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Nègres noirs, nègres blancs : Race, sexe et politique dans les années 1960 à Montréal
Peu de personnes savent que Montréal a déjà été, du moins pour un bref instant, l’épicentre du Black Power et des autres mouvements de la gauche antiraciste et anticolonialiste. Pourtant, en octobre 1968, le Congrès des écrivains noirs a rassemblé à l’Université McGill intellectuels et militants venus d’ailleurs au Canada, des États-Unis, des Caraïbes et du continent africain. C.L.R. James, Stokely Carmichael, Miriam Makeba, Rocky Jones et Walter Rodney, pour ne nommer que certains des plus connus, ont ainsi inspiré nombre de militants québécois. Quelques mois plus tard, d’ailleurs, un puissant mouvement d’occupation mené par des étudiants noirs s’emparait de l’Université Sir George Williams. Dans l’atmosphère explosive de l’époque, il n’en fallait pas plus pour que les médias et les services de sécurité du pays voient Montréal comme un foyer de la contestation noire dont le discours anticolonialiste avait aussi le potentiel d’enflammer le mouvement pour l’émancipation nationale du peuple québécois.
Méticuleusement documenté, Nègres noirs, nègres blancs ébranle la vision traditionnelle de l’histoire de l’internationalisme noir et offre une analyse approfondie des enjeux politiques de l’époque entourant les questions de pouvoir, de genre et de race.
Le Canada – pas plus que le reste du monde – ne s’est toujours pas libéré du racisme. Cet ouvrage éclaire de la lumière du passé de nouvelles pistes pour arriver à une réelle émancipation.
Méticuleusement documenté, Nègres noirs, nègres blancs ébranle la vision traditionnelle de l’histoire de l’internationalisme noir et offre une analyse approfondie des enjeux politiques de l’époque entourant les questions de pouvoir, de genre et de race.
Le Canada – pas plus que le reste du monde – ne s’est toujours pas libéré du racisme. Cet ouvrage éclaire de la lumière du passé de nouvelles pistes pour arriver à une réelle émancipation.
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 20, 2013
7 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
About the author
David Austin
4 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 11, 2019
Un livre d'histoire que j'aurais vraiment immensément apprécié lire plus tôt puisque, en plus d'être un livre d'histoire en soi, il aborde une panoplie de sujets (l'appropriation du terme de nègre par les québécois·es (nègres blancs d'Amérique), par le mouvement des femmes; les liens entre le mouvement indépendantiste québécois et les milieux séparatistes noirs aux États-Unis, les même critiques que je faisais du livre sur l'esclave de Marcel Trudel!! Deux siècles d'esclavage au Québec, comment les québécois se réclament d'une identité de victime des canadiens anglais sans observer leur impact sur les premières nations, la surveillance des communautés afro-québécoises, etc.) dont je discute à l'occasion avec plusieurs personnes.
L'essai s'attarde surtout à la période autour du Congrès des écrivains noirs en octobre 1968, un peu avant, un peu après, beaucoup pendant, parlent des figurent américaines, caribéenne, québécoises influentes (et ne néglige pas du tout l'apport des femmes comme tant d'autres bouquins sur les mêmes sujets et possède définitivement un aspect féministe à plusieurs égards dans son écriture de l'histoire!). L'essai s'attarde aussi au milieu culturel et intellectuel blancs (notamment en ce qui à trait à la soi-disante négritude blanche), les médias et les actions de surveillance et de perturbation de cet événement par la GRC.
Non seulement cet essai donne un contexte beaucoup plus large et précis de ce que je crois savoir , mais apporte aussi beaucoup d'eau au moulin argumentatif et a certainement ré-orienté certaines de mes opinions vis-à-vis certains sujets et m'amène à me poser plein de nouvelles questions tout en connaissant davantage la communauté afro-montréalaise et cet événement que trop rarement évoqué, mais immensément important, dans l'histoire du Québec.
L'essai s'attarde surtout à la période autour du Congrès des écrivains noirs en octobre 1968, un peu avant, un peu après, beaucoup pendant, parlent des figurent américaines, caribéenne, québécoises influentes (et ne néglige pas du tout l'apport des femmes comme tant d'autres bouquins sur les mêmes sujets et possède définitivement un aspect féministe à plusieurs égards dans son écriture de l'histoire!). L'essai s'attarde aussi au milieu culturel et intellectuel blancs (notamment en ce qui à trait à la soi-disante négritude blanche), les médias et les actions de surveillance et de perturbation de cet événement par la GRC.
