Abstract
The African presence in Canada extends back over four hundred years of history. Some African groups already lived in the Atlantic regions before the formation of the Canadian Confederation. The dilemma of African communities of Canada lies beyond their historical sites in the complexity of their integration to the current policies of Canadian Multiculturalism. Historical facts prove that the cultural disparity between different African groups was the fundamental obstacle to all anti racist movements in Canada. For instance, Africville remains a online place of resistance for Black communities in Canada. In an epistemological perspective, it seems to have a lack of ideology in Africville in comparison with Harlem Renaissance, which attempted to demonstrate scientifically the uniqueness of the Black soul. At this point, the struggles of the African Canadians become a dichotomy of being Canadian and being African. George Elliott Clarke’s literary works seem to be a metaphor of this cultural dilemma: African Canadians have an eternal status of immigrants. This paper analyzes some cultural and social policies that should be adopted by Canadian scholars and local politicians to enhance the cultural dynamic and the social development of African Canadian communities. In the last decade, the Cultural Centers of Nova Scotia that promote and coordinate various activities among African communities in the province have been involved in these efforts and minimally assisted by the provincial universities as well by the national politicians.
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