Concerned

"I remember the first man to the
moon, when he set his foot on
the moon, he said this is a little
step forward for mankind. I ask
myself, is my child and
grandchildren mankind?"
- Lilian Ngoyi

This past weekend we visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.   The museum was a sombre reminder of the darkest days of the Apartheid era.  It is a chilling illustration of the rise and fall of the policy of segregation and oppression from 1948 to 1994 in South Arica.  As the brochure explains, “The basic principle behind apartheid was simple – segregate everything.  Cut a clean line through a nation to divide black from white and keep them divided.”  The museum is also a stark reminder of the struggle for liberation and the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity.  From the very beginning, our admission tickets divided us into “white” and “non-white” and instructed us to use our allotted gate to enter to the museum.  I cannot express the overwhelming sense of discomfort and distress I felt going through the exhibits. 

Feeling very uncomfortable at the entrance of the museum

 

Classification and segregation

131 nooses representing 131 government
opponents executed under antiterrorism laws

So you can imagine my reaction when I came across the following headline on Thursday morning:  TDSB Votes in Favour of Africentric Secondary School

The Globe and Mail article that day summarized the issue as follows:

There are approximately 30,000 students of African heritage in the board’s schools, and as many as 40 per cent of them drop out.
“To not support an Africentric secondary school would be discrimination against the Africentric community,” said trustee Maria Rodrigues, shortly before the vote.
Trustee Gerri Gershon voted against the high school. “I can’t in good conscience support a school where kids are separated from one another,” she said.

The CBC reported:

Toronto District School Board trustees on Wednesday approved the city's second Africentric school, this time for high school students.
Cheers erupted in the packed public gallery after the controversial motion for the high school for black students passed 14-6.

Maybe it is because of where I am.  And maybe it is because of everything I have been learning here so far.  And maybe I am not even the right person to say this.  But it seems to me that dividing people into separate institutions based on the colour of their skin is never a good idea, even if it is done by choice and not by force.  It seems to me that in the long run the implications of an action like that are futile.

I understand that the Toronto District School Board is trying to address the appallingly high dropout rate within the African community in Toronto.  However, it seems to me there are better ways to work through the public school system than to racially segregate children within it.
For over five years, I have worked and volunteered for an organization called Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS), which is a partnership between the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Toronto District School Board.  The aim of the program is to use legal education as a tool to empower high school youth and to motivate them to become engaged and active members of our society.  Its mandate is to provide “at-risk” youth in inner-city schools with the opportunity to learn about the legal system and explore possible legal careers.  At its core, the program’s objective is to enhance the high school experience, promote legal education and reduce high school dropout rates.  Through LAWS I have worked with high school students as an educator, tutor, mentor and a friend and I have seen the tremendous impact a positive role-model makes in someone’s life.  I have seen the power of inspiring youth by showing them that anything is possible as long as you are willing to work hard for it.  

Maybe instead of perpetuating a system that history has already shunned - South Africa being the obvious example - we should be coming up with new and innovative ways to address issues of inequality and disparity.  We should empower our youth within the marvelously diverse and multicultural city that Toronto is, and not apart from it. We should look to the future and not to the past.  Just a thought...

Durban beachfront 1989