Recognition of Viola Desmond a positive step, but we need more than symbols to reach full equality

So why does everyone know so much about Rosa Parks and so little about Viola Desmond?Could it be that the racism which was pervasive in Canada during Desmond’s life, was swept under the rug or minimized?

History was made again last week when Viola Desmond’s image was unveiled on the ten dollar note by finance minister Bill Morneau and Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz.Photograph courtesy of Flickr

Opinion

BY SHEILA COPPS

March 12, 2018

OTTAWA—Viola Desmond made history back in 1946 when she refused to sit in a segregated balcony at the cinema in New Glasgow, N.S. That was nine years before Rosa Parks became a symbol of the American civil rights movement by refusing to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus....

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