Apartheid, Coming to a Toronto School Near You
Posted on February 2nd, 2008 in World for the Week |
Toronto should open its first black-focused public school in the fall of 2009, says a staff report aimed at improving academic achievement among students of colour. (Source)
The black-focused school is a go. After a heated but civil debate, Canada’s largest school board voted 11-9 last night to open an alternative Africentric school to help fight a 40 per cent dropout rate among Toronto’s black teens. (Source)
The Toronto District School Board approved the decision on January 30th to open a Africentric public school in Toronto, projected for January 2009. The school would be open to students of all colour but will have extra curriculum dealing with African culture and history. This is the school board’s response to the 40% dropout rates among black students.
Okay, does anyone see anything wrong with this? Why don’t we have black-only buses? Black-only fountains? Martin Luther King Jr. should be turning in his grave right now because society is progressing backwards. Many of the articles in The Toronto Star lately have portrayed all black kids to be losers/dropouts/stupid gangsters. Who do you think would go to an Africentric school? The smart black kids would be trying to push their way into the REGULAR schools instead. And what do you have by the end of this? Losers/dropouts/stupid gangsters all grouped in one school, the Africentric one.
The price tag of the recommendation is, are you ready for this, $820 000. This money is coming from the tax payers and OTHER education programs in Ontario. Even some black parents are vehemently against the trustees’ decision. This whole promotion of “Black history and culture” is fine and dandy with me - I wouldn’t mind a few Asian studies course in high school - but it’s the outright labels that bother me. Some advocats of Black Schools are horrified of terms like “segragation” and “civil inequality”, but what else to describe these schools? What happened to promoting diversity, for after all, Canada is known for its multiculturalism! We are one, not divided.
Far from being segregationist, Wilson [supporter] said, the school is about making blacks and other marginalized students feel part of the school system.
It’s important that Africentric schools “are a reality for not just black children but all children of all races,” Wilson said. (Source)
Years from now, can’t you imagine walking down Yonge street and showing a tourist, “And here’s the Black school over here, the Jewish playground here, and Aryan Secondary is just around the corner”. If you’re on the other side of the fence on this one, I don’t blame you. The division on this issue is enormous and several trustees (one of them black) who voted against the proposal were harassed and called names. Thoughts?
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I'm Crystal, a Canadian who thinks she can take on the world simply by getting up each morning. They call me the caffeinated IBer wandering on the Internet. 
21 Responses
I heard about this a few days ago (I live a few hours from T.O.) and I’m as appalled as you are. Yes, this is definitely a step backwards. What would people say if they were proposing an “Eurocentric” (aka “All-White”) school? There would be accusations of racism and segregation abound and rightfully so. I fail to see how this is different.
Luckily, the day after this decision was annouced, Dalton McGuinty, Ontario’s premier, said the province wouldn’t support the Afrocentric school. Of course, he was criticized for this decision.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Mike Harmon
The way the school is made, I think it’s really racist. No offense. But seriously, it’s like grouping blacks in one area, and then since they’ve been stereotyped, they’d be called the delinquents school. No one should do that. They deserve to mingle with others in school, and not have a ‘community’ sort of school, whereby they only see their kind.
I don’t think it’s racist per se - because the school is going to be open to all students (right?). But the idea is both STUPID and BACKWARDS. If African and Asian studies are missing from schools’ curriculums, they should be added, because all students will benefit from studying them (I dare say that the kids who need them the most are the kids of non-Asian and non-African descent). Nothing promotes multiculturalism, open-mindedness &c. like diversity…
The whole idea seriously bugs me. Even though it’s not necessarily racist yet, since it allows any students to attend, I can’t help but see how things like this could slowly escalate into full-blown segregation. Just the fact that they’re labelling it as “Africentric” says something. I don’t want to see schools losing their diversity!
This is terrible news — when did society stop going forwards and start going backwards? Instead of creating new schools so they don’t drop out of the system, surely they should go back to the fundamental issue? There’s obviously a systematic failure in schooling if they cannot manage to keep all groups (regardless of ethnicity) engaged.
