Exploration of Oppression

One social problem related to oppression and injustice is racism in the Ontario’s school boards, and most specifically, Peel District School Board (PDSB). Racism in public schools has a disproportionate effect on Black children. Black people make up 9% of the population in Peel, and that population is growing rapidly (United Way 2023). The Region of Peel is a municipality located in Southern Ontario and is made up of three smaller municipalities which are the cities of; Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. The Peel District School board has over 153,000 students and nearly 17,000 staff members (Hemadmin, 2021). In communities where Black children underperform in schools, there is often a lack of resources that are part of greater structural issues that together compound a major issue. Black students who are taught by Black teachers are statistically expected to graduate high school and experience better academic performance and learning outcomes (Gershenson et al., 2018). PDSB is the third largest school board in the province, and Black teachers account for 7.1 percent of its staff. As a result, cultural representation and access to staff who reflect similarities to them, is minimal in Peel. Though Black children make up about 10 percent of the school population in Peel, they also account for about 22 percent of suspensions (Raza, 2022). Expulsions and drop out levels in Ontario are also higher among Black students.

Within the past 3 years, as an effort toward equity and inclusion, the Peel district school board introduced a Self identification process for Black children applying to attend Regional Learning Choice Programs, or RLCPs. Students who wish to attend an RLCP demonstrate through grades or in some cases, auditions, that they have the ability and interest in completing their education within specific fields. These fields vary in subjects, including, science, music, arts and others. Because RLCP’s present great learning opportunities for students, they are highly sought after programs that require application during the school year preceding attendance. Not all students who apply are accepted in RLCP programs, and traditionally, Black children have been among the minority of accepted students. The self identification process was meant to increase the amount of Black students who are enrolled in specialized programs which are a traditional catalyst for academic success. Most of the RLCP programs in Peel require non refundable payment for considering a child’s application, of about 40 dollars. There are some issues however, that Black parents in Peel have noted about the process. For example, the criteria that children need to meet in order to be accepted into the program is not provided before, or after consideration of an application, and no appeal process for rejected application is easily found online, or through the PDSB website. This can leave many Black families confused about whether the process is being handled equitably and whether the process of choosing Black students from a pool of applicants is in fact, an arbitrary one, left in the hands of potentially biased school staff who have no direct accountability to parents, students, or the school board when accepting or declining the applications of “qualified” Black students. The most recent student census taken by the PDSB did not provide demographics such as race, though the student census is expected to collect this sort of data by 2023. At least 6.3% of students report feeling uncomfortable at school due to their race, culture or skin colour.

At a micro level, the issue of racism in schools has much impact on the lives of students, their families, friends and fellow community members. Parents are left to deal with youth who come home and disclose being mistreated at schools. This can have effects on the mental health and social wellbeing of these families and community members. From changes at the mezzo level that are a direct result of racism in schools, families are affected at the micro level as less opportunities are being transferred to Black children, both inside schools and in the surrounding community. This impacts their chances for social inclusion and other benefits that come with extracurricular involvement and positive social activity, potentially leading into adulthood and the achievement of well paying positions and increased opportunities to achieve generational wealth for their families. At the micro societal level families feel helpless because they are aware of the issue and may feel they are not able to make significant changes in school policies that effectuate change. Because students are only in school for a certain number of years, parental and family involvement in school issues can fluctuate and exhibit lack of consistency. Timeframe issues may prevent parent’s ability to ensure change within the school system during the school careers of their own children. Battles to revolutionize and reform schools can often take years, and this can surpass the amount of time that parents are involved in the process of advocating for change, ultimately failing to end a cycle of children who are faced with a future that is impacted in this way. Children can experience racism at a young age at the micro and mezzo levels and may even begin to refuse to seek justice for, or even disclose experiences of racism. They may make decisions to refrain from seeking academic opportunity for fear of rejection or unjust, inequitable selection processes.

Another factor that affects this problem at the Mezzo level of society is personal bias that is passed down through policy and the lack of accountability to uphold policy in the workforce of PDSB. Students who experience racism report efforts by school staff to discourage them from seeking opportunity in academically advanced programs and Universities. This leads to additional and cyclical problems at the mezzo level where it can be argued that there is a systematic design resulting in less Black youth going into University as a result of these adverse experiences within the school system. Contributing to feeling of isolation during times of negative school experiences, is the lack of representation that Black students feel when considering the percentage of school staff that also identify as Black. With less support for Black students coming from education workers who look like them, it is understandable that Black students continue to experience feelings of seclusion. Another issue that faces many Black communities, both in Canada and globally, is under resourcing. Black regions, districts, and communities disproportionately contain less political, human and financial capital, which subsequently affect the number of community assets that exist within a region. Black people make up 15.9% of the population in Peel, and many Black students report feeling that students and teachers who identify as a race other than Black, often do not share an appreciation or interest in learning about Black cultures. Another issue that is caused by racism at the micro level, and which can emanate from issues which also lie at the micro and macro levels of society, is aggression from police and police in schools. This issue continues to disproportionately affect Black youth. In fact, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruled in 2016, that race was a factor in a decision to handcuff a 6 year old child in a Peel elementary school (CBC2020). It is known that witnessing and learning about trauma among others in the Black community, negatively affects the mental health of Black people (Pazzanese, 2021). These effects on the personal lives and mental health of Black people become reasons for increased needs for support at the public social service societal level. At the mezzo level there are also issues of racism within other communities that are racialized, but are not white. Black students experience racism at the hands of both white and other racialized teachers who do not identify as Black.

