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Originally Posted by Swift
Firstly, I have no affiliation with Toronto (I've spent all of a day there) and didn't know who Henry Dundas was before this morning (The wikipedia article suggests that he's a more nuanced character than just all round bad guy - He disagreed with slavery in principle, and successfully fought a court case in Scotland's highest court which resulted in slavery being prohibited on Scottish soil. The contention stems from him tabling an amendment to a proposed bill to end the slave trade inserting the word "gradual" rather than "immediate". Some historians argue that this was a calculated move to indefinitely delay abolition; some argue that the bill wouldn't have passed without the word "gradual" in there. Either way, it doesn't seem as cut and dried to state that he was an anti-abolitionist) A clearer argument I've seen put out there for not having a street named after him is that he'd never been to Toronto and had no connection with the place. The street was named after him by a a Lt Gov of Upper Canada who was a friend of his. But again, I have no strong opinion on him or the street being re-named.
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I was going to make a post on the same matter, that Dundas's legacy and the purpose of the gradual tactic on abolition is hotly debated. His motives turned suspect during the war against France however as he facilitated using slaves as soldiers to protect the sugar trade.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...igation-finds/
I am of the thought process that I have no love for Dundas, but the street named after him has been in existence for almost a century longer then Canada as a country. You are removing a historical figure for 2010 world context versus 1792 context.
Thomas Jefferson has owned over 600 slaves in his life, yet is revered as a founder of the US.
George Washington has also owned slaves and has a checkered history. He of course remains on the 1$ bill (poor Jefferson got stuck with the 2$ one)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/histo...ory-be-hidden/
Dundas has never owned slaves himself on record (I haven't found any such info).
Dundas was most certainly a figure talked about in Ontario high schools as part of history along with Simcoe. I firmly remember the story of how Dundas St was built, how it's name came from and it's significance to the region. His part in abolition (positive or negative) was never talked about in school.
Of course we also did not learn of residential schools.
We don't need to honour historical figures and shouldn't, I just think Dundas has gotten a bit of a bad rep and became a symbol.
Moves like this however I don't see as fighting systemic racism. It's a street name that most people don't know where it came from.
Let's take Stephen ave for example. Does anyone know where it came from?
It came from Lord George Mount Stephen the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the company largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of asians
https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTE...1CH3PA3LE.html
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Hatred against Asians boiled over in September 1907, at a huge protest rally at Vancouver City Hall organized by the newly formed Asiatic Exclusion League. Half the citys 30,000 people turned out for the rally wearing ribbons that said "For a White Canada."
Part of the crowd of about 7,000 men turned on Chinatown. For three days, Asian homes and businesses were vandalized.
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You would have to effectively remove all street names of any historical figure in the past, Pierre Elliott Trudeau included (some day we will see the white paper as similar in nature). In the meantime, we avoid subjects that makes Canadians as a whole looking racist.
It's the Church doing this, it's Ryerson, it's Dundas.
No, it's us.
This faux outrage is deflecting from the systematic racism that should be targeted today.
This goes way beyond a street name. Canadians need to reflect on systemic racism today versus token gestures that are only meant to provide us with a pat on the back