A continued call for urgent action in the wake of targeted attacks on anti-racism work in schools

BY PAUL JUNOR

It has been ten years now since the formation of the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators (ONABSE) and they have been active in the advocacy of educational excellence, equity, inclusion, and fairness in public education.

According to their website, the purpose of ONABSE is to promote and facilitate the education of all students, African Canadian students in particular; to establish a coalition of African Canadian educators and others directly, or indirectly involved in the educational process; to create a forum for the exchange of ideas and strategies to improve educational opportunity for African Canadians; to identity and develop African Canadian professionals who will assume leadership positions in education, and to influence public policy concerning the education of African Canadian people. ONABSE has been particularly concerned about the attack on anti-racism work in the last few weeks and have expressed their position.

On Wednesday, August 2^nd, 2023, ONABSE was part of a coalition of community organizations who gathered at Queen’s Park for a press conference. They issued a press release on Monday, August 14^th, 2023, focusing on equity in education. The press release states that they continue to call for urgent action from education stakeholders in the wake of targeted attacks on anti-racism work in schools. “We are aware of educators, school boards and other education spaces facing demands of defunding anti-racism work, and we are unequivocally against this.”

ONABSE is convinced that these demands must take centre stage:

• All stakeholders in public education (including the Ministry of Education and all Members of the Ontario Public School Board Association (OPBSA), the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC), all education unions (AEFO, CUPE, ETFO, OECTA and OSSTF), and all public-school boards should publicly reaffirm their commitments to anti-racism equity and anti-oppression work in Ontario and simultaneously denounce all efforts to associate this work with bullying and harassment.
• The Ministry of Education should engage in continued consultation with anti-racist, Black-led community organizations to enhance and strengthen the fight against anti-Black racism in education in Ontario.
• The Government of Ontario should allocate increased resources to support the implementation of anti-racism curricula, initiatives, and programs in educational institutions across all sectors (K-12 & post-secondary).
• MPPS should pass Bill 16 The Racial Equity in the Education System Act, 2022.

ONABSE is particularly concerned about the fact that an attack on anti-Black racism work will have an impact on the: nature, type, scope and extent of anti-racism work. It states in the press release, “Anti-Black racism affects students, educators, parents, families, and all stakeholders in education. Numerous studies have shown the negative impact anti-Black racism has had on the: mental and physical, health, well-being, socio-economic status of Black people and their overall quality of life. It is for these reasons and more that anti-racism and anti-oppression initiatives, particularly those centred on dismantling anti-Black racism on individual, institutional and systemic levels are so important.”