Laila El Mugammar: Every time I stand for the Canadian national anthem, I think about the song's composer, who founded a blackface minstrel troupe. What does it mean to sing the melody of a man who wore me as a costume? (via Chatelaine) CanadaDay
Every time I stand for the Canadian national anthem, I think about blackface. I wouldn’t have it any other way.and brownface came to light last fall. The perpetrator I imagine was never photographed, and the risk of his reputation being ruined because this history resurfaces unexpectedly is negligible, since he’s long dead. His name was Calixa Lavallée, and the tune he wrote is sung every morning, in schools and parliaments across the country.
a book by Brian Christopher Thompson. Lavallée was a French-Canadian musician and composer who founded a travelling blackface minstrel troupe, the New Orleans Minstrel Company, which performed across Canada and the United States to great acclaim. He is also the composer of our national anthem.What does it mean to sing the melody of a man who wore me as a costume? Lavallée made a name for himself in reducing Blackness to a monolith for cheap laughs.
I had unearthed a history of anti-Blackness, and in doing so, disrupted his vision of Canada as a racism-free space. I am doing that again now; committing what some would consider witchcraft to render Lavallée visible to you. We believe racism is a cultural export, but it is as home-grown as Lavallée.
I am glad to remember him. By mocking us, he paradoxically rendered our struggles visible in a country that seldom acknowledges its historical Black presence. We cannot relegate ourselves to only remembering what makes us feel good. We must bear witness to how entrenched racism is in our everyday lives, so that we can begin to heal and move forward.
This July 1st, think when you summon Lavallée’s ghost to your backyard shindig. Couple it with a discussion of your strategies for anti-racism, until he rolls over in his grave.
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