Journey to Justice” Canadian Documentary

Journey to Justice” Canadian Documentary

The “journey to success” documentary is an acknowledgment of six Canadian who made a step of taking racism to court. The individuals are rarely noticed in the history of the heroes who fought for the civil rights of the black people. The focus of the film is a period between the 1930s and1950s and documents the process struggle through which the six went through in their refusal of inequality. These individuals included Viola Desmond, Nova Scotia, and Fred Christie, who were aided in securing justice for the Canadians. The main character of the documentary was Howard Triest, who was a Jewish from Germany. He freed to Nazi back in 1939 and went back to America as a victor, after which he served as an interpreter in the tribunals of Nuremberg. The documentary explores the discriminatory and racial inequality in public facilities and social life through which the blacks went through in the face of the white.

Throughout the documentary, racism has been portrayed based on three dimensions. These include individual racism, institutional, and internationalization. In the context of individuals, it is the aspect of holding stereotypes regarding other people on the ground of their race. Institutional racism involves power differentials within societal institutions in structure as well as functions. Internationalized racism is observed when people of a given ethnic group tend to internalize prejudices as well as stereotypes concerning their groups..

In the documentary, an example of the instances of institutional racism was received indirect as well as indirect means. The direct form was seen in the school system in the country. At the same time, indirect was perceived through under-policing, for instance, missing as well as murdering of the women, and over-policing, which was seen in racial profiling within the documentary. The black was forced out of the white schools based on their race. The black ended up to open schools that had nothing at which borne racial segregation. A historical racial discrimination example was the 1936 Canadian business person in the documentary who refused to sell to the black people (Canada, 2020). The blacks were discriminated against and were not sold in the hotels.

In the documentary, the institutional discriminatory has been challenged through the imposition of charges to anyone who will cause racist acts. Antonio made sure that in his province, justice was exercised (Canada, 2020). He took a stand and championed justice for all Canadians in his Premier. He supported the movements which were fighting for equality. He stands with them to fight racial discrimination, especially in his jurisdiction. Antonio made rallies with university students and discussed the need for equal rights for all people in Canada regardless of the race. However, though the government services in his province discouraged discriminatory and racial segregation, the acts continued in bars, hotels, and restaurants where the white servicemen disregarded blacks.

However, human rights movements went to fight for equality of the people living in Canada regardless of their race. In the documentary, individuals like Desmond are seen to take the case to the highest person in the court system in the quest for equal rights (Canada, 2020). They held hands together and approached the legal departments peacefully. They said they have no guns or bombs, but they have presented their concerns for equality in a friendly manner. They insisted that they are not violent, but they are requesting equal recognition of all people in Canada free of race or ethnicity.

In summary, the documentary shows the various ways through which the black were disregarded in Canada. It as well shows the fight to achieve equal recognition in the country — the processes the black people in Canada underwent to the achievement of their rights and freedom. The narration is revealed major reforms that happened towards the accomplishment of justice for all in the country.

Reference

Canada, N. (2020). Journey to Justice. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 13 February 2020, from https://www.nfb.ca/film/journey_to_justice/.