TDSB Ponders Black-Focused Schools

[Malthus]

I'm really not understanding the reaction.

The TDSB already operates First Nation-focused schools. And this hasn't created any reaction I've ever seen. But when Black-focused schools are mentioned, everyone freaks out.

What's the difference?

There is indeed a first-nations focused school; and it is a horrible failure.

http://media.knet.ca/node/3313

The First Nations School of Toronto was started in 1977 as an "alternative school" within the public board as an effort to close the "achievement gap" between the academic performance of aboriginal students and non-native students. The report noted that "the achievement gap for aboriginal students has increased, rather than decreased, over the past five years."

The argument as to why it is a failure is that the province, in spite of its promises, failed to provide sufficient resources. Thing is, I am not convinced that resources alone is a good excuse for total failure - I went to a Toronto alternative school with few resources myself, and it wasn't such a horrible failure.

Sadly I predict that something very similar will happen to an Afrocentric school. It will be launched amidst fanfare and controversy, the province will make promises not kept, it will be a failure, and the province will be duly blamed for not providing sufficient materials and councellors or whatever.

I sincerely hope that this will not be the case, and I'm very willing to be proven wrong. I admit that I think the whole thing is wrong and backwards from an ideological point of view - I do not believe seperation is the way forwards. However, I'd be quite willing to bend those principles if I thought that it was really a good thing from the children's point of view - that having an Afrocentric schooling would be better for them, leading to less drop-outs and better life success. but nothing I have seen so far indicates that this would in fact be the case. Far from it.

 

[I-Z1]

some people will always want to keep blacks where they are in society,

Such as ? Are they the same blacks who want to keep white people "where they are in society"?
Citations please? ...or stop pulling this crap out of your racist ass.

Dentrobate, it would appear that your only interest is in maintaining a divide between races...how disgusting.

 

[Disparishun]

If my personal first-hand experience of a group (I won't name names) was that "you can visit and buy our goods but then leave," then is it at all so surprising I'd assume some people are insular while others are more welcoming? Gang/thug life isn't ingrained, it's learned, as retalliation for being society's rejects and cast-offs. These are the individuals we're trying to reach out to and save here.

If I understand you, you are saying that you had a bad experience with a particular fellow, and have extrapolated from there to feed your racist stereotype of an entire community.

But that, on the other hand, those who have had bad experiences with particular fellow enrolled in "gang/thug life" should certainly not extrapolate from there to feed their racist stereotypes of an entire community.

You may want to shoot for greater consistency.

Why everyone's making it appear like blacks don't want to integrate I don't know, when it's seemingly other groups that have come here who insulate themselves away from Canadiana within very exclusive, homogenous ethnic enclaves.

I still have no idea what you are talking about here, either -- but it sounds awfully racist to me, I will admit.

[prefix] Afro/Afri-: of or pretaining to people of colour, (US) Blacks; people of African descent or origin

Erm ... I don't think we get to make up our own definitions for things, yet. That one isn't even consistent with itself, never mind with, um, the "Africa" that it purports to refer to.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

with regards to the first nations school "epic failure" the public board should be ashamed of its self. now they want to repeat the same mistake?

maybe the kids are better off dropping out. there's no point in getting an education from morons.

 

[DENTROBATE54]

A truthful rendering of history will acknowledge how much black people have achieved

Dropping out to what exactly? It's moronic to assume a few kids that have a propensity of failure no matter what, will outnumber the multitudes that'll likely succeed. Note this multitude are individuals the system's giving up on, labelled 'black underachievers en route to gangs' and forgotten all about.

For the last goddamn time, how does wanting these kids on the fringe, that the system's given up on, that politcians/community leaders and fellow blacks that have endured through the TDSB have campaigned to save, a blatant act of racism? Racism against who? Disparishun, I-Z1 and the lot of you, please demonstrate how I've committed ill-will against any of you, any ethnicity.

I just want what I believe's best for mine, more blacks making into universities, graduating and get pass a glass ceiling that affects us significantly moreso than other groups I've seen. No more orgs with three or four blacks and hundreds of whites/Asians.