Non seulement cet essai donne un contexte beaucoup plus large et précis de ce que je crois savoir , mais apporte aussi beaucoup d'eau au moulin argumentatif et a certainement ré-orienté certaines de mes opinions vis-à-vis certains sujets et m'amène à me poser plein de nouvelles questions tout en connaissant davantage la communauté afro-montréalaise et cet événement que trop rarement évoqué, mais immensément important, dans l'histoire du Québec.
December 11, 2024
one of the best books of the year for me.
If 90% of the philosophy you read is Western white men get a grip and order this book. That includes me.
It was such an honour and privilege to have Prof.Austin the authors of this incredible book about Black Canada, teach this class.
At its core this is a philosophical undertaking rooted in political education.
Following a micro history of Black nationalist movements, from the Coloured Women’s Club Montreal to the Sit George Williams Affair in Montreal, Austin uses Garveyism, Black Radical Tradition and Marxism frameworks to connect political mobilization led by Black communities in Montreal to wider diasporic movements.
If 90% of the philosophy you read is Western white men get a grip and order this book. That includes me.
It was such an honour and privilege to have Prof.Austin the authors of this incredible book about Black Canada, teach this class.
At its core this is a philosophical undertaking rooted in political education.
Following a micro history of Black nationalist movements, from the Coloured Women’s Club Montreal to the Sit George Williams Affair in Montreal, Austin uses Garveyism, Black Radical Tradition and Marxism frameworks to connect political mobilization led by Black communities in Montreal to wider diasporic movements.
February 8, 2026
« the Congress of Black writers, the Sir George William protest, and 60s black politics in general were organized in response to this phenomenon, a problem that demonstrates the degree to which race is not a “black problem”, but a societal problem that implicates everyone. Rosie Douglas made precisely this point during the Sir George William protest, when presumably speaking to a predominantly white audience who were braced to join the protest, he argued that the white students who supported the occupation were “not doing any favour to the black students, but what they’re doing is for humanity.” He argued that racism existed “as a result of the development of capitalism” and thus, “when we fight racism we automatically fight, capitalism, and we automatically fight that system that is exploiting every one of you, whether you believe it or not.” » - P.185
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March 19, 20221) "In 1997 many members of Montreal’s Black community had not seen her in years, decades even, and they were surprised when they heard about my chance encounter with her. But for a brief moment between 1968 and 1969, the event that she was part of, and the city of Montreal itself, had become a centre of Black Power. Josie Wallen was part of a network of individuals and groups in the city’s small Black community, people who were fighting to define their place in Montreal and Canada. Like members of other communities in the Black diaspora, Montreal’s Blacks dreamed, fought, protested, and organized. They acted autonomously and yet were also an active part of a wider movement for change that touched the lives of others around the globe. That moment in Montreal was neither fleeting nor by chance. Rather, it was part of a larger complex of events and developments that sent ripples across Canada and through the United States, Britain, and the Caribbean."
2) "In some ways the ferment of the period was embodied in those two significant events: the Congress of Black Writers, one of the most important gatherings of international Black radical and nationalist figures of the time; and what became known as the Sir George Williams Affair, a protest and occupation that quickly assumed implications well beyond the university environment. The events mark a historical turning point that highlights many of the pressing issues of today – issues of race, gender, and security, among others. The events were also intricately connected, and while one organizer of the historic conference argued that the city of Montreal was incidental to the occasion and that the meeting could have been held elsewhere, careful consideration suggests that the site was neither accidental nor incidental. Both events captured national and international headlines as acts of Black militancy that underscored racial oppression in Canada."
3) "Various factors – the coming to power of a Liberal administration under Lesage, the declining significance of the Catholic Church’s authority, the emergence of the French Quebec new left in the post-Duplessis era – combined to profoundly shape Quebec society. Not only did French Quebecers assert an anti-colonial and nationalist position, but in doing so they also constructed a Black racial persona – the French Canadian as nègre. It was precisely during this time – when French Quebecers were casting themselves as 'white [n-words]' in Quebec’s heightened nationalist and politically charged context – that Black radical politics emerged in Montreal. As Blacks in Montreal were redefining themselves and claiming Montreal and Canada as their own – thinking locally and transnationally, and expressing new, overtly militant forms of protest and defiance – French Canadians were appropriating blackness as a kind of anagram – a rearranging of meaning as opposed to words – of their lived experience."
