"Policy to eliminate racism needs more work"

BRANTFORD - A draft policy to eliminate racism and promote ethnocultural equity for the Brant County Board of Education needs more work to it says Ruth Isaac, Ethnocultural Equity Committee member.

"The draft has to be revised, rewritten and presented to council again so the various groups agree with what is contained in it," she said.

Isaac said the Brant County Board of Education had to get feedback from people who had concerns about the issue of racism. She added that the policy has to be "written in such a way so the right words are used to meet approval."

"First Nations people aren't the only group to be affected by this draft," said Isaac. "Brant County is a very multi-cultural area and before the draft can go to the ministry of education it has to go back to each group. What is good for us has to be good for someone else."

It has taken quite some time to be able to have a discussion paper prepared, said Isaac. She said many of the trustees working on the race and ethnocultural equity draft policy had to get rid of their own "personal hang ups."

"What I found interesting is many of those hang ups were related to the color of skin," she said. "We had some very interesting meetings."

Because the draft to the ministry of education has to be brief, various details have not been flushed out, especially in areas such as budgeting funds.

Isaac said she has some concerns about how much funding is going to be made available to promote race and ethnocultural equity.

"It is going to take money to do things, a lot of learning material will have to be discarded," she said. "Some books are good in some parts, other parts that have direct references to a person's culture will have to be changed."

People might not consider some works of literature and performing arts racist, Isaac said because they have lived with the messages that literature sends all their life.

"If you are told you're no good and have lived with it for so long you end up doubting your own capabilities," she said adding that each group makes their own ethnic jokes about themselves but problems arise when different ethnic groups make those jokes.

Despite the lack of details, Isaac is confident that the discussion paper is a step towards promoting better ethnocultural relations.

"What the board is saying is that racism will not be tolerated on its properties," she said. "It will not be tolerated in the school classrooms, cafeteria or playground and that covers everyone from students and teachers to the school janitors and superintendents."

How and what punishment will be for individuals who commit an act of racism on school property has yet to be defined, however Isaac points out the wording in the policy is the board "will, not may" punish those who put down a segment of society.

"Stereotyping is a big one," Isaac said referring to one of the many problems the board has to deal with. "First Nations peoples are constantly referred to as thieves, drunks, barbarians, savages, heathens and pagans and we're not."

Isaac said the children take problems from the school system into the community include racial insults, putting down people's religion, and sexism affecting both men and women.

Isaac said the board hopes that the school and the community will be able to work as partners to promote racial equity and that "new comers to Brant County will become involved in the process."