How can nearly half of all black teen males be dropping out and you expect them to remain in a regime encouraging them to drop out? Everyone here saying this is bad, still hasn't offered any form of alternative solution except pick on the one vigilante trying to save souls. Black academic Donna Bailey Nurse explains it best:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"For me, black-focused schools are important because they will offer black children a more complete and truthful history of people of African descent – Africa being the common denominator.

This will enable them to better assess the world they live in. A truthful rendering of history explains why 40 per cent of black youth in Toronto are in danger of dropping out. A truthful rendering of history explains why one-quarter of all African American men are in jail. It explains the bloody chaos that is Africa today, and why Senator Barack Obama's candidacy means so much to so many.

Most significantly, a truthful rendering of history will acknowledge how much black people have managed to achieve – and continue to achieve – in the face of overwhelming odds.

Clearly, all students – of every race – could benefit from a more honest representation of the past. But it has come to a critical point with many of our black youth. They need to understand their value as human beings in order to move forward productively.

On the other hand, I'm not certain the truth about history will do much to enhance the cultural esteem of white students, though perhaps ultimately, that's what we need – for black people feel a little better about themselves and for white people to feel a little worse."

Courtesy of the Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/300050

 

[I-Z1]

Disparishun, I-Z1 and the lot of you, please demonstrate how I've committed ill-will against any of you, any ethnicity.

Simply re-read this thread.
You're a racist, of the worst kind.

 

[EnviroTO]

Yet we don't have politicians, the media, and bloggers going on about the TDSBs first nations schools, despite that they have been there for years.

So a conclusion that could lead to, is that the outcry about this new schools is systemic bigotry, and everyone fighting so hard against it must be bigots!

No, the conclusion is that when an issue is discussed you hear loudly people's reaction to the idea. When an idea is not discussed then you hear nothing. During the religious funding debate many people were speaking out about how Catholic school funding should end (although even supportive politicians dodged that one to save votes) but you could hear the voices against it. For years nobody discussed it and you didn't hear the opposition. That is how society works... the issue of the day gets a lot of vocalization but equally important issues are left undiscussed.

 

[Mystic Point]

go

http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

 

[Admiral Beez]

Now that was funny!

 

[DENTROBATE54]

go

http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

How sickening. Anyone who find this filth remotely humorous seriously needs to get head checked or lobotomized. This is a mockery of black culture and made by ignorant people, plain and simple.

-Johnny calls me "da man!" That puts me at ease. It makes me feel comfortable, because I am Black and that's how Black folks talk to one another.

-Johnny isn't afraid to show he has a black friend because whenever he sees me in the hall he asks me Waaaazzzuup.

-After saying a multisyllabic word such as "understand," Johnny will often follow it with a translation for my benefit like "Dig?" I am glad that he makes his big words accessible to me.

-I like Johnny and Sally because they NEVER flaunt their wealth in front of me. In fact, they go to great lengths to keep their valuables as well as their wallets and purses as far away from me as possible. How cool is THAT???

-Sally is so thoughtful. She always tries to set me up with every black man she knows. Since we're both black that means my date and I will have so much in common.

That's only a sample of the vile, disgusting, condescending, white supremacist, stereotypical bullcrap I came across on this abhorration of a webiste. Satire my foot. This is real, unadulterated, racist vulgarity. And you wonder why I endorse a school that'd sheild black youth from these ideologies and presumptions? If I had gone to school with a-holes like this, I'd want to drop-out too !

 

[theowne]

Hah, it's clearly a joke site, a parody of those people all of us know, the "I'm not racist, I have black friends" kind. I found it hilarious, and I am genuinely one of the most anti-racist people you'll ever find. It's not mocking "black culture", it's mocking these kind of closet racists who try so hard to seem not racist. Lighten up! Laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing.

 

[I-Z1]

This is real, unadulterated, racist vulgarity. And you wonder why I endorse a school that'd sheild black youth from these ideologies and presumptions?

LOL...^this is even better then that site.

 

[ShonTron]

I-Z1 has a point. This thread was closed before for going too unwieldy, it's time to shut it down again.