Monthly Archives: June 2020

A Commitment to Prioritizing Anti-racism in Our Community

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Earlier this week, I updated the school community with a message on Lakefield’s response to the call for anti-racist action by the Black Lives Matter movement.

In that message, I said, “I believe that the most important thing we should do at this time is to educate ourselves so we can seek to better understand what we can do in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and work towards reducing all forms of racism, globally” and I made “a commitment to prioritizing anti-racism in our community.”

As a follow-up to this message, faculty advisors met on Tuesday with our students to provide a space to talk through their thoughts, questions, and emotions surrounding recent global events and to discuss what the school could be doing better to confront racism and advance equity at LCS. In these small groups, students provided thoughtful input that will shape our work on anti-racism in the months and years to come. They asked to learn more – to incorporate racial injustice more deeply into course curricula, to deepen their understanding of the roots of racist issues, to develop media literacy, and to create more awareness about the challenges that exist within our own community.

And they asked to be active. They want to see student-led action on anti-racism, and they want more spaces, places, and platforms for conversations–places where they can share their own stories, hear others, and have difficult and at times uncomfortable conversations. Next week’s all-school gathering will be dedicated to reflection and activism.

To address the students’ suggestions and to begin the work of confronting racism and advancing equity more generally, I have created a task force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that will begin work shortly. The task force will include representation from current staff and students and members of our external community and seek engagement more broadly as their work unfolds.

As an educational institution whose mission is to challenge and enable students to achieve their individual potential, we recognize systemic racism and other forms of inequity as a significant roadblock to the realization of potential. Confronting this roadblock in our classrooms and in our communities will be a key focus moving forward.

What can we do now? One Canadian school’s response to Black Lives Matter

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I feel it is my responsibility as a community leader to address the situation south of the border, around the world, and even in our own community, and confirm our school’s stance.

We are a school that is over 140 years old and made up of people from over 40 countries, all of whom aspire to be global citizens who care about all issues of injustice.

What does a 51-year old white woman, who grew up in a middle-class family, in a predominantly white community, now living in a beautiful area, in a small, safe community in rural Ontario have to contribute to today’s global conversation on systemic racism?

At Lakefield, one of our seven values is our Healthy, Caring Community — The belief in the dignity and worth of all individuals. We embrace diversity; we encourage empathy and acceptance.

In our School Life Guide, we have a Statement of Commitment:  The inherent right of all individuals to be treated with dignity and respect is central to the values and beliefs of Lakefield College School.  We are fully committed to respecting and protecting the personal dignity and human rights of our students and employees.  Harassment, bullying, and sexual misconduct, in any form or social medium, is against everything for which we stand as an educational institution and it will not be tolerated. (pg 43)

But at this moment in history, I believe in what Angela Davis, a civil rights activist in the United States has said: “It is not enough to not be racist. We must be anti-racist.”

I believe that the most important thing we should do at this time is to educate ourselves so we can seek to better understand what we can do in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and work towards reducing all forms of racism, globally.

I believe we need to take meaningful action, and I believe this begins with our own lives.

On a personal note, I have been reading, following the news, and reflecting on how my privilege has shaped my views.  I’ve signed the Justice for George Floyd Petition on change.org, and made a personal contribution to two non-profit organizations working on inequity.

I am focused on how I can better myself and our community.  As I said in chapel this morning, quoting from The Choice by Dr Edith Eger, a Holocaust survivor, no one can take away from you what you’ve put in your mind.  You can’t change what happened, you can’t change what you did or what was done to you. But you can choose how you live now.

And now is our time.

I realize that I can do better and I am making a commitment to prioritizing anti-racism in our community.

I believe that we can do better.

We are going to seek to understand, raise awareness, and strive to lead members of our community to direct action.  We have compiled resources (see below); and we are dedicating time with students in tomorrow’s advisor meetings to listen and talk about how we can all contribute.

But this conversation will not end tomorrow.

What can we do each and every day to confront racism and advance equality at Lakefield College School?

For starters, our teachers and staff will commit to additional training on anti-racism and global issues. I know of at least one student who has already started a conversation about how we can address issues of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in a more fulsome way.  We also have the Safe Space, which was created exactly for this purpose.

My expectation is that students and staff will talk about what’s next in tomorrow’s advisor groups and share their actionable steps with our Leadership Team by the end of the week.

As writer James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

I am providing this message to all members of our Grove community, to publicly promise that we can and must be better.

Resources that may be of interest to you: Books, Podcasts, Articles:

 

Follow these organizations doing important work surrounding racial equity and justice: