Outside of specialized works devoted to “black history,” blacks are largely absent from Canada’s historical literature. It is not that they have been air- brushed out of the grand panorama: they were never included to begin with. This state of affairs obscures the fact that “black history” is “white history” – what usually passes for history tout court – and the sooner this is recog- nized the better. We cannot know who we are without knowing who we were, and we in Canada – whatever our origins or skin tone – will never know that without understanding the black experience and what it tells us about the Eurocentric culture that has dominated our history. But we cannot begin to restore the missing black element to its rightful place without first establish- ing who the blacks were who have been left out.
