What do you think of this idea to open an Afro-centric school in Toronto?

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SMH

I think it is segregation and reverse discrimination. I believe you are right and that we should do away with class/race oriented things of this nature. If they want to teach African studies as a class, it would achieve the same objective without being so blatantly offensive to the rest of the community.

EDIT: To the lady who said the there are other segregated schools, I agree, they all should be abolished, what's good for one is good for all. However, special needs schools are definitely need to be specialized in order to help children who require additional services. That is like comparing apples to oranges here.

wizbangs

It's the old addage that as long as I tell you something is good for you, you will continue to take the poison I feed you. The Democratic party and most "black" leaders in the United States are this way. As long as anyone is singled out as "special" and "needing help" then they are allowing themselves to be labeled as inferior.

What would an Afro-centric curriculum include? Rap music? Stories of slaves beaten and brought to America by evil white men (rather than the fact they were caught and sold off to the white traders by opposing African tribes?)

If you want a high paying job, get good grades, pull your pants up and learn how to speak concisely. I won't hire a black person with "ghetto" mannerisms any sooner than I will hire a white kid with Skateboarder mannerisms. It has nothing to do with race or culture, it's about proper etiquette for commerce.

Obama and Condie Rice are two classic examples of proper and successful African-Americans, and most of the "Afro-Centric" establishment calls them "too white."

u r dumb

This is ridiculaous.We are a multicultureal society !
What about Chinese ,INdians etc then should they not all call for their own schools ?
Secondly I was listening on the radio to a woman at the meetting 70% of blacks we're against it but it was only a few members votes that counted.
One black woman I thought made a wonderful point ...this so called training begins at home it's called parentting skills!!!!
ANd that if this goes thorugh we are going back to where America(USA) was with segregation )

They are labelling all black kids as coming from poor communities and all with African heritage well
I grew up only in Private schools where the black kids where equally well of and they were smart if not smarter ...if you go to the meetting you will see that it is the ones in poorer neighourhoods whose parents are using this as an excuse for their childrens failure!!!!
Most blacks don't want it !!! So why is it raicla discrimination .. the vote should of included everyone not just 11 board members!!
Anyways I agree with the minister of education ...this was a vote by the public school board not by them ...its a multicultural society period .Personally I think if you don't like Canada and it's views on a multicultural society then anyone is welcome to go back to where they originally are from .

Chris L

This idea is just as good as the Religious-based schools John Tory was talking about in his campaign for premier. I agree with the asker's point that the government seems to think that black people are "stupid" and need special attention. I think this is the first step towards increased racial-tension bewteen communities. And to think, people always say that Canada has very little racism, wake up.

Abby

Isn't it bizarre that there was a huge battle to get rid of segregated schools because it was discrimination and now people want segregated schools? I don't understand it. Some people are just never happy with what is there. Why not make your kids do their homework, study, and take care of themselves to better prepare them for life, or reality rather, than give them the easy way out.

short shrimp

They should be finding out the real reason the drop out rate is 40% among black students. I can bet you it isn't because they didn't have a curriculum designed as "afro-centric".
This is a band-aid approach that in time will show that it doesn't address the actual issues and problems facing the failing students.

T.O.

I am an African, who just moved to Canada about a month ago. I have also been privileged to have lived in the United States for 4 years. I am new in Canada and loving it. One of the few things we noticed in sharp contrast to living in the US, is the way that Canadians seem to embrace everyone regardless of their race or color. Would you believe that when I was in the US, there were instances that even the American born African-Americans actually treated Africans like they were sh...t? I consider Canada to be more accepting to foreigners. So it came as a shock to me to hear that some people were proposing Afro-centric schools. My first thought was "what the heck is that???"

My kids attend a private school in Ontario, and one of the major things my husband and I looked into before deciding on their school was diversity. I believe diversity is important and I seem to remember that it was one of the important determinants of the best school for my kids even when we lived in Africa. I would not put my child in an afro-centric school for any reason in the world. I think they really need to drop this idea as it is going to cause a lot of problems for people. Should the jews, the chinese, the indians, and all other people also demand for schools based on their origin? Regardless of whether it is expected to be funded by tax payers or not, It is still a very bad idea and should be totally ignored.

Kilty

Well I'll be succinct here. It's a huge step backwards. The Minister of Education stated that as long as afro-centric schools cover the Ontario curriculum, she has no problem with them. This begs the question: When it is difficult enough, due to time constraints, to cover the Ontario curriculum, how on God's Green Earth are they going to teach anything else?

Curious

Butterworth: I don't think you are sorry for being offensive. Just look at your comment: "Then, how about White schools? Have special schools for the white kids to attend to so they don't have to be constantly slowed down by the immigrants and blacks." You think immigrants slow down white kids? So you are assuming that all immigrants are less intelligent than white kids?

Sissy: of all the schools you mentioned non are based on race- you mentioned schools based on sex, religion and disabilities. Can you think of any schools based on asians, indians or latin people? Probably not- so why only black focused schools? Were black people the only ones who contributed to Canada?

Monica d'Almeida

I agree with you! It is as if they were being led to "their own place"... I would call it "desguised prejudice": As if The Government were trying to be nice and caring but in fact they are "settling things" by segregating people according to their races!
Within some time there will be schools for the "foreigners" or for the "poor people"... We will never know what comes next! We will just have enoguh time to be amazed and to get adjusted!
I am extremely happy that no one can hide from God as He Is The Only One Who knows whatever is hidden into people's hearts and what comes behind their attitudes!
Believe me, there is discrimination everywhere. I live in Brazil and there are some "University quotas" for the "blacks and for their descendents" which for the black people seems to be very good (as they take advantage of this law) but in thesis they are showing that the black people are not good enough to get to the university on their own!!
This is the world in which we are living: Sefish and proud of its own dirty!

