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Race, Schooling, and Segregation?
So, I have a question for my flist.
As some of you may have heard, the Toronto Public School Board just voted to open a "black-focused" school. The reasons cited, is that in Toronto, there is a higher high school drop out rate among black student (25% [African decent]-40% [Caribbean decent]), and they hope that having a focus school will help keep them in school.
My first reaction was, we want to keep kids in school (which I still stand by), but I'm really not sure this is the way to do it. No matter what they say, to me, it stinks of segregation. The school board tries to argue that it's not segregation if they can choose to go or not, but all I can think of is the segregation (where there is also a choice) going on in other parts of the country, especially Quebec and New Brunswick. All I've seen out of those situations is pain, and misunderstanding, which causes a divide that doesn't need to be there.
This is Canada's first "black" school, but I know America has some (and even more historically), so my question is, for those who have seen or experienced situations like this before, what do you think of this "solution"?
Also, off topic, but I can't tell you how much I *head desked* when I read the article about this in the Washington Times, when they talked about our "American Indians" WTF? I know that people sometimes have trouble figuring out what to call the Natives of North America in general, but what kind of name is American Indians? Especially for *Canadian* aboriginals. *shakes head*
As some of you may have heard, the Toronto Public School Board just voted to open a "black-focused" school. The reasons cited, is that in Toronto, there is a higher high school drop out rate among black student (25% [African decent]-40% [Caribbean decent]), and they hope that having a focus school will help keep them in school.
My first reaction was, we want to keep kids in school (which I still stand by), but I'm really not sure this is the way to do it. No matter what they say, to me, it stinks of segregation. The school board tries to argue that it's not segregation if they can choose to go or not, but all I can think of is the segregation (where there is also a choice) going on in other parts of the country, especially Quebec and New Brunswick. All I've seen out of those situations is pain, and misunderstanding, which causes a divide that doesn't need to be there.
This is Canada's first "black" school, but I know America has some (and even more historically), so my question is, for those who have seen or experienced situations like this before, what do you think of this "solution"?
Also, off topic, but I can't tell you how much I *head desked* when I read the article about this in the Washington Times, when they talked about our "American Indians" WTF? I know that people sometimes have trouble figuring out what to call the Natives of North America in general, but what kind of name is American Indians? Especially for *Canadian* aboriginals. *shakes head*
Re: Focused schools
Umm, the only time I've ever heard someone say "African-American" is if they're either talking to Americans, or talking about stereotypes more commonly associated with Americans.
Mostly in Canada we just say "black". Also, in this case specifically, the problem of high drop outs isn't with African Canadians, they have the same drop out rate as white Canadians (which is still higher than that of the Asian Canadians), no it's those of Caribbean decent that have the 40% drop out rate).
n the reasoning that Canada is part of North America
You know, there's a *song* about that. About how it's not fair that Canadians can't say we're American like the French can say they're European, and that the US has taken the identity of two whole continents. :(
It was super frustrating in China, because so many things are more of a North American trait than just Canadian, but it's really wordy to say so, if I say American, than people assume I'm talking about the US. :-/
Faulty either way, but s/he might have been following some sort of precedent.
It was more that it was just such a *bad* term to use, not out of any PCness, but because, if I hadn't read other articles referring to the native schools, I wouldn't have known right away what they were talking about.
As far as "focused" universities go, however, I've heard secondhand about people who've had good experiences at traditionally black and traditionally Jewish universities. Those are private universities, though, which makes a huge difference. On one hand, it concerns me that the school is aimed at the lower achieving students.
Yeah, I think the mindset of the students those two types of schools is more of a factor here. Still, if it works, I'll be happy, and will support the school whole heartedly.
because the racial tension adds so much pressure.
Yeah, that's the part I haven't much experience with. Where I live, there wasn't much tension, I can only recall one situation where there was (although, I was pretty oblivious of the goings on, so there's a good chance there was more than that one occasion). But I know that places like Montreal and Toronto have to deal with it more, especially when it comes to certain areas/groups (mostly we've been hearing about racism against Muslims since 9/11, but in Toronto being Jamaican caries certain implications).
I passed this along to my mom, though (the topic, not your post), and I'll be interested to hear what she has to say.
Oh, let me know what she thinks. I brought this up, but I find myself having trouble actually responding to people's comments, because, well, it's out of my scope. I'll admit, when I think of visible minorities in Canada, the first thing that pops into my head is Asian, not black, and the racial issues there are so very different. Canada actually has a small population of blacks, only 2.23% of the population according to the 2001 census.
A lot of Canadians exposure to racism actually comes from American TV and movies, which makes it hard for us to judge our own situation. There's far more racism against he aboriginal on the whole (and the French, depending who you're talking to *rolls eyes*).