Toronto principal under fire after blacklisting Black students

People may joke about the perpetual friendliness of our neighbors to the north and some may see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the epitome of Canadian tolerance, but one Toronto educator might be setting those impressions back decades.

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Students at the Etobicoke School of the Arts are asking for the resignation of Principal Peggy Aitchison after revelations that she compiled a list of Black students and circulated it among teachers to identify students with “opportunity gaps,” The Globe and Mail reports.

Students confronted the principal in February after learning about the list, according to the Huffington Post.

Twelfth grader Noah Brown, who is Black, said he saw his name on the list and felt “pure sadness,” writes The Globe and Mail.

“Over the course of this year I’ve been able to accomplish so much in terms of my art practice … I was disappointed because it was limiting my academic success to my identifiable race,” Brown, 18, told the news outlet. “I didn’t know who to turn to.”

Aitchison has said in an email to the to all those associated with the school that she realizes her move was “inappropriate” and a “mistake” and has requested a school transfer. The school board approved the request.

Twelfth grader Marlee Sansom told the news organization she was “unbelievably angry” when she learned about the list. She believes that a transfer is not enough and wants Aitchison to remove herself as an employee with the Toronto District School Board.

“Transferring someone just means they get a new start, a fresh start, and she can just redo that trauma somewhere else,” Sansom, 18, told The Globe and Mail. “It doesn’t help the students that are still in the school.”

The anger has spread so far that even some alumni are calling for Aitchison’s resignation.

Former student Solana Cain, who helped create a petition calling for the principal to either resign or undergo diversity training, noted that all students at the school are high performers.

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“The assumption she made was that Black students and families are inherently less capable than their white counterparts,” Cain said in a statement.

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