WE HAVE WORK TO DO By Tia Duke

WE HAVE WORK TO DO Confronting Anti-Black Racism in Catholic Schools

By Tia Duke

This article is based on my own experience. Black educators are individuals, and Black people are not a monolith. I hope that sharing my thoughts on being a Black Catholic educator will resonate, enlighten, and challenge all of us. I am hopeful that we can start to collectively learn and unlearn so we can do the work to dismantle anti-Black racism in our Catholic schools.

In every Ontario Catholic school I have attended, or taught, I have experienced anti-Black racism.

For some, reading the bolded statement above will feel like a betrayal. At this point, I am unconcerned about white fragility, or the micro-/macro-aggressions that may present themselves in our interactions. I am not attacking Catholic education. I am attacking the antiBlack racism that occurs within schools

in Ontario’s publicly funded Catholic education system.

I can easily recall every racist incident from Kindergarten to year 15 of my teaching career. I can remember the incidents from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood vividly. With the exception of the completion of my degree programs, I have spent the entirety of my life in Catholic schools.

As a newcomer to Canada, my mother, on the advice of a Jamaican-Canadian coworker, chose Catholic education for her children. Now, as a mother of two Black boys, I too choose Catholic education for my children. But as I teach my four-year -old son how to make the sign of the cross, I worry. I know what is coming. I am in the fight of my life to protect my children’s humanity as they navigate school in the Catholic education system, and the world at large.

I take courage from Jesus Christ, Himself a representative of counterculture. His allyship is not performative and reactionary. Jesus Christ is not afraid of how He is viewed by His peers when He advocates for system change that is going to shift the power dynamics, and allow marginalized people to stand in their humanity. Jesus is a master teacher. Why? Because Jesus actively listened to those whose needs in the community were not being met and took action. James, a disciple of Jesus, writes in his epistle, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Jesus openly challenged His disciples to step into the discomfort of challenging oppression. He openly and publicly condemned those who abused their power to oppress others.

As many Catholic school boards release statements reacting to the most recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, Breonna Taylor, and countless others whose names may not make our social media feeds, timelines, or news headlines, we are called to action. It is not enough to release a letter publicly outlining strategies to address anti-Black racism, of which stakeholders are just now being made aware. It is one step to read books on anti-racism, white supremacy, and privilege; it is a completely different undertaking to transfer that knowledge to create an anti-racist publicly funded education system that dismantles the mindset of white supremacy that governs all policies and action plans.

Senior management and elected trustees will need to understand, and acknowledge, that for decades it has been Black Catholic educators who have done the heavy lifting of fighting for their racialized students without support or recognition. They often do so as the only Black staff at their schools. Many have experienced trauma that has changed the course of their careers and lives. The connections we as Black educators in schools make with students are authentic and intangible.

Any change will have to start with school boards, senior management, elected trustees, administrators, and fellow teachers acknowledging the ways in which Black Catholic educators have been silenced historically, and continue to be stifled today. There is a pervasive culture of fear when having to speak up as Black educators, demonstrating that anti-racist conversations are not welcome, often dismissed, and subversively punished. Tokenism of a few Black Catholic educators under the banner of inclusive and equitable hiring has only presented the guise of diversity. What is needed is actual commitment from school boards to hire significant numbers of Black and other racialized candidates, and a concerted effort to increase the presence of Black and racialized students in the faculties of education.

Those who have never experienced anti-Black racism, those who have benefited from white privilege, and those who weaponize white fragility to maintain current systems of oppression are not best suited to determine a plan of action to create system-wide change. Crafting disruptive and dynamic policy and pedagogy cannot take place in isolation, or through token, surface level consultations. We need to draw upon and credit the myriad Black educators and students, with diverse skillsets, who want to lead in this fight for change. Nothing for us should be conceptualized or actualized without us. It is imperative that Black Catholic educators, support staff, students, and their families have meaningful involvement.

As educators, we know that a healthy learning environment is one that draws from the collective pool of knowledge. We must ask ourselves whose knowledge we’ve excluded from that pool and actively seek to include the perspectives we’re missing. A commitment to a life in education is a commitment to continuous unlearning, too. There’s humility — but also a world of possibilities — in accepting that we don’t have all the answers.

I am one person. I am learning and unlearning. I have work to do. Our children are watching – they are and will be the generation of change. They are discerning believers, they are effective communicators, and they are responsible citizens. Our young people are following in Jesus’ footsteps even as we collectively stumble to chart a new anti-racist path. Our Black students, and their friends of every race, clearly and confidently say, shout, and hashtag Black Lives Matter. Full stop. Period. They get it. Let us humbly follow the example of our Black learners and educators whose wisdom and intelligence is all too often underestimated and undervalued. Let us take action and show that in Catholic education across Ontario, Black Lives Matter.

Tia Duke is a member of the Dufferin-Peel Secondary Unit, and a former finalist for the Toronto Star’s Teacher of the Year award.