Lincoln M. Alexander

Member of the Parliament of Canada

• Born: January 21, 1922
• Birthplace: Toronto, Canada
• Died: October 19, 2012
• Place of death: Hamilton, Canada

Education: McMaster University; Osgoode Hall Law School

Significance: Lincoln M. Alexander, the son of first-generation immigrants and an attorney by training, emerged in the 1960s as a pioneering figure in the civil rights movement in Canada, becoming the first black member of the Parliament of Canada.

Background

Lincoln M. Alexander was born on January 21, 1922, in Toronto, Canada. His parents were Caribbean immigrants; his father was a porter on the Canadian national railway. Alexander grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood—however, he maintained a commitment to his studies and seldom let race enter into his thoughts. He enjoyed sports and pursued a number of athletic endeavors, although that displeased his strict father, who would have preferred he pursue music. His father’s harsh discipline and extramarital affairs led to Alexander’s mother fleeing Toronto to live in the Bronx in New York, where Alexander would eventually join her. Harlem was eye-opening for the young Alexander—what impressed him most, however, was how a commitment to education represented the best chance for black youths.

When Alexander began hanging around bad types after school, his mother dispatched her son back to Toronto to rejoin his father. Poor eyesight prevented him from combat duty with the beginning of World War II, but he enlisted nevertheless and served with distinction in the communications division of the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the war, he returned to school, completing his undergraduate studies in 1949 in economics and history at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Even with a degree, he struggled to find gainful employment because of his race. Therefore, he decided to go into law, matriculating at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and graduating with a law degree in 1953.

Political Career

A successful lawyer for more than a decade, Alexander found himself restless, wanting to experience more fully his identity as a black man. Along with his wife, beginning in the early 1960s, he visited the African continent and experienced first-hand its rich culture and traditions. When he returned, he began to take an interest in politics, more particularly to break through the long-standing obstacles black people faced in pursuing political ambitions in Canada. In 1965, he decided to run for Parliament as a Progressive Conservative, ultimately losing. Undeterred, he ran again in 1968, and on June 25, 1968, he won and made history, becoming Canada’s first black member of Parliament in the House of Commons. His tenure was marked by his support of the controversial War Measures Act in 1970, in which the government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked national security as a reason to put down the Quebec separatists movement that had been responsible for terrorist acts such as murder and kidnapping. Alexander later regretted the support as an overreaction.

Alexander was known for his broad expertise in matters of government as well as his diplomacy. In addition to winning reelection to his Parliament seat four times, he worked as Canada’s observer to the United Nations in 1976 and 1978 and then served a short stint (1979–80) as minister of labor in the Progressive Conservative Party’s minority government headed by Joe Clark. From 1980 to 1985, he chaired the Ontario Workers’ Compensation Board, which experienced a reorganization under his leadership.

In 1985, Alexander was appointed lieutenant governor of Ontario, becoming the first person from a minority group to serve in such a capacity in Canada. During his time in the position, he focused attention on celebrating Canada’s rich cultural diversity, promoting education reform for lower-income neighborhood school systems, resolving issues pertaining to youths, and drawing attention to the remaining problems regarding racism. In 1992, Alexander, then in his seventies, was appointed to the Order of Ontario and became a Companion of the Order of Canada. At the same time, he held the position of chancellor at the University of Guelph from 1991 to 2007, the longest tenure at that school, before becoming chancellor emeritus upon his retirement in June 2007. In 2000, he chaired the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, where he advocated improved race relations and championed the rights of veterans. His inspirational autobiography "Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy": The Honorable Lincoln M. Alexander; A Memoir became a national best seller following its release in 2006.

Alexander died in his sleep on October 19, 2012, at the age of ninety. He was survived by his second wife, his son, and two grandchildren.

Impact

Alexander was widely recognized as a pivotal figure in Canadian civil rights. Although he never participated in protests or in activist causes, he led by example, serving his government in a variety of capacities across a distinguished public career that extended over several decades. With a gift for sound judgment and compassion for the least privileged in a society, he worked for more than half a century to improve race relations and to better education. By overcoming the obstacles in his own life and championing equal rights for all races, he changed attitudes by tirelessly preaching a message of inclusiveness and tolerance. The Lincoln M. Alexander Award, established in 1993, annually recognizes three Ontarians (between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five) who promote social change by working to eliminate systemic racial discrimination.

Personal Life

In 1948, Alexander married Yvonne Harrison. They had a son, Keith, born in 1949. Yvonne passed away in 1999. In 2011, he married Marni Beal.

Bibliography

Alexander, Lincoln M. "Go To School, You’re A Little Black Boy": The Honorable Lincoln M. Alexander; A Memoir. Toronto: Dundurn, 2006. Print.

Cameron, Amy. "Lincoln Alexander." Maclean’s 24 Dec. 2001: 46. Print.

"Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s 1st Black MP, Dies." CBC. CBC, 19 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Martin, Douglas. "Lincoln Alexander, Canadian Trailblazer, Dies at 90." New York Times. New York Times, 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Reilly, Emma. "Lincoln M. Alexander; 1922–2012." Hamilton Spectator. Metroland Media Group, 20 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.