Racism
The article is about a family that fought anti-black racism in the school system, and they managed to win. At the high school graduation of Ziphion, which was during summer the previous year, his mother was very emotional because she remembered what her son had to go through to get there. Ziphion graduated with a diploma, a French certificate, and an Ontario honors award (My family fought anti-Black racism in the school system—and won, 2020). The time came for Ziphion to join the university. Still, the mother was worried about him since his son’s public education was a daily systemic racism lesson. The family’s efforts in getting justice turned into a public, high-profile battle with the entire board of the school.
The black children faced dangers at school, which included consistently higher rates of suspensions and expulsions. That pushed to change what was normal and became a permanent part of life. Ziphion was a talented boy who recited poems like Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama, which intimidated some teachers because they were not ready to see a black boy shine. Ziphion’s mother started receiving daily phone calls and notes to describe a behavior said to be unruly that Ziphion’s parents never saw from him. It was a form of racism, and a teacher who overheard other teachers discuss the boy in a coded racist language confirmed that to Ziphion’s parents. When Ziphion’s parents took him to grade nine, the principal tried demonstrating an appropriate school attire by wearing a hoodie, track pants with one leg rolled up to the knee, and a hat faced backward.
That made Ziphion’s parents see how insensitive the principal was to issues of stereotyping and race. There was a case of macroaggressions when Ziphion’s teacher would not call on him, accused him of showing off, and gave him low grades. The gym teacher accused him of stealing from classmates in the changing room, which is when the parents had enough. A complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario was filed (Racial incidents ignored by York board, families say, 2016). The family settled the board out of court, where they were given a monetary settlement and an apology—Elgie, who made a racist comment resigned. An advocacy group was formed that fought for fair and equal treatment of black children called parents of black children. They file human rights complaints, hate crime incidences are reported to the police, and they also empire other black parents to fight back when their children are wronged.
The author of this narrative is Ziphion’s mother, whose narrative is very strong. She can express her feelings by writing, and we can feel the pain she had for her child. She explains how the son has been going through a series of racial discrimination since he was in grade two. In grade two, the elementary school used to call daily and leave notes to describe how Ziphion had an unruly behavior. Here, the mother explains that neither she nor the father saw any of the named behavior in their son. She thought that the teacher was sincere, but she later understood that it was a form of racism that was subtle and difficult to identify, easily hidden in accounts of children misbehaving by either not listening or being disruptive.
The second incident was when a teacher overheard grown adults talk in coded racist language about Ziphion, and the teacher let Ziphion’s parents know. The mother turned their home from a punitive environment into a progressive home where she would spend every evening speaking life, support, and love to his son. The third incident is when the grade nine principal wore to show how insensitive he was to issues of stereotype and race to demonstrate inappropriate school attire. The fourth incident was when his French teacher accused him of showing off and gave him low grades than the rest of the same group. The fifth was when the gym teacher accused him of stealing from his classmates in the changing room. All this time, the parents kept fighting for their child’s rights, filing cases in court but eventually, the child was able to graduate. The mother was so passionate about the race issue that she became a co-founder of the Parents of Black Children advocacy group.
The alternative approach to this topic would be the forms of racism in schools today. That is because Ziphion’s mother systematically explains what her child has been going through since he joined school up to his graduation. The article states that when the parents with children in the Peel Region District School Board began agitating about systemic racism in schools, there was support. Later on, the board of the school was placed under review; the directors were replaced. Being placed under review means that they were being investigated and holding discussions about the action to take against them (Rushowy, 2020). Elgie, who made a racial comment, was investigated. Making an investigation means that Elgie’s comment was researched or examined systematically to prove true or false. Ziphion’s parents filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, stating that their child faced discrimination by three high school teachers. The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is a tribunal that handles discrimination claims and resolves applications through adjudication or mediation.
References
My family fought anti-Black racism in the school system—and won. (2020, September 8). Today’s Parent. https://www.todaysparent.com/family/family-life/anti-black-racism-in- school-system/
Source 1
Rushowy, K. (2020, June 22). Province names a supervisor to take over the peel district school board. thestar.com. https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/06/22/province- names-a-supervisor-to-take-over-the-peel-district-school-board.html
relevance
Elgie and the board placed under review
source 2
The York board ignores racial incidents, families say. (2016, February 25). thestar.com. https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2016/02/23/racial-incidents-ignored-by- york-board-families-say.html
relevance
Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario,
