History: An Update

As one who taught high school for 30 years, I have always believed in the power of education. It is the best and perhaps the only way to narrow the disparities that exist in society. In my experience, the truly educated are rarely the ranters who seem to dominate media today.

In my previous post, I talked about how many reactionary states are bound and determined to limit  education about Black history. Not only would such instruction empower Black people; it would also help to reduce the prejudice that is still very common against people perceived as "the other." To know about a rich history would limit the kind of reductionism that often defines Black people today.

At this point in my life, I am profoundly world-weary. But even this cynical, hardened heart was gladdened by news that the Ontario Ford government is going to make Black history a mandatory part of the curricula in Grades 7, 8, and 10, starting in 2025.

Stephen Lecce said Black history is Canadian history and adding it as a mandatory part of the curriculum will ensure the next generation will better appreciate the sacrifices and commitments Black Canadians have made.

"We are committed to ensuring every child, especially Black and racialized children, see themselves reflected within our schools. It is long overdue," Lecce said during a Thursday morning news conference at Lincoln Alexander Public School in Ajax. 

While I rarely have anything good to say about the Ford government, this is one initiative I heartily applaud. 

MPP Patrice Barnes, the parliamentary assistant to the education minister, spearheaded the curriculum change and said she wants it to deepen students' understanding of the country's diverse and vibrant heritage.

"Celebrating the remarkable achievements of the Black community within Canadian history is vital in providing a modern curriculum that reflects the truth of our democracy, one that combats hate and fosters inclusivity," Barnes said.

"This isn't just about Black experiences, it's not just about Black students. It's about the responsibility we have to provide all students with a comprehensive understanding of our country's rich and varied history."

This kind of curriculum was, of course, entirely absent when I was a student. Consequently, I grew up with little thought about the Black experience, usually equating and identifying Blacks with the sordid history of slavery. And it is clear that such education is sorely needed in Canada. Edward Keenan writes that we cannot be smug about being so different from the Americans, whose MAGA mentality drips with racism:

If anyone were under the impression the border keeps such thought currents from infecting Canadian politics, Pickering city councillor Lisa Robinson was recently happy to demonstrate otherwise, writing a column in a local newspaper arguing against observing Black history month (and indeed, the teaching of Black history) and outlining how it is racist to call her "white priviledge" (sic) and explaining how having her pay suspended for 90 days recently by her colleagues made her a "modern day slave," demonstrating that slavery is "not a Black and white issue." She then reminded people of the era "during the world wars" in the early 1900s when, she claims, soldiers sacrificed "without thought or division based on colour" (which might have been news to the soldiers serving in the segregated Black No. 2 Construction Battalion in the First World War, as well as to the 20,000 Canadian-born citizens of Japanese descent interned in camps during World War II).

That we have our own version of Marjorie Taylor Greene in elected office should be a comfort to no one, and, of course, Lisa Robinson is hardly alone in her prejudices. One hopes that with the education revisions just announced, we will see far less of her kind in the future.