Where Race Does Not Matter: The New Spirit of Modernity
Originally intended to be a white man’s country, Canada helped develop the prototype for the nation-state that privileged the descendants of Western Europe and marginalized all others, including those who were aboriginal to the land. This is the prototype that also characterized apartheid South Africa.
Now, thanks to the policies of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada has done an about-face on race and is the world’s first official multicultural country. But race and ethnicity are still serious issues. In Where Race Does Not Matter, Cecil Foster, one of Canada’s leading intellectuals, argues that Canada can leave a legacy to the world—a legacy of true multiculturalism where all citizens are generally equal and race truly does not matter. This brilliant polemic challenges the prevailing wisdom about racism and offers a model for the future.
Cecil Foster is a Canadian novelist, scholar and journalist. Foster is a professor in the Africana and American Studies department (formerly known as Transnational Studies) University at Buffalo. He has published extensively on Canadian “multiculturalism,” and his works explore the historical and contemporary experiences of Black Canadians.
Other publications from this author include:
- THEY CALL ME GEORGE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF BLACK TRAIN PORTERS (2019)
- Independence (2014)
- Blackness and Modernity: The Colour of Humanity and the Quest for Freedom (2007)
- Dry Bone Memories (2001)
- Slammin’ Tar: A Novel (1998)
- A Place Called Heaven: The Meaning of Being Black in Canada (1996)
- Sleep On, Beloved (1995)
- Caribana (1995)
- No Man in the House (1991)
- Distorted Mirror: Canada’s Racist Face (1991)