Accountability, data needed for York Region board to successfully fight anti-Black racism

'YRDSB race data has not been shared, many barriers set in place are set in place to limit access to school data'

Yorkregion.com
March 17, 2021
Dina Al-Shibeeb

To be effective, York Region District School Board’s new anti-Black-racism strategy will need accountability, data and acknowledgement of past harm, according to Charline Grant.

Grant -- a Vaughan citizen and parent known for her activism to dismantle anti-Black racism in schools -- described the strategy, launched March 8, as “well written.”

She also said that Professor Tana Turner, a veteran consultant on diversity and inclusion who was hired by the board to work on the strategy, has “done a great job.”

But Grant, the co-founder of Parents of Black Children, still has concerns.

While only time will tell if the board’s five-year strategy will move toward eliminating anti-Black racism -- which Grant said stems from the “pathologization” and the “dehumanization” of Black people -- the strategy “lacks accountability,” in her opinion.

“It lacks acknowledgement of the hurt and the harm that has been done by the board to Black families, and other racialized groups,” said Grant, who was called a racial slur by a YRDSB trustee in 2017.

“I raised this point in August of 2020 and it’s still not in the plan, and it’s still not being addressed,” she said. “It has nothing to deal with the current victims, and that’s a huge miss.”

The strategy had vital inputs from its 19 advisory members, an anti-Black racism steering committee working group, which Grant is part of.

Accountability, for Grant, would start with a heartfelt apology and acknowledgement from YRDSB’s director, Louise Sirisko, of the acts of anti-Black racism students experienced in the region’s schools, as well as a documented list of those incidents.

Her list of anti-Black acts cited would include streaming (where Black students weren’t encouraged to enrol in the academic stream despite good grades), suspension and expulsion practices, and hiring and promotion practices, for example.

“I wanted to hear some of that,” Grant said, referring to the accountability and acknowledge piece.

Data has shown that Black students in Ontario experience a disproportionate rate of suspension and expulsion during disciplinary measures in schools, even for minor incidents.

“I’ll give you an example,” Grant said. “A mother in Newmarket, her child was sexually assaulted; 14-year-old child was sexually assaulted by a white student. When they reported to the principal, the principal said, ‘Your child should have ran away,’” she said.

“Then the principal said, ‘He’s a good boy with straight A’s. I will not ruin his life,’” Grant said.

“It’s victim blaming; it’s racist.”

According to Grant, the boy in question was later removed from the school after the girl's mother reported it to the police.

“The police said the school had a duty to report; this is a mandatory reporting,” she added.

As one of YRDSB’s consultants for its strategy against anti-Black racism, Grant heard several other concerns about anti-Black incidents in schools.

She said consultants also heard that Black children, in as early as Grade 1, were called a racial slur or “slaves” by classmates because their teachers had singularly focused on slavery during Black History Month while ignoring contributions of Black Canadians.

SHARE DATA, SETTLE LAWSUITS AUTHOR URGES

On the day of the launch, guest speaker Robyn Maynard, the author of “Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present,” told YRDSB, “Don’t hold data hostage; share the data which has been collected.”

Maynard continued, “YRDSB race data has not been shared, many barriers set in place are set in place to limit access to school data.”

She also urged the board to act on the lawsuits it received from Black parents.

“The board cannot roll out an anti-Black racism strategy while dragging Black parents through the court system to get justice for their children,” she said. “Settle all outstanding lawsuits with Black parents.”

Maynard called on YRDSB to “hold staff and teachers accountable for the strategy.”

Days before the official launch of the plan, Parents of Black Children also set in motion an online data tool to report anti-Black incidents nationwide for more “authentic” reporting.