Black Focused School in TO

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Read!http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080130.SCHOOL30SB/TPStory/TPNational/Ontario/Thoughts??

Do I understand this is to be a publicly-funded school?In a sense it's no different from a Jewish or Islamic or Catholic school, but such schools are not usually state-run schools.

I've been following this obviously.It really doesn't make sense on so many levels. First of all it smacks of US style segrigation from the mid 20th cetury. Like I've said before in rants about public funding for faith based schools, we have a public, secular, inclusive system availble to all. If someone does not find that suitable, there are any number of accredited private schools available.There is indeed a drop out problem with black students in TO but it should be addressed directly in the current systemAlso, the TDSB has been in a budgetary crisis for years and can ill afford to add more, specialised schools.I would also worry about curriculum recognisation in the post secondary environment.And finally, by the admission of a TDSb trustee on the news yesterday, these new schools will only be sevicing about 0.1% of the black student population, so what's the point?I think that's all on my mind for now

thanks for summing up alot of what I was going to say after reading the article.it is segragation, voluntary segragation even. Did people learn nothing from the shit that occured in teh southern US so many years ago?

If it's a publicly funded school, then it could cause a problem of state-sanctioned segregation.If it's private, then like Ineligible said, it's similar to a Jewish, Muslim or even a Christian-oriented school. I wonder how many blacks are in the area. Not just within a 5-10 mile radius, but within a 60-mile radius at the most.

Originally Posted By: ClassyBlackWoman

If it's private, then like Ineligible said, it's similar to a Jewish, Muslim or even a Christian-oriented school.

With one big difference...it's based on race, not personal beliefs. This is modern-day racism, no matter what spin you try and put on it. Of course you'll never read about it in the media that way.

Stop and think for a minute...what if it was supposed to be an all white school? What kind of a reaction would we get out of the media then? You know it.

The US is going to have to grab onto the seat hard if we don't expect to get sucked down with all the stupid socialist ideas Canada's been playing with lately. And I read the other day where the Brits are thinking of using public money to pay surrogate mothers to have kids for homosexual couples. That makes me sick on so many different levels. It's all socialist crapola. Seems the communists are winning by losing.

good god child, you never cease to amaze me!"all the stupid socialist ideas Canada's been playing with lately"for fuck sake, we're suffering under the most right wing government that this country has seen in years! Harper is often reffered to as "Shrub"... i.e. Baby Bushthe lack of your goose stepping, right wing, Communist fearing bullshit is something for a Canadian to be proud of.Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to see my family doctor without stopping at the bank first and on the way home I'm gonna buy some cuban cigars at the gas stationLand of the free and all

Let's see...the Soviet Union, China, North Korea...all places really well known for their civil liberty. What do they all have in common? Communism! Socialism is just a stepping-stone. Get into everybodies lives, then pull back on the reins. Most probably won't even recognize it's happening until they come knocking on your door.

I love our free health care!