This isn’t the solution, this is more of a plaster on a wound that runs far deeper. Also, if this was the other way around (say promoting it being a white male school that focussed on that path of history) there would be even more uproar. It’s just so completely and utterly wrong.
That’s just… not right.
I’m not sur what else to say, that’s just so wrong.
Yeah you know what, that just really bugs me.
That will create MAJOR controversy - which isn’t good.
Society is going backwards.
Makes me wonder what people were thinking. The obvious solution to this problem is not doing something as controversial and outlandish as building aa Africentric school - it’s simply to interest black students within their original environment by introducing extra curricular programs that will appeal to them and help them integrate. Broadcasting archetypes is not exactly going to help either - focusing on a positive image in the media would encourage students rather than stigmatise them.
Wow, this is probably one of the stupidest things I have ever heard of. We as people, have progressed into a society where we can all learn in the same, diverse enviroment. Building a school as this, truly won’t help anyone, it’ll just cause drama.
I can see what they’re trying to do here and their intentions are good, but they needed to develop it in a less racist way. Having a school for those who are failing somewhat may have a high number of coloured students, but that’s not to say that whitehs don’t fail too. They needed to go about it differently, definitely.
I’m kind of neutral about this ’cause I really can’t really tell what’s to come from this. I mean, on one hand, the kids who are dropping out will be grouped together, so they might not get pressure for being labeled as “stupid” by their peers who are in the same school, and it won’t be that bad if the school itself isn’t labeled as for stupid kids. And in my school, a few of the black kids partake in this program called Project Earthquake, which basically is a program for black kids to learn leadership (I think, I’m not so sure; I just know that they go on trips). I mean, it’s a little like segregation in a way, because this club is ONLY for black kids, but it has helped the black kids. A lot of the kids who go into the program grow throughout high school into pretty good kids. Of course, a club like this can’t fully compare to a school created mainly for black kids, but it’s sort of like that on a smaller scale and it has had good outcomes.
But yeah, on the other hand, this can be seen as segregation…somewhat.
But I am kind of surprised that this only costs $820,000. Maybe it’s not going to be that big? When I read “Africentric Public School,” I thought it meant a building just for black kids. But I guess if it only costs $820,000 per year, than it’s more like a few programs for black kids and not an entirely new school with new administration and new teachers.
Shit, that sounds just terrible. This is one of the things I have never understood. I am all for cherishing diversity and besides - what are you gaining from this.. A society where we only interfere with people that does not differ from us in any way??!
I don’t know what I really feel about this. Do black students have a culture of their own? If that’s so, they may seriously need a different environment so they could learn in the best possible way. I don’t know…
that’s racist right there. all they want is to be treated “equally”.
I guess we’ll just have to see how it turns out, but it seems to be that African culture should be taught to everyone. I think it’s a shame that we only have one month out of the year where we focus on black history. Why can’t it be integrated throughout the whole year? Besides, I’m not sure if discrimination is really going to help the dropout rates. But let’s just be honest here: I’m not surprised that they voted in favour of it, because, well, the TDSB sucks.
I agree with everything you said really. I just don’t like the labels and yes it will just cause drama.
I can see why they want to do it, but it is a giant step back for them. Martin Luther King Jr. would definitly roll over in this grave if he heard about this. Poor guy has already rolled over so many times.
If their goal is to make “blacks and other marginalized students feel part of the school system,” then I don’t see how making a whole different school will make them feel like they belong. They should just incorporate African history (as well as histories of other cultures) into the standard curriculum more. If they want these students not to drop out, then they should start more programs focusing on keeping kids in school, instead of separating them. Would this school cost money to attend, too? I imagine that a special school would not be free like the regular public schools, and I’m sure that many students at risk of dropping out are not from families that are particularly wealthy and therefore could not afford to attend a special school.
I don’t think it’s a really good idea, because it’s going to segregate the students. Our country is supposed to be this great multicultural country - not segregated by different races.
I agree totally, this is a major step backwards. They should just help the black students more, not separate them. I swear, if only older people listened to kids more often, we are the smarter ones you know. :biggrin: Anyways, black history month shouldn’t be happening either. We should learn about all cultures all through the year.