A black student's view on racism at York University

Well what a surprise, once again at York University (one of schools in Canadian University Guide 2008) some jackass wrote racist anti black slurs at the Black Student Office. Some people think Toronto Canada is a multicultural paradise and this is pure mythology. The pernicious racism against black people is in full force in the city of Toronto!

I don’t know if you already know this but I am an alumni at York University. I know York University and the politics of the administration. The concerns of black students are ignored by the people in charge of the university. The apathetic attitude of York University towards the concerns of black people is not surprising either.

Why did it take the president of York University Mamdouh Shoukri two days to respond? Would Shoukri wait two days to respond to the Jews? There should of been an immediate response by the president of York University. The delayed response is only an example of the friction between the racist York administration and black students. Shoukri’s delayed response is pathetic. If the racist incident was against the Jews at York University there would of been an immediate response. York University is Jew central so the concerns of the Jews are placed ahead of blacks and other minorities. The bias the York University administration (the same as in many other top Canada's universities and academic programs) has for the Jews is simply incredible. Yet there is also an invisible code that exists that York University that you cannot speak out about the administration’s blatant racist anti black prejudices. However, when racism takes place against black people the York University administration’s attitude is of silence, prejudice, and apathy. Everyone knows at York University there is a racial hierarchy and basically the Jews are on the top because the Jews run York University.

Many Canada's universities including York University has a history of racism against black people. The racist incident at the black student office is not a surprise and the slow response of the York University administration isn’t shocking either. It is just typical York University politics.

I graduated with a B.A. degree in June 2004. When I return to university to complete a second degree I know I am skipping York University. York University is anti black everyone knows this. I know York very well and one of the problems I have had with the York University administration is their racist biases attitudes against the concerns of black students. Why wasn’t there any security cameras that actually work by the black student office? York University cannot cry poverty York makes millions of dollars from tuition fees, from private investors, and from the government.

York University also has a history of violent sexual assault attacks against women. The York University security service is pathetic and just plain garbage. I cannot be more honest then that. How can the third largest university in Canada not have security cameras that actually work in specific areas around campus? Now the people that wrote the racist anti black remarks are just going to get away with it. The culprits will never be caught.

The racist anti black incident highlights a serious issue about the hypocrisy of the York University administration and it's university academic programs in relation to racism against black people. York University has a history of racism against blacks. In the year 1992 white security guards asked only black students for identification cards. There was a major uproar on the campus back then over sixteen years ago.

I have encountered racism at York University because I dared to challenge white supremacy. In December 2002 I wrote a groundbreaking explosive story “Whitewashed Black Studies” about employment discrimination at York University. My article was published in NOW Magazine. The article highlighted the fact in the year 2002 there were only 16 black professors out of 1248.Even though I informed my white history professor that my article was going to be published in NOW Magazine he attempted to sabotage and destroy me. Suddenly, my average in the history class dropped dramatically from a B average to a C average.

The attitude of the white male professor immediately changed and I knew that my article created a lot of controversy. I exposed York University for its racist hiring standards. I complained to the history department and passed the class. The history department found another professor to mark my assignments.

A few years ago when I was an undergraduate at York University I also encountered racism by a racist white female teaching assistant in another history class. I stood my ground and I complained and made my voice heard. There was no way I was going to make some racist bigots prevent me from graduating university. York University likes to pride itself as an anti racist university that is against racism. However, the lax and pathetic security system and services at York proves otherwise.

Education and Learning, for a Bright Future

Harvard has the the most black students among Ivy league schools

Harvard University (a top universities in the United States, see also best Canadian university programs) in Cambridge, MA, now has the largest percentage of Black students among the eight Ivy League universities, according to a study by The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Harvard has a student body that is 7.2 percent Black. Yale and Columbia follow Harvard each with a student body that is 6.9 percent Black.

Brown University, where 5.7 percent of the students are Black, ranks fourth.

Cornell University has the lowest percentage of Black students among the Ivy League schools. Only 4.2 percent of all Cornell students are Black.

According to the Journal's survey, Harvard also ranks first among the Ivy League schools in the percentage increase of Black students since 1980. The percentage of the total Black student body at Harvard rose from 5.2 percent in 1980 to 7.2 percent today.

Yale, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania also saw increases in the 1980 to 1996 period, the Journal reported.

Education and Learning, for a Bright Future

Toronto school board considers separate school for black students

Creating an alternative school tailored to young black students in Toronto has ignited a passionate debate, pitting those who vehemently oppose segregating kids against others who say the current system is failing young black students and driving them into a life of crime.

The Toronto District School Board is exploring the idea of creating Ontario's first "African-centred alternative school," which would target students from kindergarten to Grade 8 and is holding community meetings to gauge reaction in the next few weeks. While many argue such a school would start the province on a dangerous and slippery slope, advocates say people have to realize the status quo isn't working.

"We're just spitting out more kids that are destined for failure," said Louis March of the African Canadian Heritage Association. "Fifty per cent of our kids are not getting through Grade 12 . . . These people don't have a fighting chance against anybody. (That's without any tutoring and special care, see Bay hill tutoring and SAT tutoring york region) The cards are stacked against them. Their way out is gangs, their way out is guns, their way out is drugs. With those choices, there is no turning back."Black-focused schools have been tried in Detroit and Philadelphia, with a similar concept enjoying some success in Canada's aboriginal community, and it's time Ontario gave it a shot, March said. "Let's get our heads out of the sand," he said. "Let's deal with the problem."

But the concept—a school with more black teachers, an exclusively black student body and a greater focus on black heritage—is eliciting strong reaction from many who call it a step in the wrong direction. "I don't think it's a good idea," Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday. "I'm not personally comfortable with that."

Although McGuinty said it's up to the school board to decide at the end of the day, he said students are better off in diverse classrooms, learning side-by-side. "I think our shared responsibility—particularly in this magnificent, diverse society that we enjoy—is to look for ways to bring people together," McGuinty said. "One of the most important ways that we can bring our kids together is through publicly funded education. My preference is that we continue to find ways to bring our kids together."

Others didn't mince words, calling the idea segregationist and dangerous. Toronto school trustee Josh Matlow said the board has seen the dropout rates and heard from black students who feel they are being let down or persecuted by the system. The board could easily offer alternative programs targeted at black students that focus more on their heritage, history and iconic figures as a way of educating and engaging all students, he said. But separating students isn't the answer, Matlow said.

"I think it's a very dangerous direction to go in if we start creating schools based on race," he said. "I don't think that any public building, especially schools, should be anything but welcoming to every single kid in our system."

Harold Brathwaite, former director of the Peel District School Board, said he went through the same debate in the 1980s and the idea was ultimately rejected because there is no evidence to suggest separate black-focused schools work. "My fear is that the best students and the best teachers are not going to apply to go there," said Brathwaite, who is black. "We don't want to ghettoize our students. Unless this is carefully handled, it won't work." While Brathwaite said many black students may struggle and drop out of school (including being tutored in Bay hill preschool learning center), there are "a lot of black students who are successful as well."

Toronto city councillor Michael Thompson said he struggled in school as a youngster but made it through with the help of his mother and teachers. It's clear the school system has to do more to engage young black students, Thompson said.

But setting up separate schools is sending the wrong message, he said. "We talk about this whole distaste that we have for discrimination and segregation and yet we say here is a time when segregation is perfect," Thompson said. "I just don't want to travel down that road."

Education and Learning, for a Bright Future