Trudeau's apology to Black servicemen needs to be followed with action
By Hyacinth Simpson
Simpson, Hyacinth. “Remembrance Day: Trudeau’s Apology to Black Servicemen Needs to Be Followed with Action.” The Conversation, Academic Journalism Society, 10 Nov. 2022.
While it’s true that actions do speak louder than words, words do matter — especially when they’re spoken with honesty and sincerity and are the precursor to meaningful action.
This was the prevailing sentiment within Black communities in Canada following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s apology in July 2022 to the descendants of the Black men who served with the No. 2 Construction Battalion during the First World War.
The No. 2 Battalion sailed for Europe from Halifax in March 1917. The No. 2 totalled 614 men, far fewer than the roughly 1,000 that usually make up a battalion.
It was the only battalion-sized segregated unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and it existed because commanding officers routinely and callously rejected Black men who wanted to fight for the country.
As letters, memos and other military records archived from the war years indicate, commanding officers and white recruits felt that the conflict was a white man’s war. Anti-Black racism also led many to believe that Black men were not fighting material.
In one instance, a major-general who served as Canada’s Chief of the General Staff confidently declared that in the trenches “the civilized negro” was “not likely to make a good fighter.”
Those attitudes prevailed even after surviving members of the battalion returned to Canada. Historical records reveal that the men did not even receive the public expressions of thanks extended to other returnees.
A first step
Although there are those who have criticized Trudeau for “weaken[ing] the currency of national apologies by issuing so many,” many Black Canadians were glad that he gave it.
His apology did not shy away from naming racism and anti-Black hate as the reason for the horrific treatment of the No. 2 men. It acknowledged that racism and anti-Black hate are still a problem in the Canadian military and elsewhere.
The apology directly linked the anti-Black racism experienced by the men of the No. 2 Construction Battalion to the widespread systemic racism in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) today. Trudeau committed his government and the military to effecting “meaningful change, where the dignity of all service members in the Canadian Armed Forces is upheld. Where everyone is welcome; where everyone can rise through the ranks; where everyone has opportunities to distinguish themselves.”
Exactly how these outcomes will be achieved remains to be seen. In 2016, a class-action claim filed on behalf of Black and other racialized personnel detailed the trauma and career consequences many have experienced due to unchecked racism in the CAF, including being silenced when they step forward with complaints and having their careers cut short.
At the apology ceremony, Defence Minister Anita Anand said she’s “committed to eliminating systemic racism so that the discrimination faced by the Number 2 Construction Battalion and those who followed never happens again.” She added that the Department of Defense must “begin working on [the National Apology Advisory Committee’s] recommendations now.”
“Now” is the operative word, and meaningful change will depend on the government and Armed Forces following through with that promise.
A path forward
Of course, the fact that the apology was made in 2022 is an indication that federal apologies like this one are not all about altruism and moral conscience but are in large part the result of pressure (sometimes decades-long) from communities.
So the point is not lost on some observers that the intent to apologize, announced on March 28, 2021, came in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed.
Despite sneers against critical race theory from certain political factions and the constant drumbeat against political correctness and being “woke,” there has been a noticeable shift toward a better understanding of anti-Black racism and the various insidious and overt forms that it takes.
This is our zeitgeist. There’s a sense within Black communities that Black people’s moment, though it’s not here quite yet, is closer on the horizon and the prime minister’s apology has aligned with the times.
But things cannot start and end with the apology. If the prime minister and his government are truly committed to meaningful change, then Black communities need to see words followed up by action.
The government and military need to respond seriously to the key recommendations put forward by the National Apology Advisory Committee that require post-apology action. They must also work with Black communities and the CAF to implement initiatives that bring about the changes that Black people themselves would like to see.
At the July apology ceremony, it was announced that the venue in Truro, N.S., where the event took place — and where the No. 2 performed training exercises — would be renamed in honour of the battalion.
But post-apology actions need to go beyond simply honoring and commemorating. They need to be truly reparative.
Justice Minister David Lametti recently announced that the government will provide funding for a Black Legal Action Centre project that “addresses the over-representation of individuals from Black communities in the criminal justice system in Toronto.”
A day earlier, the Toronto International Film Festival announced its decision to rename its largest cinema after civil rights activist Viola Desmond and also pledged to “raise $2 million over the next five years to provide support to Black women creators [and] develop programming for Black audiences.”
Both provide good reparative models. They aim to simultaneously educate and redress. Whether post-apology actions are targeted exclusively at the descendants of the No. 2 Battalion and Black men who served in the First World War or all personnel who have experienced racism, their effectiveness should be measured by how well they correct misleading narratives about Black military service in Canada.
They should also examine how well the related funding and initiatives ameliorate the anti-Black racism experienced by target groups.
This Remembrance Day, a TMU professor talks about the racism experienced by Black servicemen in the First World War.
By Michelle Grady
November 10, 2022
Grady, Michelle. “Looking at the Ongoing Horrors of War.” TorontoMet Today, Toronto Metropolitan University, 10 Nov. 2022.
The No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canada’s first and only all-Black battalion, gave immeasurably of themselves in the First World War while experiencing dehumanizing racism. In July of 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada to the descendants of these servicemen. Photo courtesy of Kathy Grant.
