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Post by Easton on Jul 15, 2022 8:29:29 GMT -5
I learned in the TV series, The Wind at My Back, of Canada's policy of turning away Jewish refugees during Nazi oppression. In the episode I watched, a young Jewish musician smuggled from Ontario to New York. to escape Canadian deportation. I do recall the U.S. turning away some Jewish refugees, Yet between 1938 -39, 85,000 Jewish refugees were welcomed to the U.S. I didn't realize there was such policy and antisemitism in Canada towards Jews attempting to escape the Holocaust. Much to our shame, that statement and that deplorable record of refugee immigration all came down to one man: Fredrick Blair. Blair was a church official and (ironies of ironies) the son of elite Scottish immigrants. He became an immigration officer in 1905 and quickly advanced in the ranks until he was in charge of the whole shebang. He was also staunchly racist and anti-Semitic.
EDIT: By the way, Fredrick Blair was the 'official' who said, "None is too many."
We are not particularly proud of that time period nor of the man himself. It's still disturbing to us how many refugees died needlessly because of Blair's 'Closed Door' policy.
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Post by carol on Jul 17, 2022 21:37:25 GMT -5
.Something else I learned more recently, although a some Black Canadians originated from Africa as slaves. Most came as refugees from America especially during the War Between the States, in the Underground Railway. There is a church here in Baltimore City that is believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad. The Orchard Street United Methodist Church was constructed in 1837 and is the oldest standing structure erected by African Americans in the city of Baltimore. The church was founded by Trueman Pratt, a free black man born into slavery in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Unearthed beneath the church is a mile-long narrow tunnel that many believe was used along the Underground Railroad. The church's congregants are believed to have played an important role in sheltering and assisting escaped slaves. The church is no longer an active place of worship; it instead stands as a museum of black history in the state of Maryland. It is also home to the Greater Baltimore chapter of the National Urban League, a civil rights organization that advocates against racial discrimination in the United States. Underground Railroad tunnel entrance at Orchard Street Church; (c) SoulOfAmeric
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Post by Easton on Jul 18, 2022 15:17:01 GMT -5
^ Here is a Canadian Heritage Minute created by the CBC: Underground Railroad
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