Critical Race Theory (CRT) argues that race is a social construct and not a natural, biologically grounded aspect of physically different subsets of human beings, which is used to exploit and oppress people of color. Critical race theorists assert that the United States law and legal institutions are inherently racist since they work to create and maintain economic, social, and political inequities between whites and nonwhites, particularly African-Americans. Although Critical Race Theory is commonly used from a legal perspective, its scope and use extend to other disciplines such as education. Therefore, CRT’s viewpoint can help in the analysis of inequalities leading to black male students’ underachievement in the Ontario education system.
As previously discussed, numerous educational policies and reforms have been introduced over the years in Ontario’s schools to promote equity and fairness. However, black male students still experience routine stigmatization and discrimination, significantly affecting their school achievement. According to James & Turner (2017), race significantly contributes to the underachievement of black students. The authors observe that there is racial stratification of black students in classes compared to the White and other racialized peers. In a study on placement practices in special education programs in Toronto, Adje (2018) affirms that racial stratification is significant. Adje (2018) asserts that there are more black male students than White and other racialized groups. Moreover, Ufoegbune (2017) found overrepresentation and high dropout rates for black students in Canada’s public schools due to marginalization. Thus, educational policies and reforms enacted over the years have been insufficient in promoting racial equity in Ontario’s school system leading to the under-achievement of black male students.
CRT attributes disparate racial outcomes and racism to the subtle and complex social and institutional dynamics. In the case of black male students in the Ontario education system, CRT can help discover and understand elements that are against most of these students. Various studies have shown that black male students are treated differently to whites and other racialized groups due to their skin color. These discriminatory practices take different forms and can be argued to be the reflection of attitudes the wider society holds. As evident in the policies developed by Ontario’s ministry of education claiming the existence of racial inequities in the school system, there is an affirmation of racism as an ordinary phenomenon. In turn, it legitimizes the need to develop reforms to improve the state of black male students’ education.
The minister of education in Ontario unveiled Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan in 2017 to eradicate persistent inequities in the education system. It aims to provide guidelines and policies to eliminate discriminatory practices in schools to enhance outcomes among all students. The strategy is expected to complement and supplement Realizing the Promise of Diversity: Ontario’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy developed in 2009 to handle the same issue. However, despite elaborate action plans, black male students continue to underachieve in Ontario’s school system due to structural and institutional racial inequalities. It implies that there is a failure in the development and implementation of these policies.
One major component of Ontario’s education system that both the 2017 and 2009 policies identified as the main factor in black male students’ underachievement is the inadequate school curriculum design. According to James & Turner (2017), it is crucial to have a curriculum that reflects back to students their value to and place in the Canadian society. Ufoegbune (2017) further adds that the celebration and promotion of Black student’s ethnic identity are vital to their academic excellence in an education system. However, Ontario’s school curriculum comprises of information that is not culturally responsive or relevant to Black male students’ interests and needs (James, 2019). For example, curriculum content in the Ontario education system does not have adequately detailed or varied information on black history, such as the atrocities committed during the colonization of others people and their land and the Atlantic Slave Trade era, to improve black students’ education.
Besides, the scanty information is profiled for de-valorization while others such as Martin Luther are valorized. Hence, the policies aimed to eliminate racial inequities in the Ontario school system exacerbate the problem by promoting inadequate or profiled curriculum content on the ancestry history of the black people. The lack of attention affects black male students’ chances of bonding with their educational experiences and promotes their systemic exclusion in the institution. In turn, black male students lose interest in education, leading to higher dropout rates and underachievement than students from other races.
There are loopholes in the curriculum content regarding the issue of black uniqueness, where low value is incorporated into the contributions of black. It implies that black male students in the Ontario school system do not learn about their cultures and the importance of their predecessors’ accomplishments, which would otherwise boost their morale. These factors are crucial to the notion of representation and uniqueness. Because of underrepresentation in the curriculum content, these students develop a conflict on identity expression and biased assessment about confrontation and compliance. Moreover, they end up failing to adopt and comply with mainstreams values, which affects how they are evaluated compared to those who conform to the system. The higher chances of black students being suspended from school than whites indicate the level of conflict among black male students in Ontario (TDSB). According to Livingstone and Weinfield (2017), a study showed that expulsions and suspensions are the main reasons cited for leaving by African-American students in the United States.