In recent years, we've seen a shift away from commemorating Remembrance Day as an occasion for our nation's institutions to relay stories about the bravery of our servicemen and women, some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice, toward using the act of remembering to reflect on the horrors of war itself and how wars expose existing rifts in our societies, says Hyacinth Simpson, professor in the Department of English and principal investigator on the multi-tiered project Black Canada and the Great War.
The violence and traumas that come with waging war reverberate long after a ceasefire is reached, says Simpson; and later generations bear the traumas.
One example of such violence and trauma is the anti-Black racism experienced by the men who served during the First World War with the No. 2 Construction Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Canada’s first and only all-Black battalion. On July 9 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an official apology to the family members of the servicemen for the racism these men endured while serving the country.
No. 2 Construction Battalion’s fight to fight
When Canada joined the war that had broken out in Europe, there were hundreds of Black men who wanted to serve, but nearly all were turned away. “In one instance, a group of 50 Black volunteers journeyed from Sydney to New Glasgow by train and waited all day at the recruiting office, only to be told that this was ‘a white man’s war,’” said Trudeau in his apology.
In 1916 – two years after the war had begun – the Government of Canada and the military authorities permitted Black men to form their own battalion: the No. 2 Construction Battalion. The battalion wasn’t comprised solely of Canadians; it also included Black men from the Caribbean and the United States who wanted to serve and found an opportunity to do so on behalf of Canada with the No. 2.
The No. 2 Construction Battalion was deployed to Europe as a labour unit, and was sent to the Jura Mountains in Southeast France to join the Canadian Forestry Corps. “They did grueling work and their contributions were invaluable to the war effort. The lumber they cut lined the trenches on the front lines, became railway ties and was even used in aircrafts,” said Trudeau. “Thanks to their faithful and disciplined work, the mills produced double the lumber of other comparable units.”
These servicemen, however, still had to sail on a separate ship and live in segregated camps without proper medical care, rations, or equipment.
Revisiting our stories about war
Simpson says there has been a growing body of work over the past couple of decades delving into Black contributions to the First World War, but there's still a lot of work to be done. She is one of these scholars who have been working to make more public the contributions made by Black servicemen.
Including these men’s stories, and the overt racism they experienced while serving, is important because “the stories we tell ourselves about war are also the stories about our nation, about who belongs and who contributed to building the nation,” says Simpson.
In his apology, Trudeau said the Canadian government wanted to accept responsibility for the mistakes of the past and pledged to work to build a better future. “To risk your life to defend your values, and your loved ones is an act of extraordinary bravery. Of honour. Of sacrifice. And of loyalty,” he said.
We are committed to meaningful change, where the dignity of all service members in the Canadian Armed Forces is upheld. Where everyone is welcome; where everyone can rise through the ranks; where everyone has opportunities to distinguish themselves. We cannot ever let what happened to No. 2 Construction Battalion happen again. And we cannot let the service of any member of our forces ever be overlooked and forgotten.
“The prime minister’s acknowledgment of the harm done to the Black men who fought to fight for Canada during the Great War and his willingness to name the problem for what it was – systemic racism and anti-Black hate – was a very welcome change from the tone and thrust of previous federal apologies and statements of regret,” says Simpson.
She adds, “The descendants of the Black servicemen in the No. 2 Construction Battalion and other Black Canadians noticed and appreciated his use of these words, especially as Black communities don't often hear such full-throated acknowledgement of the harm done to us.”
A serviceman from the No. 2 Construction Battalion. Photo provided by the Niagara Military Museum.
Simpson notes that Trudeau also said that Canada is committed to meaningful change, “where the dignity of all service members in the Canadian Armed Forces is upheld. Where everyone is welcome; where everyone can rise through the ranks; where everyone has opportunities to distinguish themselves.”
Those words stood out for her: “The prime minister was linking the anti-Black racism in the Canadian Expeditionary Force from over a century ago to anti-Black racism in the Canadian Armed Forces now. It signalled an understanding that the sanctioned acts of violence against serving men because of their colour back then are perpetuated in acts of structural and systemic violence against Black personnel currently serving, and against Black people in other Canadian institutions and spaces as well.”
She says that perhaps Trudeau’s words have the potential to help ignite a more public conversation about the violence of anti-Black hate in Canada.
Looking ahead
“Beyond the much-needed and much-appreciated public acknowledgement of the harmful effects of anti-Black racism on Black people who have been contributing to building Canada, there has to be meaningful systemic change and reparative action for the apology to be substantive,” says Simpson. She says she’s heard many Black community members express similar sentiments.
“I would like to see post-apology actions that name specific forms of anti-Black racism, respond appropriately to the marginalization and misrepresentation of Black people, and create safe spaces and opportunities for affected Black individuals and communities. One suggestion that has been put forward is the creation of opportunities for Black and underrepresented people in the Canadian Armed Forces. This is on the list of post-apology recommendations prepared by The National Apology Advisory Committee [the committee that organized the apology event and related activities] in consultation with descendants of the men of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, and other Black Canadians.”
This Remembrance Day, the TMU community can reflect on the immediate and resulting horrors of war with Professor Simpson at the TMU Remembrance Day Ceremony taking place in Quad at 10:45 a.m. Brian Outinen, Chief Anishinaabemowin translator for Canada and veteran, will also be a guest speaker. Anver Salojee, interim vice-president, Equity and Community Inclusion, will be the event's MC.