Keywords
Supreme Court of Canada, African Canadians, black, racism, judges, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, bias, courts
Abstract
The contrasts, in form and substance, were stark. In form, I was a black woman in a wheelchair, pleading before an all-white, able-bodied and almost all-male Supreme Court of Canada. The usually empty public galleries in the Ottawa courtroom were filled with people of colour, who had come from across the country to witness the hearing of this landmark case. On their entrance, the nine white judges, dressed in their staid, black robes made an almost audible gasp as they were met with this colourfully clad, intently silent band of people of colour.
Recommended Citation
April Burey, "No Dichotomies: Reflections on Equality forAfrican Canadians in R. v. R.D.S." (1998) 21:1 Dal LJ 199.
