Racial Minorities/New Arrivals Targeted for Negative Differential Treatment in Schools

by Murphy Browne

Dear Editor:

In their zeal to address the subject of youth/gang violence, the police, the Toronto District School Board and the City of Toronto have formed a partnership. The result is cause for alarm for parents of world majority students in the TDSB.

This triumvirate has sent out brochures, posters and background information about gangs. The wording of the brochures and some of the information in the Backgrounder sent to staff is very distressing to say the least.

The Backgrounder information sent to staff is under the auspices of the Student and Community Services and the Safe Schools departments of the TDSB.

I am especially alarmed because the co-ordinator of Safe Schools for the TDSB, during an Equity For All workshop which I attended on February 19, 2000 identified an average student as being White, Canadian-born of English/Irish ancestry. Even though I have since received a letter explaining that it was an unfortunate and inaccurate choice of words, from the Executive Officer of Instruction (no word yet from the co-ordinator of Safe Schools) I am not satisfied that this was an isolated incident.

My concern stems from a more recent incident. Recently I attended a meeting of the Parent Community Network at the TDSB, where the information about youth gangs was being discussed at my request. The Backgrounder information which, as I mentioned before has been sent out to all TDSB staff by the Safe Schools and the Student and Community Services departments of the TDSB, caused me great distress.

The last sentence of the second paragraph reads “It is also evident that some youth gangs consist of members who are new arrivals to Canada and who seek protection or security as well as status and companionship with others from the same racial/ethnic backgrounds.”

One woman at the meeting refused to see the potential for abuse. One of her comments was that I was “bitching” about one sentence. Fortunately, she was the only person there who voiced this opinion. Everyone else realized that the language was at least discriminatory. I identify that language as racist.

The language used in the brochures is just as prejudiced and discriminatory. One sentence in the brochure identifying gangs, states: “Many are loosely defined, but some use a logo, a certain colour, or specific articles of clothing for identification.”

Imagine the potential for the harassment of our children based on those words. As it is now, many parents are distressed and alarmed at the frequency with which police are called into schools to arrest our children. With this new information and the collusion of the media and some prejudiced and members of the Toronto District School Board staff imagine the potential for the abuse of our children.

It is so important for us as parents of African ancestored/Black children to become involved in the education system. We leave our children with educators for five hours a day and sometimes more. We have to ensure that there are not rules and laws enacted to further devastate our children. They are already subjected to that on a daily basis from the media.

We have to ensure that any prejudiced educators do not have the added authority of the law to discriminate against our children based on race or ethnicity. We have to be ever vigilant because our children are targeted based on the colour of their skin. Breathing While Black is seen as a crime to many people in authority.

I am pleading with parents to become involved at every level of the education system. Please attend School Council meetings, Ward Council meetings, Board meetings, whatever your schedule allows. Attend these meetings and make sure your voice is heard. Do not attend and just be a warm body. Please become involved, your child’s life might depend on your involvement.

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