No we don't have them in San Francisco. No, I don't like the idea. Can you just imagine opening a "white only" public school?
What if someone other than African American wants to attend the Afrocentric school?
Do you have anything like the ACLU in Canada?

No, there are none here. I don't know enough about Canadian history where blacks are concerned to form an opinion. Does anyone who doesn't live in Ontario or anywhere in Canada? However, I expect the answer lies in researching schools that did it, even if that means studying those American schools. Unless that is taken into consideration, neither faction has basis for being pro or con. Either way would be solely experimental, which makes no sense to me. You don't tell us on what information either side base their opinion or why.

I agree it wouldn't be fair and could open many unwanted cans of worms. It could also create the perfect environment for those who don't want ethnic children to succeed. That has also been proven.

Not in the USA. It would be against the law.

Here's a short Canadian black history lesson.
US slaves came into Ontario on the underground railroad.
Most moved on to Nova Scotia where many still live today.
Some returned to the US after the civil war.
Not much of this was even taught when I went to school other than the slaves coming to freedom on the underground railroad and we all figured they lived happily ever after.
Turns out not so happy.
They were discriminated against in Nova Scotia, relegated to the wrong side of the tracks, little hope of more than menial jobs ie porters, janitors etc.
Contrary to popular myth, blacks were not welcomed into the finer Canadian hotels etc even into the 60's unless they were famous
No real changes came about until the 1960's coinciding with the civil rights movement in the US.

In the 60's and 70's Canada shifted it's immigration policies from "white" centered to multi-racial and many black people from the West Indies etc settled in Canada but nearly all of them in Toronto or Montreal.

So there's really two different black Canadian scenarios, the descendents of the US slaves and the more recent immigrants.

How this all fits and plays I don't know,, but that's the readers digest version of Canadian black history as I know it which aint' much.

I doubt a school will make that much difference for the kids who don't have the support at home.
Kids who have support, most of the time they have two parents at home (or two that care), kids who are brought up to be confident (I didn't say cocky), those who enjoy school sports or activities and like to learn, will do fairly good in just about any school that has a progressive principle. I'm not saying its easy at school for all races, I think the attitude for good learning starts at home. I don't think that the whites are anymore discriminating than their black friends. Attitude is a big part of going to school. Kids who want to learn, who want to get along, who do their homework and respect their teachers will do fine. I rather doubt another history class will make them do better if the main rules of learning and getting along are not in place. Parents can teach their children about their heritage if they wish. What's stopping them? Nothing.
Building a school to segregate the children isn't the answer IMO.

Most kids today have no concept of their individual past, they want to learn about today. Every single parent needs to study how to be pro active in their kids lives TODAY. And from what I've seen at school, its going to be A LONG time before that happens. I'd rather a school open for the wayward parents!

"No we don't have them in San Francisco. No, I don't like the idea. Can you just imagine opening a "white only" public school?"

Exactly.

What a BIG step back that will be. Not being taught more about your own "color" has very little to do with why kids drop out. What they need is a school for parents. It is the bad parents that either allow or dont care if their child drops out. I know thats not possible. What they should really focus on is before and after school activites. Many single parents are working and their kids are free to roam till mom gets home. Give them something to do. Some place to go. Somewhere safe. Make it fun. Make it interesting. These kids still need to learn math, science, and reading. They need to learn how to get along with others. They need to be shown oppportunity not segregation.

This is Bull! If you have pride in your Heritage you seek the information yourself. That should be taught by the Parents and Grandparents.

The Irish do, English do, French do, Mexican's do, Italian's do, Vietnamese do,so on and so on.....

Search out your History, Black's aren't the only race that has been sold into Slavery.

This has nothing to do with the drop out rate. It is a matter of "self pride" which should be taught by the parents.

Actually, this kinda made me angry. Talk about going back in time. Separating by "race"? Please.

Now if you want a school to add "culture hour" where students are able to study other culture/race that could be open to all students.

Black History is taught in Colleges. Most of my knowledge of Black History comes from my Black Friends who share their knowledge with me.

