Teacher has a plan to combat racism

Union president putting a strong emphasis on educating and listening

Jennifer Brown couldn’t bring herself to read the note, so she asked her husband to do it instead.

The note in question was a scan of a newspaper clipping the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario office had received in March of a December 2020 Star article Brown was featured in. Racist slurs and vitriol were scribbled over the article in pen.

“With COVID-19 and with schools opening and closing, I couldn’t afford to be distracted,” Brown said. “It was still on my mind, but I just did not want to have to face it.”

While police investigate the note as a hate crime, Brown, the first Black president of the Elementary Teachers of Toronto union, continues to fulfil the purpose she’s set out for herself: To address and dismantle systemic racism within the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), starting with publicly speaking out about the discrimination she and other Black teachers have endured and creating more opportunities for racialized education workers to have their voices heard.

The note Brown received isn’t the first of its kind. In February, a TDSB high school received a similar note: vulgar language scribbled over an article about the school’s new course on antiBlack racism. A few months later, someone sent the York District School Board a newspaper clipping about a teacher addressing anti-Black racism in education with racist slurs written all over it.

As he read the note, Hayton Morrison, Brown’s husband, felt the same anger and helplessness he felt after facing antiBlack racism himself in the past, such as hate mail and death threats. But he didn’t focus on this as much as he focused on how it would affect Brown.

“Because I had experienced it before, I had a fairly good understanding of what she would be dealing with, or what anyone would be dealing with,” Morrison said. “It was a sense of awful déjà vu, but that wasn’t the focus for me because it wasn’t about me.”

For Brown, the note isn’t necessarily the catalyst that sparked her to publicly pledge to fight against anti-Black racism. Instead, it’s the last straw after years of enduring microaggressions while working in the TDSB — microaggressions far too common among Black teachers.

“Some of the racism has come from my very own colleagues and fellow teachers,” Brown said. “And I know that I’m not the only one facing racism, I know that many teachers and union members share the experience with bullying and discrimination because that’s what I faced.”

Like the teacher she is, Brown has devised an action plan with a strong emphasis on educating and listening. Her plan includes: Leading a listening tour that provides a safe space where members can voice any issues they’re facing, a two-part session on anti-Black racism from University of Windsor professor Andrew Allen, and creating an anti-racist lead in the TDSB who will promote diversity and inclusion, as well as support teachers of colour when they face any form of discrimination.

Brown understands how painful it is to speak out about facing discrimination, which is why much of her plan focuses on creating safer spaces for Black educators.

“We need to call it out and make it unacceptable,” Brown said. “When we sit in silence, we sit alone in isolation. We need to come together, strengthen one another and be resolute about change.”

A TDSB spokesperson told the Star that the board has been facilitating discussions surrounding anti-Black racism among staff members and it continues to work toward implementing strategies outlined in its 2020 anti-Black racism action plan. If staff or students face any form of racism, they can use the board’s procedure for reporting hate incidents, revised late last year.

This isn’t the first time the TDSB is hearing about issues of racism within it. Earlier this year, the annual report from TDSB’s human rights office revealed that almost 70 per cent of all reported hate incidents from students and staff in the 2019-2020 school year were race-related. And at a more granular level, most of these hate incident reports involve anti-Black racism.

“It’s extremely important to note the disproportionate number of complaints from Black people — even administrators — involving allegations of anti-Black racism has come from the board,” Brown said. “It’s a serious issue and it is a systemic issue.

“I don’t want to be a victim, I want to use that violence (from the letter) to fuel a new way to provide an action plan to support Black teachers, to address racism and protect the safety and well-being of all teachers,” Brown said.