A step backwards

There is to me something so wrong about the concept of a black-centred school of the kind the Toronto Public School Board approved last night. This truly is a step backward, one towards even more segregation. It doesn't matter that the school would be open to all races. The vast majority will likely still be black and in a society where we attempt to integrate all people this is a recipe for more marginalization.

The high drop-out rate among young blacks does have to be addressed. But this is not the way to do it. We instead need to make the syllabus more relevant to people of all racial and ethnic groups, not just herald the story of the white majority. This starts by asking students what they want in a school -- not telling them what they need; and by telling more of the stories of the losers and not just the winners.

Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.