What do you think of this idea to open an Afro-centric school in Toronto?

It's the old addage that as long as I tell you something is good for you, you will continue to take the poison I feed you. The Democratic party and most "black" leaders in the United States are this way. As long as anyone is singled out as "special" and "needing help" then they are allowing themselves to be labeled as inferior. What would an Afro-centric curriculum include? Rap music? Stories of slaves beaten and brought to America by evil white men (rather than the fact they were caught and sold off to the white traders by opposing African tribes?) If you want a high paying job, get good grades, pull your pants up and learn how to speak concisely. I won't hire a black person with "ghetto" mannerisms any sooner than I will hire a white kid with Skateboarder mannerisms. It has nothing to do with race or culture, it's about proper etiquette for commerce. Obama and Condie Rice are two classic examples of proper and successful African-Americans, and most of the "Afro-Centric" establishment calls them "too white."

This is ridiculaous.We are a multicultureal society ! What about Chinese ,INdians etc then should they not all call for their own schools ? Secondly I was listening on the radio to a woman at the meetting 70% of blacks we're against it but it was only a few members votes that counted. One black woman I thought made a wonderful point ...this so called training begins at home it's called parentting skills!!!! ANd that if this goes thorugh we are going back to where America(USA) was with segregation ) They are labelling all black kids as coming from poor communities and all with African heritage well I grew up only in Private schools where the black kids where equally well of and they were smart if not smarter ...if you go to the meetting you will see that it is the ones in poorer neighourhoods whose parents are using this as an excuse for their childrens failure!!!! Most blacks don't want it !!! So why is it raicla discrimination .. the vote should of included everyone not just 11 board members!! Anyways I agree with the minister of education ...this was a vote by the public school board not by them ...its a multicultural society period .Personally I think if you don't like Canada and it's views on a multicultural society then anyone is welcome to go back to where they originally are from .

Isn't it bizarre that there was a huge battle to get rid of segregated schools because it was discrimination and now people want segregated schools? I don't understand it. Some people are just never happy with what is there. Why not make your kids do their homework, study, and take care of themselves to better prepare them for life, or reality rather, than give them the easy way out.

This idea is just as good as the Religious-based schools John Tory was talking about in his campaign for premier. I agree with the asker's point that the government seems to think that black people are "stupid" and need special attention. I think this is the first step towards increased racial-tension bewteen communities. And to think, people always say that Canada has very little racism, wake up.

They should be finding out the real reason the drop out rate is 40% among black students. I can bet you it isn't because they didn't have a curriculum designed as "afro-centric". This is a band-aid approach that in time will show that it doesn't address the actual issues and problems facing the failing students.

I agree with you! It is as if they were being led to "their own place"... I would call it "desguised prejudice": As if The Government were trying to be nice and caring but in fact they are "settling things" by segregating people according to their races! Within some time there will be schools for the "foreigners" or for the "poor people"... We will never know what comes next! We will just have enoguh time to be amazed and to get adjusted! I am extremely happy that no one can hide from God as He Is The Only One Who knows whatever is hidden into people's hearts and what comes behind their attitudes! Believe me, there is discrimination everywhere. I live in Brazil and there are some "University quotas" for the "blacks and for their descendents" which for the black people seems to be very good (as they take advantage of this law) but in thesis they are showing that the black people are not good enough to get to the university on their own!! This is the world in which we are living: Sefish and proud of its own dirty!

I am an African, who just moved to Canada about a month ago. I have also been privileged to have lived in the United States for 4 years. I am new in Canada and loving it. One of the few things we noticed in sharp contrast to living in the US, is the way that Canadians seem to embrace everyone regardless of their race or color. Would you believe that when I was in the US, there were instances that even the American born African-Americans actually treated Africans like they were sh...t? I consider Canada to be more accepting to foreigners. So it came as a shock to me to hear that some people were proposing Afro-centric schools. My first thought was "what the heck is that???" My kids attend a private school in Ontario, and one of the major things my husband and I looked into before deciding on their school was diversity. I believe diversity is important and I seem to remember that it was one of the important determinants of the best school for my kids even when we lived in Africa. I would not put my child in an afro-centric school for any reason in the world. I think they really need to drop this idea as it is going to cause a lot of problems for people. Should the jews, the chinese, the indians, and all other people also demand for schools based on their origin? Regardless of whether it is expected to be funded by tax payers or not, It is still a very bad idea and should be totally ignored.

Well I'll be succinct here. It's a huge step backwards. The Minister of Education stated that as long as afro-centric schools cover the Ontario curriculum, she has no problem with them. This begs the question: When it is difficult enough, due to time constraints, to cover the Ontario curriculum, how on God's Green Earth are they going to teach anything else?

Butterworth: I don't think you are sorry for being offensive. Just look at your comment: "Then, how about White schools? Have special schools for the white kids to attend to so they don't have to be constantly slowed down by the immigrants and blacks." You think immigrants slow down white kids? So you are assuming that all immigrants are less intelligent than white kids? Sissy: of all the schools you mentioned non are based on race- you mentioned schools based on sex, religion and disabilities. Can you think of any schools based on asians, indians or latin people? Probably not- so why only black focused schools? Were black people the only ones who contributed to Canada?