Black parents in Repentigny believe that their children are discriminated against because of the color of their skin in the schools of the Center de services scolaire des Affluents. They are calling for an investigation. For its part, the service center “officially refutes any allegation regarding racist acts or incidents”.
The story of René (fictitious name) starts well. The student at Jean-Baptiste-Meilleur high school receives mentions of excellence and distinction each session. “We were told that he would be integrated into the international program as soon as a place was released,” said his mother in an interview with the To have to.
But the call never came, while his classmates were admitted to the program. “Those who passed in front of him said that they did not understand, because he has better grades,” says his mother. According to her, black children are stigmatized. And she’s not the only one to believe it.
The duty spoke to a dozen parents who believe their children are prejudiced because of the color of their skin. So much so that they came together to form the Lanaudière racialized parents committee.
“Black students tell me that when there are interventions, the consequences are always heavier for them than for the whites,” says François Ducas, a black teacher who until recently worked at L’Horizon school. , in Repentigny. The consequences come more quickly and, as soon as there is a small problem, the police are called. “
Asked about these testimonies, the secretary general of the Center de services scolaire des Affluents, Marie-Josée Lorion, “officially refutes any allegation to this effect.”
She does not have the right to comment on individual cases, for reasons of confidentiality, but insists that there is no racism. “What we notice is that, in the treatment of certain complaints, concerning a classification or some dissatisfaction, often, at the end of the complaint, when the facts are re-established, the parents are short of ‘arguments and will allege that it is racism […] But that’s not racism. There really isn’t. If there were, we would intervene, that’s for sure. “
However, this is not what Jean believes, who prefers not to give his last name to protect his child. The latter decided to withdraw his son from the public school La Tourterelle to send him to the private sector. And this, he said, after a “vitriolic” exchange with the management, who would have accused him of being in denial and of not assuming his responsibilities. All of this, he said, because he was questioning the leadership’s choice of sending his son to a specialized class.
“I could not see myself being listened to and I had the feeling that the school had labeled my child,” he says. If I had followed the school guidelines, my son’s school career would have been delayed, whereas today, at private school, it is working very well. “
Black students tell me that when there are interventions, the consequences are always greater for them than for the whites. The consequences come more quickly and, as soon as there is a small problem, the police are called.
Same story for Carole, who also requested anonymity to protect her child in the rest of his school career. The latter opposed the school’s decision to have him repeat the year. The management then told him that his son would not pass his 1re high school, that he was going to get a job and that he would never have a job. “I found that really inappropriate as a comment,” she denounces. An evaluation would then have shown that he was able to do his school year normally. Carole therefore made a request to change her son from school, believing that he was the victim of “systemic racism”.
Cynthia Allaire, for her part, says that her son was in a situation of failure in mathematics, but that he was not entitled to any resources to help him. “I was told that there were other children who were more in difficulty than him,” denounces the mother. In high school, a remedial teacher told her that her son had lost the equivalent of four years due to this “neglect”.
Respect
Nathalie Simon, president of the Lanaudière racialized parents committee and herself an elementary school teacher, admits that her daughter had serious “motivation problems” and academic difficulties last year. She accumulated a large number of absences and was suspended many times for this reason. But, according to Mme Simon, the school makes “different laws” for his daughter.
She also denounces a lack of respect from management towards her. Thus, in an exchange that she recorded with the principal of the school, Christian Béliveau, the latter accuses her of “putting her head in the sand” by refusing to see her daughter’s difficulties. When the mother tries to assert her rights by citing a conversation she had with a representative of the Ministry of Education, the principal replies: “They must be tired of hearing you. “
When asked if the principal’s remarks were appropriate, the secretary general of the school services center admits that it is an “unfortunate choice of words”, but repeats that it is not racism. “What is the connection with racism? There are parents who struggle a lot. “
Several parents say they tried to file a complaint with the school service center, but that there was never any follow-up. Mme Lorion maintains, for his part, that some complaints may not be accepted, but that “everyone has the opportunity to make a complaint and to be heard”.
” Nothing has changed “
In 2011, the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (CDPDJ) submitted a report on “racial profiling and systemic discrimination” in schools. “More than ten years later, nothing has changed,” laments Pierre Richard Thomas, head of the community organization Lakay Media in Repentigny.
“Everything suggests that young people of color are more at risk of being subjected to discriminatory treatment in the context of actions related to order or public security, of being punished for violations of the code of conduct of their school,” to be directed towards school paths ill-suited to their needs or to be notified and supported by the DYP ”, write the authors of the report. Black youth are under “more intense scrutiny,” and punitive measures come more quickly, they add.
They note that racialized youth are “labeled”, due to “lower expectations of them”, which will “reduce the field of opportunity” for these students. They “tend to be sent to special classes” a phenomenon considered “worrying”.
Asked about the findings of this report, which take up several of the allegations made by parents of the black community of Repentigny, Marie-Josée Lorion asks if the Affluents School Services Center is specifically named there. Learning that this is not the case, since the CDPDJ addresses the problem in a broader way, Mr.me Lorion repeats that she “refutes these allegations”.
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