TAKE THE LONG ROAD AND WALK IT LOCALS TO TREK TO ARGENTINA {page 5} SHORT STAY A TOUR OF ALCATRAZ PRISON BY NIGHT {page 13}
STALKER ARREST MADE IN HALLE’S BACKYARD {page 12}
HALIFAX
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
Progress of black community uncertain: Panel Panel discusses legacy of 1991 race riot in Halifax Violence in black community has increased ‘at least tenfold’ since riot: Dr. Jones Dozens of people turn out for discussion ALEX BOUTILIER
@METRONEWS.CA
Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies throws during the first inning of the MLB All-Star Game last night in Phoenix. Halladay pitched two scoreless innings as the National League defeated the American League 5-1. DAVID J. PHILLIP/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MLB All-Star Game a big hit
Two decades have passed since a bar fight turned into a race riot, tearing up Halifax’s downtown. But it’s difficult to say whether conditions have improved for African Nova Scotians in the province’s capital in the intervening 20 years. That was the conclusion of a discussion last night at the North Branch Public Library on Gottingen Street, where leaders from the black community congregated to mark the anniversary of the riot with a panel discussion. “We cannot just say that things are getting better. Some things are getting better, but the other side of it is our communi-
ties are getting further and further and further behind,” said Dr. Rocky Jones, an Order of Nova Scotia recipient and community leader. On July 18, 1991, two black men were jumped at an Argyle Street bar. According to Jones, once the men got back uptown, it didn’t take long for word to spread through the community about what had happened. The early-morning hours of July 19 brought approximately 150 people, mostly young black men with some white males also, into the downtown. Jones said they were out to deal with racist bartenders and bouncers, but the events that followed expanded far beyond that scope. Fifteen people were injured in
“We need to teach our children that we get even by succeeding.” AMERICAN EDUCATOR MARVA COLLINS, WHO SAT ON A PANEL DISCUSSING THE LEGACY OF HALIFAX’S RACE RIOT
the ensuing riot, eight people were arrested, and the city appeared on TV sets and made newspaper headlines across the country. Last night, several speakers pointed to RCMP Sgt. Craig Smith, a black officer who sat on the panel, as proof race relations in Nova Scotia have improved — at least with the police. But all speakers stressed the central role of education as a means of furthering the cause of racial equality in the province.