Afrocentric Schools?

A discussion paper, 156 pages in length, has been written to put forth the case for establishing Afrocentric schools in the Toronto District School Board, as a way to address the problem of disproportionately high dropout rates among its black students.
At the moment, the rates for those who do not complete grade 12 stand at 40% for Caribbean students; 32% for students from East Africa; and 26% from West Africa. Obviously, there is much work that needs to be done on our school system, but it is not there alone that solution to the problem will be found. Societal values need an overhaul. The problem is almost staggering in its proportions, and the solution will take years to effect, if it ever does come about. The assigning of perceived superiority to racial groups and to societies can be seen in so many places; like the attitude of the western world toward the fair treatment of the developing world in terms of our theft of their natural resources, for instance. Until the majority of the privileged dwellers of the western world change from seeing it as our right to take those resources, to seeing it as the theft that it is, little can be done to address the Pandora's box of attendant problems spawned by this attitude. Until the privileged begin to see the wisdom in Gandhi's admonition to "Live simply, so that others may simply live" problems such as the school dropout rate will continue to assail those seen as being part of the "less-worthy". When Paris Hilton, and all of her ilk, are ostracized as the pariahs they truly are, and dismissed from the minds of all as anyone worthy of attention, the day will have come closer when the problems of disproportionate dropout rates can be more successfully addressed. When George W. Bush and others of his ilk are denounced as the war-hungry, equality-destroying defenders of the rights of the few that they really are, the day will have come a little closer.
Until then, I share the concerns of trustee John Matlow who opposes schools that promote division by race. He puts it well when he says, "No one disputes the fact that there is a disproportionate number of black students who the system is failing, and we need to do better. But we need to do better in every one of our schools, for every one of our black students." (emphasis my own)
John Campbell, board chairman, echoes the sentiment with his declaration that Afrocentric schools will not serve as a panacea for the problem of boosting academic achievement among the black students. The answer is far more complex than that.
The creation of such schools may, however, go a long way toward creating further division than already exists. I think it's a very real possibility, especially after the exchange I overheard last night at the gym where I work out. As I worked my way through my repeats with a set of hand weights, I found myself beside two young men, both in their late teens to very early twenties. What came out of their mouths can not be dismissed as the words of "old" men who might represent a dying attitude. The one asked the other if he had heard about the vote coming up at the school board. When his friend said no, the first one explained it to him, drawing out the syllables in exaggeration. "It's a vote for the Ne-groes" said he. "It's to see if they're going to start some nappy-head schools."
Maybe these schools are not the answer their proponents are hoping they will be. It might seem like a quicker, easier fix, but I think implementing the idea might turn out to be a bomb that will go off in their hands.