40, 000+ signatures raised, petitioning the need for race and ethnicity courses in Ontario high schools

BY PAUL JUNOR

The death of George Floyd on May 25^th, 2020 has brought international focus on the issues of race, racism, police brutality and white supremacy.

The rise of the Black Lives’ movement with its emphasis on Black Lives Matter has empowered students worldwide to examine what they were taught in their school curricula. It is these concerns that propelled Parnika Ray, a Ryerson University student, to initiate an online petition to get the Ministry of Education to introduce a course on race and ethnicity. The petition has received almost 40,000 signatures within a week and is increasing.

According to the online petition, “Our current primary and secondary programs do not address the existence of racism in Canada in the past or in the present. Without educating students on the full extent of the history of racism and cultural assimilation, we are perpetuating a continual cycle of colonialism today.” History has shown us that Canada was built on settler colonial systems before confederation in 1867, and that system of oppression has a direct effect on black, indigenous and people of colour.

An examination of the curricula in elementary and secondary schools in social studies such as subjects History and Geography revealed that there is no discussion of issues related to race, racism, oppressions and marginalizations. Ontario has an, “Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy” which has been in place since 1993. It focuses on “Respecting diversity, promoting inclusive education, and identifying and eliminating discriminatory biases, systemic barriers and power dynamics that limit the ability of students to learn, grief and contribute to society.”(The Ontario Curriculum: Social Studies and Humanities, Grades11-12, 2013).

Anti-discrimination education has been part of this strategy. For the most part, it is based on principles of inclusive education. There are new courses that are covered in equity studies in the social science section. These are meant to incorporate the objectives of the equity and inclusive education strategy.

These equity-focused courses are not mandatory. They are optional; one is an open course. Most students who graduated from Ontario schools have never heard of these courses and do not know they exist. Studying these courses would allow students to explore power dynamics and various manifestations of oppression including racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, and gender-based violence. This is clearly stated in the curriculum.

According to Professor George Dei of the Ontario Institute of Education (OISE), a leading expert in the world on anti-racism education is supportive of the petition. He states, “Teaching more about race is making us socially responsible to ask the difficult questions about social justice, about power, about privilege and responsibilities. These are not special interest subjects. They are subjects for the common cause. They are for the good of humanity.

If you believe that racism is a fact of our social existence, then we have to see how our curriculum addresses these issues, and that there is no silence around it!”

 Camille Logan (Superintendent of Education with the York Region District School Board) brings to light that there are no lessons that deal with the topic of race in the current education system. She observes, “At this particular point in time, it’s up to individual teachers to be able to do that because there isn’t anything that’s specifically and explicitly in the curriculum. There are studies that talk about how children are actively confused, by not addressing race. We’re not specifically teaching in a way that helps them to think critically about race. We need educators who can talk critically and think critically.”

Ms.Raj is adamant that important equity-related issues should not only be taught at the university level. She firmly believes that high school students need access to this vital information. She plans to meet with advocacy groups to be better informed about the Ontario curriculum, as well as other education groups before approaching the Ministry of Education.