Silly World

A bad idea, but
let it run its course as a matter of freedom,
There will be a huge pressure on kids to perform in the school, and it will be interesting to see who wants to go
Still a few hurdles before it happens, only one jumped

Itâ€™s wrong for a school to only accept people of a certain race, itâ€™s racism. Here in the US we have black colleges which are colleges that have a large African American student body, but they don't say "blacks only". Anyone can apply to the college, most black colleges have a lot of non black students, usually about 20% of students in black colleges are not black. Instead of saying that they are an all black college, they label themselves as a â€œhistorically black collegeâ€. This is how they avoid being called out for racism. If a person who isnâ€™t black applies to their college and they have the qualifications, the college canâ€™t deny them admission based on race (that would be illegal), but these colleges make it very clear that they are a â€œhistorically black collegeâ€. So the reality is, if youâ€™re not black and youâ€™re looking for a college to attend, youâ€™re probably going to be turned off by a college that markets themselves out to blacks.

If a high school or college labeled themselves as a â€œhistorically white schoolâ€, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would be ranting on about it all over the news. Equality means that EVERYONE should be treated as equal and there should be no exceptions (like colleges/schools that market themselves to a certain race) even if a certain group of people were oppressed in the past, we have to recognize our faults from the past, and move forward without holding a grudge against people.

I think the parents of those black students who are struggling should stop making it a race issue and instead try to figure out WHY their children are struggling. If they are not happy about the education their kids receive, they need to talk to the teachers and the school board and try to figure out a way to make the situation better. Making a completely separate school for one race is no solution, and perhaps they should consider that there are also non black students who also struggle in school.

cutie_62003

I'm a black Teenanger and personally i think its wrong. The dropout rates aren't going to change by creating a new school. Didn't blacks fight hard in the 60's to get into regualar schools so why are we going backwards?!?!These schools are probably going to be put into nieghbourhoods with a more black students, the schools in those neighbourhoods are already underfunded so whats going to happen with a new school. The school are going to have more finances cut because this Afro-centric school is so much in the media they're going to try and make it look like a great success by cutting the funding from other school so that this school can be funded. Personally i haven't been in one of these underfunded schools but i do know a handful of people who do attend schools like this and they're always complaining about the lack of books or activites in the schools. Whats going to happen with even less money?!?!

COSMO

I think it is a bad idea, next it will be schools for every race , I think the coons just steped in a big pile of poop, They wanted equal rights and fought for it for years and then got it, and then do this!!!!! . Lets start a WHITE ONLY neighbourhood, and school, o that's right its not CANADIAN, .............

Vampie

I agree with most of the people here as to the reasons why such an idea is wrong but I would like to say that what about personal responsibility?
I understand that there may be socio-economic factors etc. but parents and communities need to step-up and take responsibility for their children and what they do; simply giving birth to them isnt enough. Why have kids if you cant provide them with proper education, morals, manners etc.
I am so tired of people blaming the government, blaming society and everything else but themselves: these are your children. Take some responsibility.

And as for Sissy's comments:
I went to an all-girls school. I found that to be beneficial since it kept me from distractions and those idiotic cat-fights girls have over boys. But we interacted with boys plenty; there was a boys school next door, we had social events, most of us had male relatives, brothers etc., we had male teachers.
In other words: we werent cut off from male population.
Having a school with mostly black kids is going to cut them off from diversity.
Frankly, i dont agree with religious schooling but if its private then so be it. But i think public funding for religious schools is wrong just like it is for segregated schools based on race.
French schools are meant to help the students learn the other official language of Canada....trust me it is very helpful in the future.
Are you serious? Do you really have an issue with a school for people with disabilities i.e. deafness?
Right why not just shove them in the corner of regular school classes and hand them cue cards that summarize the class discussion.
They are in that school to be able to communicate freely and to learn more sign language etc.

One can only handle so much stupidity.

I don't like it one bit, it sounds very racist even though it's not intended to be.

Lloyd

What comes around goes around.

You want to racially segregate your kids, then be prepared for the consequences.

Could you imagine if a White History Month was declared to talk about important white people, focussing on the fact that these people were/are white? The fact is that modern Canada (as in post-European colonization) was founded by white people could be turned into some whole emphasis on race. "Sir John A. MacDonald was our first Prime Minister, and we should be proud of the fact that he was white. No other race was able to found our nation. It is through the compassion of our white ancestors that the non-whites have been able to live amongst us. Whites established our cities, whites ran our government, whites ran our businesses, whites farmed our bountiful land, and whites provided a healthy, safe country for all to enjoy."

Then, how about White schools? Have special schools for the white kids to attend to so they don't have to be constantly slowed down by the immigrants and blacks.

(Sorry to be offensive, I'm just taking an opposing view to illustrate how ludicrous the black school idea is).

Prime target for racist attacks too though. As it is, if for example a white kid doesn't like black kids, then he just deals with it. If you start shipping black kids off to a different school, the white kid's school gets more white, and then there's the black school. Perfect. You know exactly where the enemy resides and you don't have to deal with them. Maybe once in awhile go over and break some windows and leave some graffiti.

The whole idea is a step backwards.

If the current curriculum is blatantly ignoring certain issues regarding people who happen to be black, then that should be addressed, in equal porportion to similar concerns regarding anyone else. Really, there should be no emphasis on colour of skin anyway. Should we learn about so and so in history class just because he's black and there aren't enough black people in the textbooks? No. We should learn about him if WHAT HE DID was worth knowing, not just because there "aren't enough references to black people in the history books". People need to make the case for what they want included in the curriculum, not just make a whole new school based on the colour of students' skin.

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