Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 - February 7, 1965) was a Canadian businesswoman and civil rights activist who built a career and business as a cosmetologist. She mentored young black women through the Desmond School of Beauty Culture. She is known as the first woman to challenge racial segregation when she refused to leave the section only at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Desmond was arrested and jailed overnight and charged with tax evasion as a result. Despite receiving help from the Nova Scotian Black community, Desmond was unable to clear the charges against her. She went the rest of her life without receiving justice. Desmond's refusal to accept an act of racial discrimination inspired later generations of black citizens in Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada.
In 2010, Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis Desmond granted a free pardon. In December 2016, the Bank of Canada announced that Viola Desmond would be the first Canadian woman to be featured on a Canadian banknote. A $ 10 note was issued in November 2018. That same year, Desmond was named a National Historic Person by the Government of Canada.
Early life and family:
Viola Desmond was born on July 6, 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She grew up in a large family with 10 siblings. Her parents, James Albert and Gwendoline Irene, were highly respected members of the Halifax black community. James was raised in a middle class black class. He worked as a housekeeper for several years before becoming a hairdresser. Gwendoline was the daughter of a white minister and his wife, who moved to Halifax from New Haven, Connecticut. Gwendoline stayed home and took care of the children. Although interbreeding was not uncommon in the early 1920's, interracial marriage was rare. Nevertheless, her parents were accepted into the black community of Halifax. They became active and prominent members of various community organizations.
When she came of age, Desmond first pursued a teaching career. She taught between two racially segregated schools in Halifax. But as a child, Desmond developed an interest in cosmetology. This was probably due to the growth of black hair care products that became available in her area. At that time, no beauty schools in Nova Scotia accepted black women. Instead of giving up his dream, Desmond traveled to Montreal to study at Field Beauty Culture School, one of the few institutions in Canada that accepted black students. She continued her training in Atlantic City and in New York. She later opened a salon called Vi's Studio of Beauty Culture in Halifax, and served the black community.
Entrepreneur and Community Leader:
In the early 20's, with the advent of new hairstyles that required special products and maintenance, and an emphasis on fashion trends and personal care, beauty salons began to offer opportunities to female entrepreneurs. Especially black women were able to discover opportunities that were not otherwise available. Beauty salons became a center for social contact in the black community, so that the shop owner could achieve a position with status and authority.
Viola Desmond quickly found success. She opened a beauty school, the Desmond School of Beauty Culture, because she did not want other black women to endure the difficulties she had in getting the right education. Enrollment at Desmond's school grew rapidly, with students from New Brunswick and Quebec. Around 15 students graduated from the school each year. Later on, Desmond created a cosmetic series for people with darker skin tones, called Vi's Beauty products. She marketed and sold the products herself.
Despite her many accomplishments, Desmond still had to deal with racist segregation practices. Segregation is the forced separation of racial groups. In Canada, there were no official laws enforcing the separation of black and white Canadians. However, communities and businesses such as shops, theaters and restaurants made their own unofficial rules.
Roseland Theater:
On November 8, 1946, Desmond's car crashed on her way to a business meeting in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Because of this, she made an unplanned stop in the city of New Glasgow. After being told that the repair would take several hours, she arranged a hotel room and decided to make a movie to pass the time.
At the Roseland Theater, Desmond asked for a ticket for a seat on the main floor. The ticket salesman handed her a balcony ticket instead, where non-white customers were expected to sit. When she entered the main floor, a mayor told her that her ticket was meant for the balcony, where she had to move. When he thought a mistake had been made, Desmond returned to the cashier and asked to exchange the ticket for the main floor. The cashier refused, saying they were not allowed to sell tickets on the main floor to black citizens. Desmond decided to sit on the main floor anyway.
Desmond was confronted by my management, who told her that the theater had the right to refuse admission to any person worthy of criticism. She pointed out that she had not been denied entry, and that the ticket was in fact still in her hand. She added that she had offered to pay the difference in the cost of a main floor ticket, but was rejected. As a result, Desmond was then forcibly removed from his seat, arrested and held overnight in a prison cell, shocked and disbelieving.
Because it costs more than a cent for a seat on the main floor than a balcony seat, Desmond was charged with tax evasion. She had to pay a $ 26 court fee to be released from custody.
Viola Desmond Trial:
When she returned home, Desmond's husband, Jack, advised her to drop the case. He had become accustomed to the racism that prevailed in the province over the years, and told her that it was best to leave the situation alone. "Take it to the Lord in prayer" was his suggestion. However, the leaders of her church urged her to fight for her rights. The Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People also offered its support. Carrie Best, founder of The Clarion, the province's other black-owned and operated newspaper, was particularly interested in the case. Best had a similar experience five years earlier, when she and her son were removed from Roseland Theater for sitting in the Whites-only section. She sued the theater's management without success. Clarion followed Desmond's story closely - often on the front page.
