Black History

Learners | Learning Outcome #1 | Reflect critically on the links between theory and practice in Ontario schools.

Poster highlighting the achievements of Black Canadians

When we celebrate the achievements of Black Canadians in February, the bleak history of the treatment of African Canadians is often hidden. Though Canadians were known for saving black slaves through the underground railway, it is only recent that stories of the mistreatment Black Canadians have come to light. There is historical evidence that has indicated that white locals’ in Western Canada made every attempt to keep black students away in order to preserve white supremacy in public schools. And Canadian government officials played a passive role to make any changes to policies to admit black students. This act of racism, is rarely highlighted in history books, but it's an important piece of history that we ought to know.

To keep the black students out of schools, “…[the white population] would gerrymander school districts or declare that local common schools were private. As a last resort, white parents would simply remove their children from the common school, which invariably closed due to the reduction in attendance (Knight, p. 228).” Black families were stranded with no education to provide their children. And though they have attempted to fight back; historical documents show that black parents “resorted to a variety of strategies to combat local prejudice (Knight, p. 225),” it resulted to several pushbacks from white opposition. For every strategy made by black parents, there was a counter strategy from white parents.

Why the pushback? Why does the local white opposition wish to keep public schools for only white students?

There were some possible reasons: first it's a fact that knowledge is power. Access to education could empower black students and overthrow the white population. An uneducated black population maintains white superiority. Secondly, authority officials had little ‘legislative power’ to “enforce new school policies (Knight, pp. 227,228)” hence collective practice and protest by the black population rewarded little results. Third, Canada West’s loyalty to the British Empire in which they modeled their institutions and laws (McLaren, p. 30), modeled the pure British race – which didn’t include people of colour (McLaren, p 32).

To reflect on black history and the accomplishments of many black individuals, I think that this less popular piece of history should be noted. It's certainly not something Canada should be proud of, but it is stories like these, especially in schools, is a reminder to keep education accessible. Access to education is not a luxury, it is a right.

References

Knight, C. (2012). Black parents speak: Education in mid-nineteenth-century Canada West. In S. Z. Burke & P. Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in transition: Readings in Canadian history of education (pp. 225-237). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

McLaren, K. (2004, May). We had no desire to be set apart: Forced Segregation of Black Students in Canada West Public Schools and Myths of British Egalitarianism. Social History. 37(73), 27-50.