BY PAUL JUNOR
It has been over thirty years that the Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) has been at the forefront of fighting against racism, injustice, intolerance, and discrimination.
The UARR has partnered with other community-based organizations to form the Coalition of Racial Equity in Education. The coalition is a collaborative project, which also involves the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), Ontario Alliance of Black Educators (ONABSE), Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto (CCNCto), and the Tamil Canadian Centre for Civic Action (TCCCA).
The coalition receives funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. In the UARR’s May newsletter, the work of the coalition is highlighted which, “First aims to bring together existing work, those already done, and those eager to be involved with activism. We equip community with advocacy tools and training and spend our organizing time working towards specific policy changes at the level of regional school boards and the provincial government.”
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Peel District School Board (PDSD), and York Region District School Board have developed anti-Black racism strategies. Unfortunately, the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) has still failed to formulate one. There was hope that with the installation of Dr. Brendon Browne as the New Director in 2019, the resurrection of the Race Relation Committee, and the ongoing work of the African Canadian Caribbean Committee (ACCC) that the board would be able to formulate one.
The UARR is part of a petition “#CUETHESTRATEGY that reiterates that TCDSB needs an anti-Black strategy. The petition states, “The TCDSB’s last Equity Action Plan (2018-2021) fails to even mention the term “Anti-Black Racism. This gap, the constant incidents of anti-Black racism, and the failure to note their progress on the African Canadian Advisory Council’s five-year plan has led our coalition and community to demand a strategy that transparently identifies how the board intends on challenging and dismantling anti-Black racism. The time is now to #cuethestrategy.”
The petition indicates that despite meeting with the board’s Director, Superintendent of Equity and Diversity, and the Human Rights Advisor, anti-Black racism is still not acknowledged. “There has not been any signalling towards comprehensive, quantifiable measures that are going to be put in place to confront anti-Black racism. The response to our concerns of anti-Black racism has been that they are working on the matter and that change takes time, and when we asked further, what are Black children supposed to do while the board takes its time, there was a lack of response.”
The petition concludes, “There needs to be adequate planning, strategizing, expertise, and resources dedicated to the dismantling of anti-Black racism. A strategy is not going to fix the problem, but it will outline, quantify and affirm what gaps exist and how then to evaluate and amend them. We are calling on the community to join our coalition in demanding that TCDSB #cuethestrategy. The petition can be seen website: https://www.change.org/p/cuethestrategy.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the UARR can check its social media sites:
Website: http://www.urbanalliance.ca
Facebook: Urban Alliance on Race Relations-UARR
Twitter: Urban Alliance@UARRToronto
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