Black families rally at Alberta legislature against racism in schools

A group of Black parents gathered at Alberta’s legislature on Saturday afternoon, aiming to raise awareness of racism and a lack of representation that some students in the province face.

“This is an ongoing issue that hasn’t been addressed,” said Dieudonné Bessasse, with the Black Parents Association of Alberta.

“We are hearing parents across the entire Alberta, saying their kids are failing because of lack of representation.”

The parents at the protest said they want Alberta’s school boards to hire diverse teachers and leaders so Black students won’t have to struggle to have their culture embraced.

“Those kids are not understood by schools the majority of the time,” Bessasse said.

Hazelyn Williams, a parent at the protest, said she watched her child go into school with optimism and then eventually drop out in high school due to numerous incidents where he felt treated unfairly.

“It’s an ongoing thing, where Black students face a lot of injustices in the classroom and a lot of biases,” Williams said.

“My son is now 28 years old but he was 13 years old when this happened,” she said. “He normally [played] with another white student… This one evening, they were playing together, just roughhousing… and a white teacher came out, grabbed my son and put him in a chokehold.

“That’s one thing that kind of stuck with us over the years.”

Williams said she attended Saturday’s protest to raise her voice for not only her own son but also for other parents whose children are going through similar incidents.

“As my son got older, he kept talking about it. I wondered: what could I have done about it? That kind of bothered me.”

According to the BPAA, there are many Black families who immigrate to Edmonton and send their children to francophone schools within the Greater North Central Francophone Education Board.

“Especially within the French school board… the majority of the students are coming from the Black background.

“We want to see more teachers — Black teachers — and Black directors recruited,” the BPAA said.

Williams said she believes the Alberta leaders need to make sure the province’s educators understand all their students’ needs.

“I think the problems aren’t addressed. The systemic oppression is still there,” she said. “And sometimes I don’t even know if the teachers recognize some of the things they’re saying that could have lasting effects.

“Canada is a mosiac of people, and we want the classrooms to reflect that.”