Subjugation of Black Porters in the Railroad Industry (jul 23, 1880 – may 22, 1978)

Description:

"The norms of Black people serving white people-established under slavery-continued unabashedly on the railroads. Canadian railroad companies were formally segregated. White men had the title and corresponding pay of 'conductors' and Black men performing many similar functions (with additional demeaning forms of labour) were given the low-paying, lower-status title of 'porters.' Sleeping car porters were black men who shined shoes, took care of white passenger's children and answered to passengers' whims. All were called 'George' while on the job (Mathieu 2010:11), which demonstrates both the importance of public displays of black submission as well as the fact that Blacks were not seen as human beings but believed to be closer to interchangeable objects... Despite significant labour organizing on the part of the porters, the Canada Pacific Railway managed to maintain segregated job descriptions until 1978."

Source: Robyn Maynard. Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present (2017). Page 39.

*Exact month(s) and day(s) approximate

Additional source: http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/5217/6086