4) "In the Caribbean the new nationalist movements of various kinds and emerging oppositional groups presented a challenge to colonial continuity – the lingering of old forms of colonialism under new guises in newly independent states – a phenomenon that occurred both despite the efforts and, often, with the collaboration of the region’s new leadership. The shadowy states that appeared in the afterlife of formal colonialism were in effect what Richard Iton refers to as 'duppy states,' in an allusion to ghosts (duppies) in Jamaica who haunt the living because their bodies were not properly disposed of."
5) "Despite the tragedies and political and personal differences, Cook recalled that Sir George mobilized students around anti-racism and shifted the focus from U.S. to Canadian racial oppression. The event delivered a blow to the liberal image of the university and Montreal and to the confidence of the Canadian power structure. According to Cook, the Liberal government did not have an effective program or analytical tools to help its politicians and functionaries understand the incident. It struggled to make sense of what he described as a 'fear of the Black man rising in North America' or what Jones referred to as a fear of a united Black movement, a fear that became a priority for state security. Canada could no longer ignore racism because it had crashed right on its doorstep."
6) "Blacks have long had a love-hate relationship with the White left. While the left, as a broad political category, has historically been among the groups at the forefront of challenging the power elite in the global North, including the struggle against racism, it has also been the case that the White left has been indifferent to institutional racism and, worse, often guilty of the same virulence and paternalism towards Blacks that has served to prop up and support the very systems and relations of power and domination that it opposes."
7) "Over a period of time the RCMP spied on gay and lesbian groups, tea and Tupperware parties, consumer housewife groups, high-school and university students, feminists, trade unions, left-wing groups, members of conventional political parties, and politicians. Any individual or group deemed 'different' – outside the predetermined political, sexual, gender, and racial norms – was considered a potential threat to state security and, collaborating and sharing information with the FBI and CIA, the RCMP kept copious files on them. In addition to the generic new left, the French Québécois left, Maoists, Trotskyists, and communists of all stripes, the RCMP monitored Red Power and Black Power groups and was especially fearful of collaboration between the latter two groups and between Quebec nationalists, Canadian Black Power figures, and members of the Black Panther Party. Judging from the Force’s own statements, it perceived the organized Black left as being particularly subversive and threatening to Canadian national security in the 1960s."
2) "In some ways the ferment of the period was embodied in those two significant events: the Congress of Black Writers, one of the most important gatherings of international Black radical and nationalist figures of the time; and what became known as the Sir George Williams Affair, a protest and occupation that quickly assumed implications well beyond the university environment. The events mark a historical turning point that highlights many of the pressing issues of today – issues of race, gender, and security, among others. The events were also intricately connected, and while one organizer of the historic conference argued that the city of Montreal was incidental to the occasion and that the meeting could have been held elsewhere, careful consideration suggests that the site was neither accidental nor incidental. Both events captured national and international headlines as acts of Black militancy that underscored racial oppression in Canada."
3) "Various factors – the coming to power of a Liberal administration under Lesage, the declining significance of the Catholic Church’s authority, the emergence of the French Quebec new left in the post-Duplessis era – combined to profoundly shape Quebec society. Not only did French Quebecers assert an anti-colonial and nationalist position, but in doing so they also constructed a Black racial persona – the French Canadian as nègre. It was precisely during this time – when French Quebecers were casting themselves as 'white [n-words]' in Quebec’s heightened nationalist and politically charged context – that Black radical politics emerged in Montreal. As Blacks in Montreal were redefining themselves and claiming Montreal and Canada as their own – thinking locally and transnationally, and expressing new, overtly militant forms of protest and defiance – French Canadians were appropriating blackness as a kind of anagram – a rearranging of meaning as opposed to words – of their lived experience."
4) "In the Caribbean the new nationalist movements of various kinds and emerging oppositional groups presented a challenge to colonial continuity – the lingering of old forms of colonialism under new guises in newly independent states – a phenomenon that occurred both despite the efforts and, often, with the collaboration of the region’s new leadership. The shadowy states that appeared in the afterlife of formal colonialism were in effect what Richard Iton refers to as 'duppy states,' in an allusion to ghosts (duppies) in Jamaica who haunt the living because their bodies were not properly disposed of."
