Here in the United States, we’re familiar with Rosa Parks and her refusal to move to the back of the bus. She was not the only woman making strides in civil rights in North America. In our neighbor to the north, Viola Desmond refused to move to the balcony in a theater. Her story has its similarities and differences to Rosa Parks’ story. You may not live in Canada, but you should know of Desmond and what she did.
Viola Desmond’s Beginnings
Viola was one of 15 children born to her parents, prominent members of the black community in Halifax. She was born in 1914, in a time when black women were not allowed to train in local beauty schools. Viola wanted to become a beautician and was forced to travel to Montreal, Atlantic City and New York to receive schooling. Once she completed her training, she returned to Halifax to open a hair salon and start her own line of products. She would also set up a beauty school for other black women to receive training in hair and skin care.
In November of 1946, nine years before Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, Desmond was on a business trip in New Glasgow when her car broke down. She had to remain overnight because the parts to fix her vehicle would not be ready until the next day. To pass the time, she decided to attend a showing of “The Dark Mirror” at the Roseland Film Theatre. She asked for a ticket on the main floor, and when she took her seat, she was told that she couldn’t sit there. The theatre had an exclusive section for blacks in the balcony. Desmond refused to move.
The police were called, and they arrested Desmond. She was injured in the removal and taken to jail. No one informed her of her right to a lawyer or to bail, and she was kept overnight. Fortunately, she was able to pay the C$20 fine and C$6 court costs (approximately $250US in today’s money). She wasn’t charged with a crime that could considered racially motivated or discriminatory. Instead, she was charged with tax evasion, because the difference in price between a seat on the main floor and one in the balcony was one cent, which was a tax.
When Desmond went home, she was encouraged by her husband to let the matter pass, but her church leaders suggested she take action and fight the charges. Although her fight was unsuccessful, the justice who dismissed the case suggested that the case was a “surreptitious endeavour to enforce a Jim Crow rule by misuse of a public statute.” Desmond died about 20 years later, never to find justice for her acts.
Desmond’s Legacy
Dr. William Pearly Oliver, who started the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, said this about Desmond’s stand: “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 …”
In 2010, Viola’s sister published a book, “Sister to Courage,” about the activism in her family. The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia pardoned Desmond posthumously, the first time this ever happened in Canada. Desmond would be honored on a Canadian postage stamp and have a song written about her. Earlier this year, a harbour ferry in Halifax that bears her name was launched. On December 8, it was announced that Desmond was chosen to appear on the Canadian 10 dollar note, the first Canadian-born woman to be honored this way. The only other woman on a Canadian bill is Queen Elizabeth II.