This talk explores R v. RDS twenty years after this landmark legal case in Canada. A number of legal scholars and historians of Black Canadian history and Black Canadian legal history have taken the opportunity presented by this anniversary to reflect upon its multi-faceted legacy. Barrington Walker reconsiders RDS in light of the long history of Black people in Canada, the racial state and more recent histories of racial neoliberalism. The talk usea R v. RDS as a lens through which to engage a broader conversation about the difficult work of writing critical histories of Blackness in Canada.
Barrington Walker is Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and a Professor in the Department of History at Wilfrid Laurier University. A historian of Modern Canada, his work focuses on the histories of Blacks, race immigration and the law.