5) "Despite the tragedies and political and personal differences, Cook recalled that Sir George mobilized students around anti-racism and shifted the focus from U.S. to Canadian racial oppression. The event delivered a blow to the liberal image of the university and Montreal and to the confidence of the Canadian power structure. According to Cook, the Liberal government did not have an effective program or analytical tools to help its politicians and functionaries understand the incident. It struggled to make sense of what he described as a 'fear of the Black man rising in North America' or what Jones referred to as a fear of a united Black movement, a fear that became a priority for state security. Canada could no longer ignore racism because it had crashed right on its doorstep."
6) "Blacks have long had a love-hate relationship with the White left. While the left, as a broad political category, has historically been among the groups at the forefront of challenging the power elite in the global North, including the struggle against racism, it has also been the case that the White left has been indifferent to institutional racism and, worse, often guilty of the same virulence and paternalism towards Blacks that has served to prop up and support the very systems and relations of power and domination that it opposes."
7) "Over a period of time the RCMP spied on gay and lesbian groups, tea and Tupperware parties, consumer housewife groups, high-school and university students, feminists, trade unions, left-wing groups, members of conventional political parties, and politicians. Any individual or group deemed 'different' – outside the predetermined political, sexual, gender, and racial norms – was considered a potential threat to state security and, collaborating and sharing information with the FBI and CIA, the RCMP kept copious files on them. In addition to the generic new left, the French Québécois left, Maoists, Trotskyists, and communists of all stripes, the RCMP monitored Red Power and Black Power groups and was especially fearful of collaboration between the latter two groups and between Quebec nationalists, Canadian Black Power figures, and members of the Black Panther Party. Judging from the Force’s own statements, it perceived the organized Black left as being particularly subversive and threatening to Canadian national security in the 1960s."
February 4, 2025
Race and the sixties in Montreal. John Abbott professor. Good read, interesting references to Kari Leavitt, an economics professor I had in McGill. She is the daughter of Karl Polanyi, a great economist.
May 5, 2019
Book shows insight and research. I met the author in person.
November 15, 2020
Didn't realise that the Quebecois tried to equate themselves with the struggles that the Blacks had in America and Canada.
March 13, 2022
History remembered of Black Montreal during the sixties.
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August 6, 2015http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2013/1...
Review by Muna Mire
Perhaps because David Austin's Fear of a Black Nation: Race, Sex and Security in Sixties Montreal is the first of its kind, it has, ambitiously, set out to accomplish a great deal.
An academic text whose title recalls the classic 1990 Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet, it aims to provide a viable counter-history of Black Power and Black liberation organizing in 1960s Montreal -- a topic left mostly untouched by Canadian history.
Through the analytic lenses of diaspora, memory, and biopolitics, Austin chronicles the history of Black Canadian intellectuals and political leaders organizing themselves in parallel proximity to a burgeoning twin movement south of the border.
Austin presents the reader with a painstakingly researched record spanning across borders and movements to contextualize the organizing happening in Montreal in and around the Congress of Black Writers and the infamous -- now seemingly forgotten -- Sir George Williams Affair, which remains the largest student occupation in Canadian history.
Austin talks about these pivotal events in Canadian history alongside the global traditions of Black consciousness and radicalism and more broadly, within the larger history of global leftist and liberation organizing.
Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2013/1...
Review by Muna Mire
Perhaps because David Austin's Fear of a Black Nation: Race, Sex and Security in Sixties Montreal is the first of its kind, it has, ambitiously, set out to accomplish a great deal.
An academic text whose title recalls the classic 1990 Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet, it aims to provide a viable counter-history of Black Power and Black liberation organizing in 1960s Montreal -- a topic left mostly untouched by Canadian history.
Through the analytic lenses of diaspora, memory, and biopolitics, Austin chronicles the history of Black Canadian intellectuals and political leaders organizing themselves in parallel proximity to a burgeoning twin movement south of the border.
Austin presents the reader with a painstakingly researched record spanning across borders and movements to contextualize the organizing happening in Montreal in and around the Congress of Black Writers and the infamous -- now seemingly forgotten -- Sir George Williams Affair, which remains the largest student occupation in Canadian history.
Austin talks about these pivotal events in Canadian history alongside the global traditions of Black consciousness and radicalism and more broadly, within the larger history of global leftist and liberation organizing.
Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2013/1...
Read
February 7, 2026Theoretically, I feel this text is lacking. However, as a historical work, it's a great introduction to Black radical politics in Montreal during the 60s
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews