It’s not the school….
“human rights activist Vicky McPhee said an Africentric school “is a right,” and the only type of school to which she wants to send her 6-year-old child. She called for these schools in each of the city’s 22 wards.” toronto starI realize that the Jane/Finch people are desperate and that, in our society, a place to turn in desperation is the reshaping of education; but, seriously, how much influence would this sort of school have on the kids at risk as opposed to their gang affiliations?In other words, Ms. McPhee wants segregated schools for all of Toronto; and it is likely that activists in other Ontario and Canadian cities will demand the same. Last night’s decision in Toronto is a very flawed one that seems to have been granted to emotional pleas rather than good sense.
The price of this folly will be paid by the unfortunate students of this school when they realize that even if they graduate that their futures may still be dimmed by the fact they attended a segregated school – employers may well wonder how well the graduates are prepared to adapt to an integrated workplace. It is not an irrelevant question when the parents pushing for this school make claims that the students often fail due to the ‘European-centred’ system currently available.
This is civil rights backwards, you can imagine the outcry from the black community if white administrators had proposed this idea to ‘combat’ the high drop out rate amongst black students. Equally, the fact that this was demanded by black parents for black kids does NOT make it right. daily bayonet
The cultural pathologies which teenagers – black, white and every colour in between – are being bombarded with in music, movies, online and in games rather quickly overwhelm the not terribly interesting business of going to school. And that will only get worse if school loses its educational function to some sort of ill conceived social/cultural function. With the best will in the world it is difficult to see how an Afrocentric school is not going to become a sort of sheltered workshop for underachieving kids who will be taught a lot of self esteem re-enforcing half truths and have next to no discipline imposed. “Graduation” from such an institution will be seen as, and likely will be, meaningless. Kids going on to college or university will be admitted on racial preference grounds and very little will be expected of them.
This proposal is pretty much the epitome of the soft racism of low expectation.
Now, if the Toronto School Board was actually serious it would take a look at setting up a school which took these children out of their neighbourhood for good long stretches starting as early as possible. A month up in Algonquin Park, a week back in town, a month or two in real French Immersion in a little town in rural Quebec – treks, homestays, a seperate campus in Toronto. Anything to get these poor children out of the truely awful gang riven, largely fatherless “culture” they have been unlucky enough to have been born into.
Of course that would a) cost money, b) impose the hard reality of high expectations. Not going to happen.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:13 am
Hi Jay,
I’m not convinced that this is a bad idea. The “integrated workplace” argument has been used in debates over segregated boys and girls schools as well. Most of the guys I know went to co-ed schools, and sadly, knowing so many such men has convinced me that I was very lucky to go to an all boys private school.
Boys do not excel in the academically mushy politically correct state-run school system geared towards girls. I don’t expect that a state run school will serve anyone well, but I’m willing to entertain the notion that people from different races have different interests and learn in different ways, just as boys and girls do.
I can tell you for sure that dark skinned people face challenges in our northern climate, challenges which those of us who evolved here do not. Getting enough vitamin D is one example.
Expanding the idea to all 22 wards seems premature to me, but I’m not against giving the idea a chance.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:28 am
I say, if someone wants a school with an ethnic or religious identity, they can darn well pay for it him- or herself.
I’m not against it, per se—I also went to an all-boys (Anglican) school, and it suited me just fine—but I think it just creates a ghetto and doesn’t treat the problem.
I actually agree entirely with Jay’s point—the best thing that could be done for some of these city kids is having a month out at a camp-type place in Algonquin Park and time in Quebec in a French immersion programme.
One of the most heart-breaking things I ever read was an article by Christie Blatchford about some of the (Jamaican) youths in gang-style warfare in my own hometown of Toronto—some of them didn’t even know the city was on a lake. And the cops who worked with the witness protection programme said that what was most striking was that people had such limited horizons—the furthest anyone wanted to be sent was Brampton (a Toronto suburb, for the BC people); it didn’t even occur to anyone to ask to be re-settled in another city or another province.
