Abstract:
This thesis explores multiple oppression based on race, class, and gender in
relation to the school experiences of African Nova Scotians. An Africentric paradigm
guides this exploratory, qualitative study. It attempts to extend a single foci analysis based
on race to include a perspective that examines the school experiences of African Nova
Scotians based on a multiaxal system of oppression. Twelve African Nova Scotians males
and females between ages 18-35 were interviewed. They were all educated in the Nova
Scotian pubic school system. Participants were asked to reflect on their educational
experiences, and answer specific questions about race, class, and gender oppression
during individual interviews.
Many participants presented a clear analysis of how each form of oppression i.e.,
race, class, and gender frames their lives, in particular their educational experiences.
However, race was the primary focus of the participants’ narratives and it was a challenge
to articulate the experience of multiple oppression. This thesis explores the complexities,
which arise when the concept of multiple oppression is applied to an analysis of African
Nova Scotian school experiences. It attempts to bring new insights into the current
discourse on African Canadians and schooling.