Hence, it is not sustainable to claim that the education system in Ontario and the policies promote fairness and equity to minority groups. The reforms developed to improve black male students’ achievement in schools promote under-achievement and dropping out of these students. Since they see the policies developed unfavorable to them, black male students tend to lose in the school system. Moreover, these students will lack the required qualifications to secure jobs in the future affecting their prosperity. Thus, the development and execution of these policies have hidden racial sentiments attached to them. Students who believe or perceive this as their reality lose interest in education, leading to underachievement.
According to George, Maier, & Robson (2019), the primary reason for the persistence of racial inequities in Ontario’s education system is due to failure to recognize race as a valid systemic issue. They argue that failure to address the issue of race when developing and implementing policies promotes racial disparities rather than eliminate them. Sefa Dei (2008) reiterates that the denial of systemic and institutionalized racism is a major failure of Ontario’s education system. Besides, it systematically reproduces the status quo and normalizes racism in schools. It trivializes and neglects racial discrimination experiences and encounters black male students face in the education system of Ontario.
In a study, Abdi (2012) found that profiling in and outside of school due to ethnicity or academic record and history contributes to the underachievement of Somali students in Canada. The findings indicate that race plays a vital role in creating experiences and barriers within the school system. Additionally, educational policy developments such as streaming inhibit Ontario’s school system promise of an equal chance of success and a high-quality learning experience. James (2019) argues that streaming in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a major contributor to underachievement among black male students. Both the studies by George et al. (2019) and Sefa Dei (2018) concur that streaming is a key factor in propagating the marginalization and underachievement of black male students in Ontario. James (2019) states that black students reported being assigned as athletically gifted and not academically gifted.
Policies in Ontario’s school system that undermines historical and discriminatory systemic racial barriers significantly affect the achievement of black male students in Ontario. When left unchecked, such policies cause discriminatory misrepresentations and reinforces low negative expectations among the black students within the education system, influencing their motivation in long-term educational pursuits and achievements. Consequently, they lose their interest in school and find consolation among individuals in the same situation. Moreover, policies such as streaming determine the choice of friends independently and directly adopting doctrines that do not help improve their achievements in schools. Thus, neglecting the influence of race in educational experiences propagates racial inequities within the school system leading to the underachievement of black male students in Ontario.
References
Abdi, F. (2012). Kicked out of school: The perspectives of Somali students on why they have not completed high school. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Adjei, P. B. (2018). The (em)bodiment of blackness in a visceral anti-black racism and ableism context. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 21(3), 275–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1248821
George, R. C., Maier, R., & Robson, K. (2020). Ignoring race: a comparative analysis of education policy in British Columbia and Ontario. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 23(2), 159–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1679754
Sefa Dei, G. J. (2008). Schooling as Community: Race, Schooling, and the Education of African Youth. Journal of Black Studies, 38(3), 346–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934707306570
James, C. E. (2019). ADAPTING, DISRUPTING, AND RESISTING: HOW MIDDLE SCHOOL BLACK MALES POSITION THEMSELVES IN RESPONSE TO RACIALIZATION IN SCHOOL. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 44(4), 373–398. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs29518
James, C.E. & Turner, T. (2017). Towards Race Equity In Education: The Schooling of Black Students in the Greater Toronto Area. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: York University.
James, C. E. (2012). Students “at Risk”: Stereotypes and the Schooling of Black Boys. Urban Education (Beverly Hills, Calif.), 47(2), 464–494. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911429084
Livingstone, A.-M., & Weinfeld, M. (2017). Black Students and High School Completion in Quebec and Ontario: A Multivariate Analysis: Black Students and High School Completion. The Canadian Review of Sociology, 54(2), 174–197. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12144
Petchauer, E., Mawhinney, L., Chaplin, M. S., Daoud, A. M., Lansing, D., Franklin Torrez, C. A., Brinkerhoff, J., Welch, I., Browning, S., & Kolman, J. S. (2017). Teacher Education across Minority-Serving Institutions: Programs, Policies, and Social Justice. Rutgers University Press.https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/permalink/01UTORONTO_INST/fedca1/cdi_askewsholts_vlebooks_9780813588681
Ufoegbune, K. (2017). At the Black of the Class: Examining the Marginalization of Students of African and Caribbean Descent in Public Schools for ResolutionsMaster’s Thesis]. University of Toronto, OISE.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Retrieved on June 18th, 2021, from:
https://www.tdsb.on.ca/portals/0/research/docs/2017_Census.pdf
Ministry of Education [MOE]. (2017). Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan. Retrieved on June 18, 2021 from: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/about/education_equity_plan_en.pdf
Ministry of Education [MOE].(2009). Ontario’s Equity And Inclusive Education Strategy: Retrieve on June 18, 2021 from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/equity.pdf
