Holly White Roddam,
Canada
I am 68 years old. I grew up in a bi-racial family in Nova Scotia, Canada. This was not a common occurrence by any means. But our parents loved us and I had a wonderful childhood.
I didn’t know that my father was Black until one day when I was about 9 years old. I was with my cousin who was 7 years older, at an outdoor skating rink in a small village in Nova Scotia where my grandparents lived. A White woman brought her 3 little Black foster children to skate. Someone must have given her a hard time because she started yelling, “Well if the Hennigars can have a coloured person in their family, so can I!”
I was quite taken aback! WE were the Hennigars!! What was she talking about? I started going through all my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents and I could not find one coloured person in the lot!
I turned to my cousin and asked him, “Who is she talking about??” He looked at me like I had 10 heads! “You’re kidding right?” He laughed in disbelief. “No! I have no idea!” “Your father!” he said with all the amazement in his voice of one who couldn’t believe that anyone could be that dense.
It stunned me! My father?! He wasn’t Black! He was my Dad! I had never noticed that he was “coloured”. I knew his skin was brown and that my sisters and I were varying shades of “tanned” but it meant nothing! What mattered was, he was my Dad!
I do remember, though, the first time I saw him with a tan. I was shocked. I thought he already had one!
I chose my 6 words because my family heritage on my Dad’s side is a very honourable one. My grandfather was the firstborn free in his family. His father and mother and siblings had been slaves in Virginia.
My grandfather went to Acadia University in Canada and was very well-loved. He was a good athlete , had a great singing voice and wonderful sense of humor. He was an amazing person. He was struck by how he was treated like a person, not a colour while at Acadia, and decided to stay in Nova Scotia. He married my grandmother, a native Mi’kmaq teenager and they had 13 children.
The family was very talented in many areas and they went on to accomplish many “firsts”. My grandfather was the second Black man to graduate from Acadia University, becoming a pastor, and had one of the first national radio broadcasts in Canada. During WWII he fought for the right for Blacks to fight for their country and was instrumental in the formation of the No 2 Construction Battalion, an all-Black Regiment. All the officers were White, but my grandfather was their Chaplain. This gave him the rank of Captain making him, Captain Reverand William Andrew White, the first Black officer in the British Empire that we know of.
He was a civil rights mover and shaker in the 1920s and ’30s in Nova Scotia and instilled a sense in his children that they were Not Slaves and could do anything they put their minds to. And so they did.
My Aunt Portia White became Canada’s first international “star” as an opera singer who travelled in North America and beyond, being compared to the State’s Marion Anderson. My Uncles broke colour barriers in politics in Canada and one was awarded the Honour of Canada Medal, the highest honour a civilian can receive. Later my cousin also received it, having served faithfully for over 20 years as Canada’s first Black Senator. And there are many, many other accomplishments that my Dad’s family were known for.
My Dad was on a nationwide television show for 13 years called “Singalong Jubilee” where Anne Murray was discovered and he was recognized across Canada for his contributions in music.
There are many more accolades in my generation and in the extended family. Descendants of my grandfather’s siblings. Overall, it is a huge legacy. I am honoured to be part of this great family of Black and mixed-race relatives. It is a lot to live up to, but I am proud of what my family has accomplished.
I guess it is not surprising then that I have never seen colour to be a barrier and have always thought of myself as Black, even though I have white skin and have lived a very “white life”. I love my Black heritage and have discovered that it goes very well with my Native, Italian and German parts too!
