Abstract:
ABSTRACT
When asked about the proposal for a black-focused school, black youth from the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA) voiced their agreement with elements of the proposal, but resisted the idea
of implementing the proposal by creating a separate school. Although media representations and
Dei (1996, 2006) provide insight into what Torontonians' reactions are to the proposed blackfocused
school there has been no such information documented on what black youth in the GTA
think about the project. This is the first known study that attempts to fill that gap by providing a
representation of black youths' voices obtained via focus groups. The study examines what
black youth know and think about the proposal, and why they largely disagree with the blackfocused
school proposal. While the findings of this study indicate that the participants saw many
positive elements of the proposal, they did not support the implementation of a black-focused
school as they saw the creation of a separate space for the school as a negative thing. The youth
had trouble conceptualizing 'black-focused schooling' as an alternative approach to mainstream
education, which had an impact on whether they choose to, or could, respond to questions that
precisely related to the black-focused school project. The study concludes that the youth could
not visualize what the school would look like and how it would operate because they draw on
liberal racist discourses (e.g. colour-blindness, blaming the victim, and equal opportunity) when
thinking about their educational experiences; however, there was a clear contradiction in the
way the youths' voices reflected an awareness of the role of race in education experiences. It
was evident when they talked about fear of stigmatization, but when using liberal discourses the
youth discounted the role of race, and seemed not to be aware of its role in educational
experiences. These findings pose important implications for educators, would-be educators,
administrators, the TDSB and proponents of the black-focused school.