Desmond also hired a lawyer, Frederick Bissett, to represent her in court. The lawsuit he filed against Roseland Theater failed because he claimed that his client was wrongfully accused of tax evasion instead of pointing out that she was discriminated against because of her race. Bissett later applied to the Supreme Court to set aside the sentence. The case was closed, and Desmond was left without justice. Bissett had failed her.
Viola Desmond Trial (continued):
Unlike the United States, Jim Crow was not a strict law in Canada. So, Bissett would have succeeded if he pointed out that the private cinema was trying to enforce segregated seating. But just because Canada lacked Jim Crow, it did not mean that black people escaped racism. Aufa Cooper, a professor of black Canadian studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, told Al Jazeera that Desmond's case should be viewed through a Canadian lens.
"I think it's time for Canada to recognize its black citizens, people who have suffered," Cooper said. "Canada has its own domestic, anti-black racism and anti-African racism that it has to deal with without comparing it to the United States. We live here. We do not live in America. Desmond lived in Canada. ”
The trial marked the first known legal challenge presented by a black woman in Canada. Although Desmond lost, her efforts inspired Black Nova Scotians to demand equal treatment and shed light on racial injustice in Canada. And in 1954, segregation finally ended in Nova Scotia.
Meaning and heritage:
It's hard to know how Desmond felt about the brave stance and the consequences. Eventually, and perhaps because of her experience with the Nova Scotia legal system, her marriage to Jack ended in divorce. Desmond left his hometown of Halifax and moved to Montreal to attend business school. She later moved to New York, where she died alone of a gastrointestinal bleeding on February 7, 1965, aged 50.
Decades after her death, Viola's story began to gain public attention. In 2003, Desmond's sister, Wanda Robson, enrolled in a course on race relations in North America at the University College of Cape Breton (now Cape Breton University) taught by Graham Reynolds. During the course, Reynolds recounted the experience of Viola Desmond, and got Wanda to speak out. With the help of Reynolds, she began a long effort to share her sister's story. In 2010, Wanda published a book about Desmond's life called "Sister to Courage".
On April 15, 2010, Viola Desmond was given free pardon by Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis at a ceremony in Halifax. The pardon acknowledged that Desmond's conviction was a violation of the law and that the charges should not have been made. At the formal ceremony, Percy Paris, Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs and Economic and Rural Development, said:"With this pardon, we acknowledge the mistakes of the past, and we strengthen our position that discrimination and hatred will not be tolerated."
In 2010, the Viola Desmond Chair in Social Justice was established at Cape Breton University. In 2012, Canada Post issued a stamp in honor of Viola Desmond. EN Heritage Minute about Desmond's story was released during Black History Month in February 2016.
Meaning and Inheritance (continued):
On March 8, 2016, the International Women's Day, the Bank of Canada launched a public consultation to select the first Canadian woman to appear on the front of a Canadian banknote. On December 8, 2016, it was announced that Desmond would appear on the front of the $ 10 bill.
In 2017, Desmond was inducted into the Canada Walk of Fame under the category of philanthropy and humanities. In January 2018, she was named a National Historic Person by the Canadian Government. On July 6, 2018, a Google doodle telling the story of Desmond was released in Canada to celebrate her 104th birthday.
On November 19, 2018, the $ 10 bill with Viola Desmond was released. The bill was Canada's first vertical banknote. It also contains a map of the North End of Halifax, where Desmond lived and worked. It also contains an excerpt from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: "Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination." The Canadian Museum of Human Rights is behind the bill.
In February 2019, the Royal Canadian Mint announced the first release of its first Black History Month coin, a pure silver coin with an engraved image of Viola Desmond. In April 2019, the $ 10 bill won the Desmond International Bank Note Society's Yearnote of the Year Award for 2018.
The government of Nova Scotia repaid an adjusted amount of Viola's fines to her sister in February 2021. Wanda spent $ 1,000 to fund a scholarship at Cape Breton University.
A true Canadian hero:
If there's one thing we've learned from Viola Desmond's story, it's not giving up on something we believe in. No matter what obstacles or challenges life may throw at us, we must continue to fight. And while Desmond's trial may have failed, her bravery and perseverance have inspired millions of black Canadians to stand up for their rights and fight for equal treatment. Because of her, black people have more rights today than they did 50 years ago, and racial segregation no longer exists in Canada. Today, Viola Desmond is known as a true Canadian civilian hero.
May we always honor Viola Desmond's hard work and dedication. She will always be remembered as one of the most heroic people in Canadian history. Her legacy will live on forever.