white woman jailed for loving a chinese man...in toronto

[asim99]

...in 1939

http://info.wlu.ca/~wwwpress/Catalog/demerson.shtml

Incorrigible
Velma Demerson
$19.95 Paper, 184 pp.
IS<a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=51 target=_blank>BN</a>: 0-88920-444-6
Publication Date: December 2004

On a May morning in 1939, eighteen-year-old Velma Demerson and her lover were having breakfast when two police officers arrived to take her away. Her crime was loving a Chinese man, a “crime� that was compounded by her pregnancy and subsequent mixed-race child. Sentenced to a home for wayward girls, Demerson was then transferred (along with forty-six other girls) to Torontos Mercer Reformatory for Females. The girls were locked in their cells for twelve hours a day and required to work in the on-site laundry and factory. They also endured suspect medical examinations. When Demerson was finally released after ten months' incarceration weeks of solitary confinement, abusive medical treatments, and the state's apprehension of her child, her marriage to her lover resulted in the loss of her citizenship status.

This is the story of how Demerson, and so many other girls, were treated as criminals or mentally defective individuals, even though their worst crime might have been only their choice of lover. Incorrigible is a survivor's narrative. In a period that saw the rise of psychiatry, legislation against interracial marriage, and a populist movement that believed in eradicating disease and sin by improving the purity of Anglo-Saxon stock, Velma Demerson, like many young women, found herself confronted by powerful social forces. This is a history of some of those who fell through the cracks of the criminal code, told in a powerful first-person voice.

About the Author

Velma Demerson is a widow, and mother of three children—the first child, the son of her interracial marriage, died at age twenty-six. She has worked throughout her life in a variety of positions, mostly as a secretary for governments (provincial and federal) and lawyers. She is self-educated. This is her first book.

[porphyra]

“There are few <a href=../autolink/redirectpage.php?linkid=32 target=_blank>chapters</a> in Canadian legal history as shameful as the Female Refuges Act. Targeting young women—often already marginalized by class and “race�—for supposed “immoral� behaviour, the act ignored many basic principles of evidence and fair trial, leaving women at the mercy of a law profoundly shaped by sexist and racist assumptions. Women were incarcerated in correctional institutions, where they experienced a daily regime of shame and punishment. Velma Demerson's courageous battle to expose this blatant injustice should be commended. By offering her own story, she has done an immeasureable service that will hopefully sharpen public awareness of current injustices.�

— Joan Sangster, Trent University, Peterborough


I think that sums its up well. Just shameful.

[eelfliw]

The emotional response one has to these historical snippets really highlight how we judge others in a different place, in a different time using our own standards and not their standards.

[Canuck_2005]

The emotional response one has to these historical snippets really highlight how we judge others in a different place, in a different time using our own standards and not their standards.


Exactly, give me. We obviously learned from our history, so why dont we talk about something more current, like China;'s human rights abuses

[danfromwaterloo]

Lets keep in mind that the era was 1939...this was the same period where people were being exterminated for believing in the wrong God. People back in those days were insane when it came to this type of thing. Racial and class lines were there for a reason, not like today where anybody can really marry anybody they wish (unless they're gay). Remember, its 66 years ago, and a lot has changed in that period of time.

Doesn't make it any less atrocious, but it puts it in perspective.

[asim99]

not like today where anybody can really marry anybody they wish (unless they're gay). Remember, its 66 years ago, and a lot has changed in that period of time. Doesn't make it any less atrocious, but it puts it in perspective.

i hope to read a comment like this few years from now, without 'unless they're gay' qualification

[robattoronto]

Agreed.

I'm not sure about the original poster's intent, although I don't believe he's trying to stir up *****. Its a piece of history, read it just for the sake of info and appreciate the progress which has been made over the years.

In the meanwhile don't sweat it, bring on the cute white chickies and lets make cute mixed babies.

Lets keep in mind that the era was 1939...this was the same period where people were being exterminated for believing in the wrong God. People back in those days were insane when it came to this type of thing. Racial and class lines were there for a reason, not like today where anybody can really marry anybody they wish (unless they're gay). Remember, its 66 years ago, and a lot has changed in that period of time.

Doesn't make it any less atrocious, but it puts it in perspective.

[Montague]

It also serves a point whenever us Canadians claim a "holier than thou" atitude towards Americans when we ourselves have shameful periods in our history.

[jedijome]

whatever it is, i dont see why the original poster felt compelled to add "..in toronto", withouth adding "...in 1939" in the thread title.

it think the second piece of information is way more relevant then again if he just wants to cause trouble why would he.

[d_jedi]

What was the point of this thread?

[quanta]

That no one can resist the Hunan beef! :D

[asim99]

What was the point of this thread?

to update people on a new book published on the discrimination that existed in this society based on the then-percieved notion of moral correctness....

[d_jedi]

to update people on a new book published on the discrimination that existed in this society based on the then-percieved notion of moral correctness....

OK, then.. mention the book in the subject of the thread so that we don't waste our time..
(curious that.. a thread about a book that doesn't mention the book.. )

[canadiantofu]

to update people on a new book published on the discrimination that existed in this society based on the then-percieved notion of moral correctness....

Damn. I thought it was to incite me in to having angry unprotected sex with my white GF to make her pay for the sins of her people. J/k

[eelfliw]

Exactly, give me. We obviously learned from our history, so why dont we talk about something more current, like China;'s human rights abuses
That's a difference place. Are you judging them with your standards here in Canada?

[bionicbadger]

Help! Help! I'm being repressed!

[d_jedi]

That's a difference place. Are you judging them with your standards here in Canada?

Why shouldn't we?

[asim99]

OK, then.. mention the book in the subject of the thread so that we don't waste our time..
(curious that.. a thread about a book that doesn't mention the book.. )

there IS a link to the book, with a summary
as for wasting your time....can't help u there, bud

[asim99]

i am sure stephen harper would have recommended life sentence for the poor woman, were he a decision maker way back then

[webdoctors]

i wonder how they knew she was his lover, unless she admitted to it, cause they didnt have dna testing in those dayz...

she coulda played innocent and said she didnt know he was Chinese....

[guest10586]

The government should have updated his passport and said he wasn't Chinese. No payout. :twisted:

Society still judges, racism is still around. Not as strong as it once was but still around. To deny it really would be niave.

So is the book any good? Or was it just summed up for me? I like history but I get bored of books fast. I never read books in university and hardly read only one book freely in my entire life. Me educated. :cheesygri

[guest10586]

she coulda played innocent and said she didnt know he was Chinese....

That's probably true with those old movies with "Chinese people" it is just some white people with bad wigs. I'd be confused.

[Ojam]

Why shouldn't we?

Because it's a completely different culture, we might try and point them in a direction that we *think* is right, Just as they could try and point us in a direction that they *think* is right, but what right do we or they have to judge what a different culture does? What makes one better then another?

[espeed]

1939 was not a good time for minorities in Canada. Jews were persecuted, Blacks were still second class citizens, and Chinese had to pay a head tax to get into Canada, and took the most menial jobs.

[eelfliw]

Why shouldn't we?
I didn't say you shouldn't. Re-read my post. I'm asking how what standards the poster is judging them with.

[guest10586]

Head tax...maybe that would explain my unwillingness to pay tax today...

[actng]

wow... this settles that really old thread about chinese guys hooking up with white girls... it does exist! all the way back in history.

[McLaren]

I guess this guy didn't need this book:

How to date white women: A guide for asian men. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0919637264/qid=1109047924/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-3697689-9039951?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)