Combating anti-Black racism in Canada will 'take more than a village,' Black youth say

ZimmanYousufand Imaan Hyman hadn't even left high school before they realized the importance of fighting anti-Blackracism in schools.

The women grew up hundreds of kilometres apart YousufinToronto and Hyman in Winnipeg but the taunts and discrimination they faced in their school halls were eerily similar.

Both heard teachers tell Black students they wouldn't achieve their dreams and saw themselves ostracized from their peers as a result of racist stereotypes.

Yousufand Hyman decided to fight back. Last month they teamed upwith other young women to launch the Black Muslim Youth Torontoinitiative, which aims to highlight racial and institutional inequality across the country and create support for themselves and others.

"It's gonna take more than a village to combat anti-Blackracism,"Yousuf, 18, said in a recent interview. "We've been fighting for years and we will keep fighting."

Both women said they're haunted by the overt racism theyexperienced while attending school.

Yousufrecalled students telling her to run when police sirens were heard outside the school, as well as teachers predicting she would not get into her preferred post-secondary program a prediction that fell flat when she was accepted to the accounting program at the University of Toronto last year.

Hyman's high school memories include overhearing a teachertelling a fellow Black student they would not get far in life and were destined to collect food stamps.

Equally seared in her memory was the time a classmate refused toplay with her because of a made-up rumour that she had AIDS.

'I suppressed my anger'

Hyman, who was the only Black student at her elementary school in Winnipeg, said she spent years trying to be inconspicuous and limither exposure to stereotypes based on her dark skin.

"I suppressed my anger and even my humour for years," Hymansaid. "This way, I wouldn't fall under the stereotypes of being either an angry Black woman or the class clown."

Racial injustices within our institutions exist here in Canada.- Zimman Yousuf

Her eventual move to Toronto was prompted by a desire to live in a more diverse city. Once there, she said she felt free to convert to Islam without judgment.

But Canada's diversity doesn't shield its residents from racism,both women said.

Yousufsaid she continues to hear derogatory terms used againststudents of colour at U of T.

And both she and Hyman said another striking example emerged lastmonth when Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters that Canada does not have the same "systemic, deep roots" of racism as the United States.

Ford retracted the remarks after backlash from critics and thepublic, acknowledging the existence of systemic racism and allocating $1.5 million to organizations that support Black youth and families.

Hyman cited the controversy as "a prime example" of howdisconnected governments can be on issues of systemic racism.

Anti-Black racism measures in Ontario

For its part, the Ontario government published an Anti-BlackRacism Strategy in 2017 a year before Ford's Progressive Conservatives took office. The Liberal government of the day described the strategy as a road map for addressing racism and improving outcomes for Black communities.

Earlier this week, Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecceannounced the province intended to do away with an educational practice known as streaming, which forces students to commit totaking either applied or academic courses as soon as they enter highschool.

The practice has been widely cited as a discriminatory measurethat disproportionately funnels racialized and low-income studentsout of classes that could lead to higher education and does lastingharm to their future prospects.

Lecce cited the racist nature of the practice as the reason forthe government's decision, though no details about the plan to scrapstreaming have yet been released.

NDP legislator Laura Mae Lindo, the party's anti-racism critic,said education is one area that's particularly in need of reform.

Lindo recalled visiting a classroom and asking Black students ifthey had ever been called the N-word. To her horror, all the students raised their hands in unison.

Lindo said the onus should be on schools, rather than students,to put a stop to overt racism and create safe spaces for study and play.

"Teachers need to be trained," she said. "Those coming intothe system need to be better equipped. We have to change thegeneration of educators."

Advocacy work to continue

Yousuf, Hyman and other members of the youth initiative kickedoff their local activism last month with a march to commemorate a 12-year-old Somali girl.

Shukri Abdi's 2019 drowning in the United Kingdom has been classified as an accident by police, but deemed suspicious by her family.

Both women said they hope to expand their advocacy further afield in the months ahead.

"Our initiative brings up issues worldwide and also here at home,"Yousufsaid. "Racial injustices within our institutions exist here in Canada."