Montreal region school board publishes report on discrimination after blackface video of teenagers

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MONTREAL – A 143-page report on the policies of a Montreal-area school board found that many students feel discriminated against because of their religion, sexual orientation and race.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board commissioned the report after two girls from John Rennie High School in Pointe-Claire were filmed last year using vulgar and racist language.

The council said the video made them aware of the need to improve learning and the social; experiences of its diverse student body.

Key strategies include teaching tolerance towards different religions, teaching holidays celebrated by religious groups that are not only Judeo-Christian, and involving speakers from different cultural communities.

“I think this is important, not just in schools, but in all businesses, in all organizations,” said task force chair Dr. Myrna Lashley. “We have to do a self-examination, we have to stop looking at our belly buttons and assuming it’s all right like that. We know it’s not.”

The report also points out that there are inconsistencies in gender language in the regulations of the LBPSB.

“It is not only important that young people feel included, respected and cared for by being referred to by their chosen name and the correct pronouns, it is important for young people to see non-sexist language used in their environment, ”the report reads.

Therefore, the report recommends updating materials and advising teachers to use gender neutral language in classrooms.

Later, the report recommends gender-neutral toilets and updating pictograms on facilities.

“We have a collective obligation to continue to educate our students about the dangers of letting injustice as well as racist and discriminatory attitudes of all kinds prevail and go unchecked,” said LBPSB President Noel Burke.

The board said it wants all of its schools to study the report and put an action plan in place by the end of the fall.

The mother of the boy who was the target of the racist video filed a human rights complaint against the people who made the video and demanded that the blackface be labeled a hate symbol.

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