A few weeks ago I saw on a friends blog (Keminications) a story about the Toronto Canada school board giving the OK to segregated “Black-Focused” schools. Click here for the full article from the Star. There were a number of blacks who felt like this was necessary because their kids were being neglected in the public school system where there is a 40% drop out rate amongst black teens. There are those who appose the idea and think this is the exact opposite of what people like Martin Luther King fought and died for.
On the heels of this decision a Canadian (Globe and Mail) paper ran this cartoon:
BMWK readers what do you think about segregated “Black Focused” schools and about this cartoon? Is it just humor or more hidden racism………….
fareeda says
The cartoon is just stupid. It looks like they’re trying so hard to push the envelope that they forgot to be funny.
As for the schools, if they’re well funded I think it could be a good idea. There have been all kinds of studies that show that girls are ignored in classes when they raise their hands and teachers tend to teach more to the boys. If a little white girl can’t get attention in class I’d hate to see the results of similar studies using black v. white data.
Kandee says
The proposal is not about segregating schools, but creating an alternative school with a Afrocentric curriculum, where any student can attend. It’s not Canada, per se, but Toronto, where there is already segregation due to economics (the suburbs are different). See comment: https://www.thestar.com/article/298194. In some of these schools, there has been a majority black student population and majority white administration, where things haven’t always gone well. The curriculum has been under fire before for being Eurocentric. The media whipped it into a frenzy, but said nothing when they created a LGBT alternative school, Aboriginal alternative school, and the like. They only raised a fuss when it came to blacks. Makes you say…hummmm.
Kemi in Toronto says
Yeah it’s a Toronto school board thing but the trustees are mostly Carribeans. The Africans and Indian/Pakistanis/Whites are not happy about it and it is divided. The Premier (your equivalent of Governor) Dalton McGinty opposes it and the TDSB says they are gonna find some extra money to fund it. Maybe the cartoon should wait and not poke fun on it now. I did a story on local TV last night and many teens were not amused.
My calls and Global-TV’s calls were not returned by the Globe and Mail. Thank God I blog media news and thank God Lamar first alerted us. Most people who read papers online don’t go for the cartoons…..just news. We overlooked it as it was dated Feb 18th!
www.anythingblack.wordpress.com says
Cartoon looks really racist to me, but ive got to say you have hooked me into this blog i really like what you talk about, some real stuff.
NML says
Of course this is a racist cartoon! If that was portrayal of a white teacher at the blackboard, you can be damn sure it wouldn’t have them saying that. They are implying that being educated by a black teacher will have them being taught in street slang as if black people don’t know how to string a sentence together.
The whoke segregated schools is a contentious subject but schools are segregated in some places regardless of whether it is formally recognised as such. I agree that this has been turned into an issue because it’s a black school. What has become clear is that you can’t cater to everyone at schools (or at least everyone should get the same level of education, but they don’t). What happens here in the UK now is that schools don’t know how to cope with all of the different demands from different cultures and it affects how they are able to effectively teach. There are schools based on religion and all sorts and the economic divide in itself causes segregation.
Great thoughtful posts as always!
Winky says
I find this idea to be ridiculous it is a slap in the face to civil rights, it is a huge JUMP not step JUMP back for civil rights, if “studies that show that girls are ignored in classes when they raise their hands and teachers tend to teach more to the boys.” If these studies are accurate instead of segregating them and taking us back years, reprimand the teacher, educate the teachers about equal rights, FIRE the teachers if they are doing this type of behavior. Why condone their behavior by segregation?
DM says
What would people be saying if we had white focused schools? The problems that are being faced need to be adressed. However segregating ourselves from eachother will only help to create greater rifts rather then mend them.
Teacher says
The cartoon uses a cultural stereotype. I can see why people would find this insulting.
The drawing seems to be asking, “If you were teaching Algebra at this proposed segregated school, how would you alter your teaching strategy to meet the perceived special needs of this cultural group?”
I believe, for education to be effective, it needs to be relevant to the students. The students should be involved in decisions being made for their benefit. What do the students and their families think is lacking in the current situation? What would they like to change? What are their aspirations and what do they think they will need in order to achieve them?
I doubt whether segregation based on race would be the answer. It seems to have had only negative effects in the past. As my mother would have said, ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right!’
A possible strategy may be to train and employ staff who have an understanding of these particular students’ cultural needs. Staff with a social justice bent would be less likely to treat their students unequally and would have a heightened awareness towards avenues of educational access and success. Parental involvement can also be an avenue of creating a culture of belonging and acceptance within a school community. All people need to feel valued regardless of sex, color or creed, in order to succeed.
Hopefully the high profile of President Obama in the U.S. will have a positive effect on civics and citizenship across the globe.
Eldon Burahanja says
I think segregated Afro-centric schools are a positive step in the right direction.
I feel the program needs to be expanded throughout the entire Toronto Public School system as soon as is humanly possible.
All blacks in one school system, all Latinos in another, Muslims, South Asians and Asians each in their own system and so on.
Think of the possibilities.. This would be true multiculturalism in it’s purest form.
Each ethnic group would have their own curriculum skewed toward their own culture, to the complete exclusion of all other cultures.
There would be no contact at all between the different the different ethnocentric schools..
Someone needs to get on this right away.. figure out the funding for such a system.
I think the time is right.. All that’s needed is the political will.
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