desmond’s Canada: A History of Blacks and Racial Segregation in the Promised Land.[30]
Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp featuring Viola Desmond in 2012 as part of its series celebrating significant figures in Canadian history.[32]
Launch of the Viola Desmond, a ferry operating in Halifax harbourOn July 7, 2016, a Halifax Harbour ferry was launched with Viola Desmond's name, honoring her legacy in the city where she made her stand against racial segregation.[33]
On December 8, 2016, Desmond was selected to appear on the Canadian ten-dollar bill, becoming the first Canadian-born woman and the first Black Canadian to appear on a regularly circulating Canadian banknote.[34] The new design, unveiled on November 26, 2018, features Desmond's portrait on the obverse, with a map of Halifax's historic North End and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on the reverse.[35]
In April 2021, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board announced the naming of a new elementary school in Desmond’s honor. The Viola Desmond Elementary School, which opened in September 2021, serves students from kindergarten through Grade 8.[42]
On April 14, 2010, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Mayann Francis, on the advice of PremierDarrell Dexter, invoked the royal prerogative and granted Desmond a posthumous free pardon,[4] the first to be granted in Canada.[5] The free pardon, an extraordinary remedy granted under the royal prerogative of mercy only in the rarest of circumstances and the first one granted posthumously, differs from a simple pardon in that it is based on innocence and recognizes that a conviction was in error.[5] Francis, herself a Black Canadian, remarked, "here I am, 64 years later—a black woman giving freedom to another black woman".[19]
The Premier also made an apology.[7] Desmond's younger sister, Wanda Robson, and Dr. Graham Reynolds, a professor of Cape Breton University, worked with Cabinet to ensure that Desmond's name was cleared; there was a public acknowledgement of the injustice and the Crown-in-Council reaffirmed its commitment to human rights. The provincial government declared in February 2015 the first Nova Scotia Heritage Day in Desmond's honour.[44] Desmond's portrait also hangs in Government House, in Halifax.
Prompted by a request from Ontario high school student Varishini Deochand in 2021, the government of Nova Scotia offered a symbolic repayment of Desmond's original court fees to her only surviving family member, Robson. When Robson said she would use the money to make a one-time donation for a scholarship at Cape Breton University, the Crown-in-Council increased the repayment from the current valuation of $368.29 to $1,000. The provincial Crown also issued a commemorative cheque to display in the legislature. Original court costs were $26.[2]
^"Carrie Best - Clarion Years". Carrie Best - A Digital Archive. Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
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