civil liberty?cell phone and overseas call monitoringthe patriot actMcCarthyism

I don't know how I really feel about this idea.Okay, so they're trying to make Afro-Centric Schools because statistics show that many black students are struggling with schoolwork and they think it's a good idea if they were to be taught together? I don't know - I have mixed feelings.At first, I didn't really think it would be considered racism. I define racism as dislike or favor for a race. The fact that people want to make a school that is Afro-centric to help them isn't really saying they dislike them or favor them. It's not like people are saying they're stupid - they're not. They've just noticed these people struggling with school frequently and that it would be a better approach if they were all to be taught at once and together because they have been struggling. It's not really the equivalent of segregation, either - segregation was when the government divided schools according to race based on the dislike of African Americans, and as a result, African-Americans seemed to be "confined" to certain, specially built schools. Even if what they're trying to do now shares a similar result as segregation - generally all of one race put into a specific school- the purposes are different, and no longer are racist reasons, but ones to help. It's with good purpose, and in this way, it shouldn't really be seen as racism just because of the idea that many African Americans would be put into their own schools.But then another thought came to my mind. If someone doesn't believe in racism, they should, in a way, see all people as colorless and "color-blind" (though I don't like to use that term). Meaning if you were to look at this situation with a "blind" Point of View, all you'd see is many students struggling with school. You wouldn't really see it like, "African-American students are many of the group of students that are struggling with school," because your "sight," is basically drained of color and you shouldn't really have a line of comparison between African-Americans, Caucasians, Asians, or whatever race it may be. So what I'm wondering now is, if people really -were- "color blind" and all, and there was no such thing as a different colored skin and everyone was colored the same, then would the people who are doing this now still do this? Would they make a school made to target the large group of students that were struggling with school? Because not only African Americans are struggling, but Caucasian, Asian, and many other races are also struggling with school. Should the fact that African-Americans take up much of that group mean anything when people are making a group of schools to help the people who are struggling with school?I don't know - I'm kind of mixed, but my feelings of "This is not racism," is still a little more dominant in my mind.

another concern with "black schools" is which black is black?
Uganda?
Nigeria?
Jamaca?
Guyana?

you spelled Jamaica wrong. how could you??

Good point! :laughing: I'm assuming the school is "Afro Centric," meaning people of African descent (who can be Jamaican, American, Guyanan, etc.)

Originally Posted By: JapanFan14

you spelled Jamaica wrong. how could you??

damn, typing too fast again :smile:
besides, you all know that it takes an army to monitor and manage my "special" spelling talents

Hi Everyone!! I hope you're OK. I'm not sure what I think of this either. My 'gut' reaction is that it's a mistake. I can't help but feel that it 'ghetto-izes' a segment of our population. And what about that poor black kid still going to a regular high school? In the hearts and minds of SOME of his fellow students - would he still have a 'right' to be there? Wouldn't it be easy for SOME of those other students to say, "Go to your OWN school - 'we' don't want you here!!" It was the same concern I had for so-called 'gay' schools. And wouldn't a so-called 'black school' be an easy target for the not-so-liberal thinkers? [White supremacists, etc.] And really - isn't it quite likely that a 'black focused school' would not be thought of so much as a 'black school' but as a 'special ed' school - where the 'not-so-bright' go to? That said... just HOW have Canadian high schools failed black students? [Or at least some of them] Shouldn't THAT have been the question? Shouldn't THAT have been what was dealt with? Instead of choosing to tackle the problem head on - what we ended up with - I think - is a cop out. "We have failed black students. So let's put them somewhere ELSE!!" GREAT BIG HUGCraig!!

your special spelling talents?actually recently I switched form opera to firefox, and all my spelling is corrected for me from the start! All I have to do is to take 30 seconds to run through the red shit on the screen and right click it to fix it, sometimes Im too lazy for even that.But you have no idea what Id do for a Cuban cigar! its been so fucking long since I had one.Can I goto jail for admitting to having smoked one while in the USA?guess Im in deep shit now.

I have 6 or 7 of them sitting in a humdore on my coffe table, next to a crystal caraf of wild turkey... it's good to be a bachellor lol

ackkkk! wild turkey? you tasteless bastard! even during my long days over years of all day and all night drinking, I stayed away from wild turkey! I did however drink several bottles each month of Crown Royal, smooth, shit a baby could drink that straight from a bottle! but my drinking days are now behind me, and crown was always too expensive to begin with!I figure I save around 7 grand a year by not drinking, and my tab for the years me and julz drank together? over 10k for the both of us to be drunk anytime we were awake, at work, at home, any fucking place there was.is good to be a reformed alcoholic, or atleast I have more cash now than I did then.I would so like a good cuban cigar though!

I'm a wiskey drinker and I like all the incarnations.I put single malt scotch at the top of the list. I love Crown but rye in general causes me a little bit of trouble... I have an allergy, it makes me break out in handcuffs!I find as far a burbon goes, the Turkey is so much smoother than JD!