'Serious racism problem' within Toronto school board, first-of-its-kind report finds.Parkdale, in the city's west end, is one of Toronto's most multicultural neighbourhoods.Īfter speaking with other parents whose children attend Parkdale CI, Latha said change needs to happen on a wider scale. "We're trying to push the school and the TDSB to look at how and why this happened." "One of the main reasons we pushed for our kid to go to Parkdale was because of the diversity, so that he would see himself reflected in the school," Latha said, noting she's a parent of a child of colour. Parent Sarah Latha said her son shared a photo that his friend took that shows the teacher in blackface in the classroom. Ardell applauded students for "doing the right thing." Several parents learned about the incident from their children. The incident itself was brought to light when several students reported it to the vice-principal.
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"While we have begun the work of addressing anti-Black racism and all forms of discrimination, it is clear that we must do more."Īrdell also noted that anti-Black racism and other forms of discrimination targeting any race, culture or group contravenes the school's code of conduct and several TDSB policies. "Caricatures of peoples' race and culture are not appropriate and are offensive and hurtful," Ardell wrote. The teacher will remain on home assignment "pending the outcome of an investigation," the letter says. In a letter to parents and guardians, Principal Julie Ardell called the incident "racist and dehumanizing." She said the teacher was told to wash his face and the school has filed a report with the TDSB. "How would you feel to have your teacher come in with blackface, then be asked to remove it and continue teaching you?" she said. Ikiriko said the incident shows a massive misunderstanding of the impact of blackface and how it affects BIPOC students. "And that's the part that's really so devastating, is that really the only action that took place was because the kids stood up and said something." "As things kind of sunk in through the afternoon and evening I realized that there were other instructors, there were other teachers who saw him and who were interacting with him throughout the day before he was asked to take the makeup off," she said. She said the principal called her back and apologized for what had taken place. Stang's mother Liz Ikiriko called the school after learning about what had happened. Parents, however, are demanding more action from the board, saying incidents involving racism and discrimination should not be tolerated. He has since been placed on home assignment while the TDSB investigates the incident. In one of many photos taken by students at Parkdale Collegiate Institute, a teacher is seen wearing blackface.
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