Parkdale Collegiate Institute is investigating another staff member, this time for saying the N word to students. This is the second case of anti-black racism reported at the high school, and the third at a Parkdale-area TDSB school in a matter of weeks.
On October 28, a Parkdale CI staff member used the insult in a conversation with a small group of students. According to the school, it was used in reference to a song the students were listening to, not directed at anyone in particular.
The administration learned of the insult that was uttered on November 1 and sent a letter to the school community Thursday from Principal Julie Ardell.
In the message, Ardell says that he has contacted the students who were present. and their families “to make sure they receive support.” The staff member is now on an in-home assignment pending an investigation.
Parkdale CI was already in the process of dealing with a teacher wearing black face paint in her ninth grade class on Friday morning.
Kearie Daniel, co-founder of advocacy group Parents of Black Children, said these incidents feel like a backlash against students, staff and parents of color who advocate for better school environments.
“It is extremely disturbing. Parkdale Collegiate is a downtown school in one of the most diverse communities in Canada, ”he said. “It’s sending a message … about what they think about the work that is being done to improve the system.”
A separate letter was sent out detailing the actions the school has taken, and is planning, in response to both incidents, including increasing access to social workers and holding a two-hour session to hear from student mentors. .
The Star asked the TDSB to confirm the October 28 incident and if the board had further comment on how it is addressing the multiple incidents of racism against blacks in high school. In response, the board sent Star both letters issued to the school community.
Lessons on mitigating racial trauma and creating learning environments that affirm blacks will also be added to an upcoming professional development day for teachers on November 19.
In other parts of the neighborhood, the director of Queen Victoria Public School, a TDSB elementary school, received an email on October 22. which contained “hateful and racist comments, including anti-black racists, against the administrative staff of Queen Victoria”.
The community at that school learned of the hate mail in a letter sent home six days later.
Black parents and educators at Queen Victoria Public School have been the target of numerous racist messages since at least May 2020.
The TDSB Annual Human Rights Report released earlier this year found that between 2018 and 2020, a disproportionate number of complaints had to do with racism, and racism against blacks in particular.
And for the past year and a half, the TDSB has implemented new policies and initiatives around anti-Black racism, including launching the Center of Excellence for Black Student Achievement, which aims to improve the experiences of Black students. at the board.
A policy that took effect in October 2020 dictates that all hate incidents must be reported to the school board’s human rights office within 24 hours.
However, the board’s human rights office reported earlier this year that it is going through a large number of backlogged cases and that the handling of those cases has been inefficient. Educators told the Star that staff who are the subject of an investigation are sent home for months until the investigation is complete.
Mother Liz Ikiriko, an art curator whose 14-year-old son Otis was in the teacher’s class who wore the black face, said members of the school community had been discussing the N-words incident as they had heard it on weekend.
Ikiriko and other parents contacted the school on Monday to confirm that another teacher had been sent home. They did not receive a response until they received the letter from the director on Thursday, he said.
“I wonder if this would have been made public if it hadn’t been clear to them that people already knew,” he said.
Several parents of children at the school have been discussing next steps as they want to push for more diverse staff to be hired, Ikiriko said.
After the blackface incident, they posted a request asking the superintendent to implement a safe way for students and staff to report racism and to present frequent professional development around racism against blacks.
“These problems are so prevalent right now and so intense. And handling them has been really frustrating, ”he said, explaining that he did not understand why the teacher wearing the black face was allowed to stay in the building after washing the paint.
Hearing that there was a problem with a staff member saying the N-word the day before the blackface incident felt “chaotic and absurd,” he said.
It has been exhausting having to defend their children, and these incidents have taken school work away from students, he added.
“I would love to see more clarity on how the leadership is going to show that they are committed to creating safe spaces for our students,” he said.
Daniel said putting staff who have said the N word, or who have come to school in black, on an assignment at home is not a sufficient answer. Black students are deeply hurt when their educators engage in anti-black racism, he said.
“What is the true purpose of (an investigation) if we know what happened?” she said. “People need to lose their jobs.”
“When we talk about what should happen, it is the answer. We need a response to the crisis. “
Reference-www.thestar.com