I'm Native American, did you know that Indians were Slaves also? Probably not. Spain had Mexican Slaves.

Jews were tortured and slaughtered. Thousands of Kurds were poisoned.

We are Americans, we need American History.

Gayle

In the US it is illegal for a public school to be segregated, for whatever reason, as sheilajoyce said.

Our city does have private Christian schools, Korean schools and so on. I don't think, however, that a non-Christian or non-Korean student would be kept out of those schools if their parents wanted them to attend.

I'm a teacher at a public elementary school and I think it's important that children learn about the history and contributions of different cultures, including those in their own family background. It is part of our curriculum.

Gayle says that the family should teach their own children this, but trust me, that doesn't always happen.

Besides multicultural classroom instruction, our school holds festivals focusing on the different cultures in our neighborhood. This month it is an African-American and Asian-American celebration, with art displays, music and dance. We will have our hispanic festival later in the year.

I can't even imagine.

Many charter schools, which are not supposed to discriminate based on race, are essentially segregated schools. I know of at least one that uses an 'African-Centered approach' to teaching. Wait, here's another. So yes, we do have these schools in the U.S. Are they successful or a good idea? I really don't know enough to say.

No,no, no. My school district is totaly integrated for all children.

You are all bringing up some very valid points that are currently being talked about here. If I'm correct, this school will be a secondary school, but public, meaning not a private tuition based school. The main focus will be to provide an atmosphere and education geared for students of colour, but technically it will be open to anyone, although I would suspect the vast majority of students will be of colour.

Toronto does have many ethnic communities and culture based celebrations, because it has such a large ethnically diverse population. So there is no lacking in opportunity to explore, educate or celebrate one's own particular ethnicity and culture here. But the high school drop out rate of the African Canadian and Caribbean Canadian students is alarming and our currently racially mixed schools do not seem to be able to keep them enrolled until graduation. This measure was definitely put in place in the hopes of arousing their passion for education, rather than to provide a method of segregation. Many are very worried however, that the latter is exactly what may happen.

No we don't, but we did a long time ago. That's what the 60's were all about don't ya know.

It's a dumb idea especially for those of us who believe we are "PEOPLE" ignoring color and racial distinctions.

If you want to know about your heritage do what the rest of us do, look it up and talk to the elders it's called Genealogy.........

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. - George Santayana

It will be interesting to see the outcome. I can see both sides of it. I see how it can be a really bad idea to promote segregation, but I could also see how it may help the high drop out rate. If that many kids are dropping out of school, it can become a major problem later.

While US schools aren't "officially" segregated, segregation sometimes just happens based on the communities where the schools are located. If you walk into any school in north Seattle you will see almost all white kids. If you walk into any school in south Seattle, you will see predominantly African American and Asian students.

If so many kids of African or Caribbean descent are dropping out of the mainstream schools in Toronto, they will naturally get lower paying jobs and move to more affordable areas of town, which will in turn cause a natural segregation in those communities. If these kids stayed in school, went to college, and get good paying jobs, they will be creating more ethincally diverse communities in the higher socio-economic areas.

If the school is open to all, but has a focus of trying to arouse passion of learning for these kids, I say give it a shot.

Good Grief!!!

For those saying 'Not in the USA' see my previous post above. They are not officially 'segregated' schools but we do have schools of the type that the OP is talking about right here in the USA. They're publicly funded charter schools. Do a search on 'African-Centered schooling' and you will see that it's not a new idea (well, maybe for Toronto but not for many US cities).

"does your city have racially based schools?"

Can't here... there is NO racial diversity.

YES! Here's a public charter school that is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. This article covers a reporter who went there to do an interview. Many people think this is a school that teaches contempt for this country, but it's hard to know, since no one is allowed in to find out. It certainly is backed by groups that don't have this country's best interest at heart. Don't know how the school district's 'investigation' is going, but 'nowhere' is probably a safe answer. Ah, to live in So Cal, lol. Could be coming to your town soon. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Public school in Los Angeles