West Island school board takes on systemic racism after video surfaces online

After a racist video showing two students singing a slur-filled song targeting Black people was widely circulated online, the Lester B. Pearson School Board unanimously approved a motion Monday aimed at tackling systemic racism and discrimination in schools.

"Let the long, hard work begin," said Noel Burke, chair of LBPSB, after the board approved the motion during a special meeting held via video conference.

Montreal police investigated, but eventually opted not to pursue charges against the two girls who dressed in blackface and claimed Black people have no place in Canada while repeatedly using the N-word.

The video drew strong reaction from the community and John Rennie High School, where the girls in the video attended, quickly issued a statement, saying the video contradicts the "values shared by our students, staff and our school community."

The board's motion called for the formation of a task force composed of school staff, students, commissioners and community representatives by Sept. 1.

That task force will work to identify a list of goals with the help of a long-standing intercultural advisory committee.

One step on a long road

Burke made it clear that this one step is small on a long road toward addressing systemic racism in society and in schools.

Whether systemic racism is done intentionally or on purpose, it has no place in LBPSB schools, but writing a policy isn't going to immediately fix things, he said.

"We don't think that sitting here this evening, and moving a resolution and passing a resolution is the solution to the problem," Burke said.

"It's the beginning, as I said, of a long reflection, and a deep understanding of what systemic racism is."

Burke said the very curriculum teachers are expected to follow in the province is part of the problem, as it fails to provide an appropriate retelling of Black history in Quebec.

"When you have a curriculum that omits or marginalizes certain populations, it's difficult for anyone — and I'm stating the government here — to claim there's no such thing as systemic racism when it's built into the curriculum we teach our children and are obliged to teach our children," said Burke. 

Premier François Legault has repeatedly denied that there's systemic racism in Quebec.

Burke said the hope is that Monday night's motion carries over to November when the school board becomes a service centre under Quebec's recent education reform law.

Other boards should get on board, Kelley says

Commissioner Judith Kelley urged other English school boards and French service centres to take on the challenge of addressing systemic racism.

"Although we are taking this on with great emotion at the Lester B. Pearson School Board, I don't think it should be exclusive to us," she said.

Allison Saunders, a Black mother who co-organized a recent anti-racism protest in Pointe-Claire, said an inclusive approach like the board is taking is the way to go, and she wants to be a part of it.

But, she said, fixing the problem of discrimination and systemic racism should not fall solely on the board's shoulders.

"I think it involves every single person in our community: our parents, our children, community leaders etc.," Saunders said.

Other parents said they were disappointed by the motion passed Monday evening.

"I expected more of an active emergency plan to be put in place," said Sabi Hinkson, a Black mother of two, whose 10-year-old will be returning to a LBPSB school in September.

Hinkson said the proposed measures seemed like a rebranding of already-existing anti-discrimination policies, and that she had hoped more concrete changes would be in place by fall.

Both her children have been called the N-word, she said, and she feels it wasn't dealt with appropriately.

Black community groups are ready to help the board put in place policy over the summer, she said. 

"Something needs to be done, it needs to be started now."