Black History Month is an opportunity, not to commemorate one group exclusive of all others, but to include in the historical narrative the stories of a group too long overlooked.
When we leave out chunks of history, we fail to learn lessons that can be gleaned from the past.
The first black settlers were invited by Sir James Douglas, governor of Vancouver Island. Black Californians were becoming increasingly alarmed at the growing legal restrictions being placed in their rights to work and live as equals, so they were amenable to Douglas鈥檚 invitation.
Douglas was likely sensitive to the concerns of blacks in the U.S., as he was born in British Guiana to a Scottish father and a mother of African ancestry. Although Douglas was raised as a 鈥渇ree coloured boy,鈥� he grew up in a household with black slaves in a country where slaves formed the majority of the population.
Douglas wanted to counter the flood of Americans headed to the Fraser River gold fields, and who would create pressure for American expansionism. He reasoned that the black settlers, having experienced fierce racism in the U.S., would be less likely to favour annexation by the U.S.
Among the 600 black settlers who came in the spring of 1858 was Archy Lee, an 18-year-old slave from Mississippi who was at the centre of a high-profile legal battle in Sacramento and San Francisco in the spring of 1858. His case helped convince the blacks of San Francisco that perhaps they should find another place to live.
Likely the most prominent among the group was Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, who had helped organize the emigration. He and his business partner, Peter Lester, opened a store that was said to be the first in Victoria not run by the Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company.
The black settlers soon found that Douglas could not deliver on the promise that they would not be subjected to discrimination. Although perhaps liberal by comparison to other places in the British Empire, Victoria was still class- and race-conscious.
Gibbs and Nathan Pointer, another black emigr茅, and their wives were badly treated when they tried to attend a benefit concert at Victoria鈥檚 theatre in 1861. One musician refused to play in the orchestra unless the 鈥渃oloured people鈥� were moved out of prominent seats in the dress circle. Others in the theatre objected, and someone threw white flour on Gibbs and Pointer. A fracas ensued.
Gibbs did not let such things hold him back. He did well in his business endeavours and became sa国际传媒鈥檚 first elected black politician. He won a seat on Victoria city council in 1866 and served two terms. At the Yale Convention in 1868, he helped push for sa国际传媒鈥檚 confederation with sa国际传媒. He firmly rejected joining with the U.S.
He returned to the U.S. a few years later, where he enjoyed a successful legal, diplomatic and financial career, but remembered fondly his time in Victoria.
Pointer remained in Victoria, staying active in business with a clothing store, and died here in 1903 at the age of 81.
We should remember these and many other black pioneers who participated in the shaping of Victoria, and who helped hold the country together. We should remember, too, other early pioneers from places such as India, Japan and China.
And most of all, we need to strengthen our understanding and appreciation of the aboriginal peoples who had lived here for thousands of years, and whose history and culture was too much eroded as immigrants came to dominate.
Black History Month is not a means of dividing history into different pieces, but a lens to help us see how all those pieces fit together. Remember: Black history is our history.
