Being Black in School: Peel students open up about the racism they face in the classroom

Alyssa Alexander remembers the day a teacher told her class not to use the word "racism."

It was during a discussion on misrepresentation within the government, she recalls. A classmate suggested systemic racism might be a factor.

"The teacher said, 'No, we don't want to use the word racism, it's just some people have privileges that others don't.'"

It was an instruction that left Alexander stunned.

As a Black student in the Peel District School Board (PDSB), it's not the first time the Grade 10 student from Mississauga says racism has been dismissed, overlooked, or ignored in class.

"I've had teachers talking about the history of racism, say that it was a myth about how bad Black people were treated during slavery, and how of course, slavery is wrong, but they weren't actually treated that badly," she said.

Alexander isn't alone. 

From racial slurs in the hallway to teachers ignorant of their cultural backgrounds, four students opened up to CBC News during a panel discussion about their personal experiences of anti-Black racism within the Peel board.

Together, the students painted a picture of feeling isolated, alienated and misunderstood in school — whether it was minimizing slavery, being asked why they were in a particular class or teachers assuming they had poor English skills simply because of their accents.

The students believe a key solution is to hire more Black teachers, but say they aren't sure the board is listening to them.

Exactly what percentage of the PDSB's workforce is Black isn't known. The board is conducting a workforce census.

Its last census in 2016 showed seven per cent of staff members identified as Black, while 67 per cent identified as white. That's in contrast to a 2018 student census, which showed 10 per cent of Peel students were Black, while 13 per cent were white. 

The board, meanwhile, doesn't deny there is systemic racism in its schools — which got so bad that Ontario's Ministry of Education stepped in to force change in 2019 — and says it's trying to improve.

The ministry's review, launched in 2020, found that while Black students in the Peel board make up 10 per cent of the student population, they account for 22 per cent of suspensions. Black youth who spoke with ministry reviewers also said they feel they're held to a higher standard than white and other racialized students.