TORONTO -- In the wake of George Floyd鈥檚 murder, and the Black Lives Matter protests that ensued, the students at Newtonbrook Secondary School in Toronto, Ont., wanted their pain, and their struggles with anti-Black racism to be heard.
In response, four Black teachers created a new university prep course, 鈥淒econstructing anti-Black Racism in the Canadian and North American Context,鈥� to be offered to Grade 12 students.
The pilot course teaches students about Black history in North America what has led to the current climate, and how Blackness is portrayed in the media, and begins by laying out the basics of having respectful, thoughtful and critical conversations about race and racism 鈥� while addressing terms like 鈥減rivilege鈥� and 鈥渟ystemic racism.鈥�
One of the course teachers, D. Tyler Robinson, says the student鈥檚 response was 鈥渙verwhelmingly positive.鈥�
鈥淥ne of the things that was really striking was that all of the students said this was the first time in their K - 12 experience that they had enough time to delve deep into conversations about anti-Black racism, racism and oppression so we were really excited to hear that,鈥� Robinson said on CTV鈥檚 Your Morning Friday.
Robinson said the course had a 50-50 split of Black and non-Black students, who 鈥渞eally understand鈥� that 鈥渁dults in this country have difficulty getting into this material and鈥hey realize there are concerns about this conversation, people are worried they might say the wrong thing, or they might be seen as racist, they don鈥檛 want to offend.鈥�
By bringing both Black and non-Black students together in the course, Robinson said the teachers are 鈥減roviding them an opportunity to have a window into one another鈥檚 experience鈥hey can see their own reflection in others experience, and that allows students to really have this learning that is personal and contextual and it builds unity.鈥�
After the first section of the class on how to have critical conversations about race and identifying the language surrounding anti-Black racism, the second section covers the history of Black people in North America, from African communities to the slave trade.
The third section addresses how Blackness is portrayed in the media, and the fourth section branches out to discuss how other marginalized groups are oppressed. The course addresses race as a critical construct and how capitalism, colonialism and imperialism all fit into it.
Robinson says the current system of education has inadequately prepared students to have conversations about race and white supremacy.
鈥淭his stuff is challenging鈥e spent a lot of time together to think about what the course needs to look like,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or example, in the first unit it鈥檚 really important for the teacher to have the skills to marshal the conversation because a kid can say something 鈥� they have a certain intention 鈥� and the reality is that the impact is very different, so you can pull up a lot of hurt feelings, it can be challenging but we make sure that kids go home and they reflect every day.鈥�
But the launch did not necessarily have a smooth ride. Robinson was subject to a coordinated racist Zoom-bombing attack at a panel discussion on the course.
Out of the 75 people who had signed in to watch and take part in the parent council meeting on Zoom, 16 of them were waiting for Robinson鈥檚 turn to speak, he said.
They waited 30 minutes for him to being presenting before they 鈥渞eleased their attack," according to Robinson.
鈥淭hey had references to 鈥榳elcome to the jungle,鈥� references to us being monkeys, things like that,鈥� he said, saying that they would try and derail the meeting with racist images and references.
Robinson said it doesn鈥檛 surprise him to have to deal with racism while directly addressing the deconstruction of it, but that he tried to make it a teachable moment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important that instead of calling people out, we call people in. So we welcome those folks who seek to undermine this conversation, we welcome them into this discussion because they鈥檙e doing that out of a place of anger which is really a misplaced anger, and comes from fear.鈥�
鈥淲e can identify with that fear and I think that if everyone were taking a course like this then they would realize that there鈥檚 nothing to fear, this is about bringing folks together,鈥� he said.
For Black students taking part in the course, they get to see themselves reflected in the curriculum and 鈥渂uild up that pride鈥� and 鈥渂uild up that joy,鈥� he said.
They get to 鈥渦nderstand that there is nothing wrong with Blackness, really there鈥檚 something wrong with the systemic racism Black folks and Indigenous folks and other people of colour have experienced.鈥�
The Toronto District School Board plans to rollout the anti-Black racism course for Grade 12 students at 11 secondary schools in September, and there are 30 more schools interested in offering the course in the upcoming semesters.
