Viola Desmond was a superior African-Canadian who got discriminated against after watching a movie at the Roseland Theatre on the ground floor. A place where only whites could go.
Viola Desmond was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 6, 1914. She grew up with 10 siblings in the home of James Albert Davis and Gwendolin Irene Davis. She was moved by how hard her parents have worked, so she wanted to become a successful businesswoman. After teaching for a short period of time at two racially segregated schools for Black students, she began a study program at the Field Beauty Culture School in Montreal, one of the very few beauty schools that accepted Black students. After the study program, she began training and working hard in New York and Atlantic City. After her hard training, she opened Vi’s Studio of Beauty Culture in Halifax, helping the African-Canadians who wanted to learn more about beauty.…show more content… Her car broke down and the repairman said it’s going to take a while to fix. So she decided to go see a picture in the Roseland theatre. She wanted to buy a ticket on the ground floor, so the worker gave her a ticket for the balcony, but Viola didn’t know that. She sat on the ground floor thinking that she had a ground floor ticket. So the manager demanded Viola to sit on the balcony. Huge arguments started to happen, so she decided to go to the front booth to get an actual ground floor ticket. After telling the worker that she “accidentally” got a balcony ticket, the worker said, “I can’t sell these tickets to you people.” Viola was furious because she knew the worker was referencing the color of her skin. Viola had the courage to go back in the theatre and watch the movie ON THE GROUND FLOOR. Nothing could stop her. But then the manager came, then the cops came and they dragged her out of the theatre and arrested
