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Jamie Sarkonak: 'Racial battle fatigue,' the newest excuse for violence heard in court

Racial background reports submitted to Nova Scotian courts have pointed to this excuse to explain cases of shooting and stabbing

Just a few weeks ago, a Halifax man named Shondre Jarvis was sentenced to three years’ jail for nearly killing a fellow African Nova Scotian. It happened at a house party in 2024, where adults and children alike had gathered to continue the celebration of their historically Black neighbourhood’s annual festival.

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The men had gotten into an argument, and later when the victim went to leave, Jarvis, who was intoxicated at the time, ran at the victim from behind with a knife and stabbed him six times, inflicting life-threatening injuries. Jarvis was disarmed by good Samaritan partygoers, after which he fled and hid in the bush. A police dog sniffed him out. The charge was attempted murder, but he pleaded to aggravated assault.

Jamie Sarkonak: 'Racial battle fatigue,' the newest excuse for violence heard in court Back to video

What’s perhaps more mystifying than Jarvis’ senseless act of violence was the excuse that Nova Scotia’s professional racism experts later offered for it: racial battle fatigue.

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Nova Scotia........

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