The best thing that can be done for us dark-skinned denizens is to work extra hard to integrate us into mainstream Canadian culture.
That’s the way to give the poorer members of the younger generation the tools to succeed, IMHO — show people what great possibilities there are out there.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:38 am
You know, I think something like this could work in theory, but given the sort of people who will implement it, it won’t. Back when I lived in Toronto (early 90s), a major disgrace of the school system was that children of Caribbean immigrants were finishing fewer years of school than their parents had back in the Islands. No genetic determination here, Steve Sailor!
I doubt this has changed in the last 13 years. It seems to confirm the idea that well-prepared kids from stable, educated (or pro-education) families can thrive in almost school system, even OISE-influenced ones, but kids from disadvantaged backgrounds crash and burn under progressive educational philosophies. Schools that emphasise discipline and direct instruction will serve these kids best. Obviously, most kids who would benefit from this are not black, a black school could still make sense. If Afrocentricity means exposing black to elements of black culture outside the gangsta culture, that could be good.
Now, the reality, from today’s National Post:
“She introduced a math lesson [to Grade 7 students] by talking about the Rwandan Genocide, in which 800,000 people were slaughtered. Then the students were asked to imagine that many people by putting them on plane, a train, a bus, or a car.”
Someone this stupid should not be put in charge of anything, anywhere, ever. The fundamental problem with education is the utter mediocrity of many of the minds involved. With honourable exceptions (especially the older women who entered teaching when it was one of the few careers open to women), the people who develop educational policy are pretentious, intellectual overreachers who throw themselves into every passing progressive fad.
February 1st, 2008 at 7:38 pm
4.Winnipeg Free Press just posted:
Personal note:
I fully support all alternative so long as they raise the kids’ self esteem, keep the kids engaged, are relevant to the kids and families who support them and have staff who are committed to the school. A common focus creates a bond between staff, students and their families – it does not matter if the focus is arts, sports, language, culture or religion.
The many alternative schools across Canada are highly successful. One third of Ontario’s publicly funded school are Catholic, many others are French. We have over 100 Specialty schools, many of which are arts and sports-based, with plans to have 100 more.
The Africentric school model is culture/spiritually-based; it is not FOR Blacks, it is ABOUT Blacks (it will be focused on one of the many black cultures)
It should not matter what a school’s focus is – Basketball or Basketweaving, makes no difference to me! The key is that the kids want to be there and are learning the basic curriculum in addition to the school focus.
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:35 am
Obviously I was late to this party. More at my place:
http://drdawgsblawg.blogspot.com/2008/02/africentric-school-question.html
February 5th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Gila: I guess it goes without saying the schools in question must also show that they can produce well-educated students.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
how nice, an honest reality based writing thats cuts through the p.c. morrass we live in now. Imagine, two politically savvy black women (one who is an “activist”) use the death of another”innocent angel”(odds are gang affiliated), to bully the t.d.s.b. into crumbling and giving a black school(which will be drain on other schools in the system in order to ensure its success,via money, resources, and equipment these will all be taken from other schools hurting the children there
!!), and do you know what these two used…..you got it…the multi-purpose tool Racism! They used it as a sheild to hide behind(crying Racist! when people do not agree with their(reverse racist agenda)way of thinking) and a weapon to beat people over the head with to culturally arm twist the spineless board into fearful submission. God forbid our european centered system has been teaching such horrible racist dogmas such as mathematics, sciences, reading, writing, atrs music, astonomy you know all the things we use to keep the poor blacks down. tsk tsk tsk terrible white europeans bad bad bad
Okay can anyone tell me what Black history looks like before the european white explorers ever set eyes on africa. Anyone? I have researched and reasearched and zilch! Oh intercine tribal warfare told by generational lore no written records, no viable permanent structures , in fact the black tribes on the coast started to trade with white ships the blacks traded their own color to the white man for brightly colored cloth knives steel cooking utensils etc.