The removal of a principal from his position after he wore a Black student’s hair on Halloween has reignited a larger conversation on anti-Black racism and cultural appropriation at a French Catholic high school in London, Ont.
The photo posted on Instagram by Black Lives Matter (BLM) London Friday evening dates back to 2019 and shows Luc Chartrand, the former principal of École Secondaire Catholique Monseigneur-Bruyère, wearing a Black student’s hair, which had been shaved off during a cancer fundraiser earlier in the school year.
Alexandra Kane, lead activist of BLM London, says the incident is just one example of racism at the school.
“I think this issue has really focused on Chartrand wearing a student’s hair, and (while) that is heinous and gross and disgusting, we need to focus on the real-life traumas ... The real-life traumas like people came to him with teachers calling students the N-word and monkeys and racist situations and oppressions and aggression ... and (he) ignored everything,” said Kane.
Kane told the Star that students said they had brought this incident up to the school and the school board, but it was not addressed until it was made public by BLM London and reached a wider audience.
“This is cultural appropriation and he (was) giving permission to not only his staff and students watching him saying, ‘It’s OK. As a leader, I’m telling you it’s OK,’ ” Kane continued.
Kane noted that when the incident took place, a BLM chapter did not exist in London.
BLM London was first notified of the incident when an alumni of the school posted the photo on their Instagram stories in May as a way to look back on the incident. The organization then reached out to verify.
The Star reached Chartrand at an email belonging to the school board Tuesday, but he declined to comment.
Monseigneur-Bruyère did not respond to the Star’s request for comment before publication.
In a statement to the Star, Le Conseil scolaire catholique Providence, the school board in charge of Monseigneur-Bruyère, said it, “strongly condemns this type of behaviour and maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward any racism, discrimination, or the appearance thereof.”
The school board did not comment on whether it was aware of the incident or took action on it before this year.
A former student of Monseigneur-Bruyère who graduated last year told the Star that this incident is a larger indication of the culture of the school. The student said at first students were personally “confused and weirded out” by Chartrand’s actions. She said that when she initially talked to people about it, they found it “disgusting” the former principal kept a student’s hair in the first place.
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The former student said that she, along with other students, collected a list of incidents of racism and microaggressions they faced for a letter of action with calls to action for the school board in June 2020. She said that the school board gave a very general response to the letter at the time and that the letter was not discussed further.
The letter, which the Star has viewed, called for accountability and equity workshops for staff to understand anti-racism policies.
In its statement to the Star, Le Conseil scolaire catholique Providence said it had recently hired a human rights and equity adviser to train trustees and school administration on anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism. The board told the Star that it is initiating a review into the students’ letter of action.
Principal of London, Ont. high school removed from position after wearing Black student’s hair - Toronto Star
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