There are many factors at the macro societal level that are also affecting the social issues of racism in Peel Schools. In many cases, and especially before the findings in 2020 by lawyer Arlene Huggins who investigated racism in PDSB, triggerred a host of efforts to change and develop accountability for racism in Peel schools, government Policies related to the distribution of education have been vague and quite possibly acted as catalysts for the perpetration of racist behaviors and practices. The experiences of many parents whose children are students within the PDSB, have highlighted the lack of accountability for teachers and school staff who unfairly penalize Black youth. Black parents who attend the school board meetings, Black Awareness and Advocacy meetings with superintendents from the PDSB, have noted and brought forward the lack of transparency in the methods and steps that are taken within schools to ensure safe learning spaces and address things such as unfair treatment, microaggressions and bullying perpetuated by teachers as well as fellow students. With little to no knowledge about the complaint and accountability process, many Black parents are left wondering how they can contribute to decisions that are being made regarding the safety of Black children in schools. The economic system is also one that plays a part in macro level issues that are related to the challenge that racism in Peel schools presents. With lower financial and political capital in Black communities, there are less means to seek support in changing the processes in schools related to Black students, and there is less capability to fund and provide programming, infrastructure and much more. Black communities not only lack funding to implement the changes that they need, but there is also a divide in the amount of influence Black communities can make in community decision making. There are underlying issues related to racism in schools and accountability. Some of these issues include the racism that black students experience at the hands of students and staff who are also racialized themselves. The economic struggles and low human, financial and political capital in black communities mean that they are less able to seek better support and resources that could be costly for them but easily accessible for communities with more financial stability.

Changes to racism in Peel would not only benefit the Black community but the region of Peel as a whole. The Black community should be appreciated for its contributions and potential, and this appreciation can be demonstrated through the improvement of the quality of life for our children who are PDSB students. Policy reform and change can be good steps toward changing racism, but I believe that self determination in community is also a good way to combat this. Investing in activity, extracurricular, learning and volunteer opportunities for students and parents from Black communities can help build a stronger future for students and staff who are active members of our region's school systems.

References

2018 student census - peel board office site - peelschools.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.peelschools.org/2018-student-census

2023 student census - peel board office site. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.peelschools.org/2023-pdsb-student-census

The black community in Peel - Unitedwaygt.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.unitedwaygt.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Black-Community-In-Peel.pdf

CBC/Radio Canada. (2020, June 8). Peel School Board 'dysfunctional' in face of racism, can't govern properly, report finds | CBC News. CBCnews. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peel-school-board-racism-report-1.5603109

CBC/Radio Canada. (2020, March 3). Race was a factor in handcuffing of 6-year-old Black Girl in Mississauga School, Tribunal says | CBC News. CBCnews. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/human-rights-tribunal-peel-police-girl-handcuffed-1.5483456

Gershenson, S., Hart, C. M. D., Hyman, J., Lindsay, C., & Papageorge, N. W. (2018, November 12). The long-run impacts of same-race teachers. NBER. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.nber.org/papers/w25254

Hemadmin. (2021, July 6). Peel District School Board: Canadian Association of Public Schools - International: Caps-I. CAPS. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://caps-i.ca/school/peel-district-school-board/#:~:text=Our%20collective%2C%20daily%20efforts%20make,throughout%20Brampton%2C%20Caledon%20and%20Mississauga.

Pazzanese, C. (2021, May 14). How unjust police killings damage the mental health of Black Americans. Harvard Gazette. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/05/how-unjust-police-killings-damage-the-mental-health-of-black-americans/

The Peel District School Board approved the most comprehensive anti ... (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.peelschools.org/news/The-Peel-District-School-Board-approved-the-most-comprehensive-Anti-Racism-Policy-ever-announced-by-a-school-board-in-Ontario2022-06-29-19:10:49.091418+00

Raza, A. (2022, April 13). Being black in school: Peel students open up about the racism they face in the classroom | CBC news. CBCnews. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peel-students-racism-panel-1.6408851#:~:text=no%20less%20than-,27%20directives,-for%20the%20board