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“I didn’t want to be anything special. I just wanted to teach school”: A Case Study of Black Female Educators in Colchester, Ontario, 1960 in Southern Journal of Canadian Studies, 5 (1-2)

Home » Addressing Anti-Black Racism » Recommended Readings & Films » “I didn’t want to be anything special. I just wanted to teach school”: A Case Study of Black Female Educators in Colchester, Ontario, 1960 in Southern Journal of Canadian Studies, 5 (1-2)

“I didn’t want to be anything special. I just wanted to teach school”: A Case Study of Black Female Educators in Colchester, Ontario, 1960 in Southern Journal of Canadian Studies, 5 (1-2)

The story of School SecBon #11 (S.S. #11) stood as a sharp reminder of racial injustice and the black experience in Canada. Located in Essex County, Ontario, the separate school maintained a predominately black student attendance until 1965, when parents and school board members negotiated its eventual closure. As the location of the last racially segregated school in Ontario, Canada, S.S. #11 remained one of the many institutional forms of racial segregation in Canada. This paper endeavors to prove that national policies surrounding multiculturalism and human rights did not eradicate local practices of racial prejudice and discrimination. 

About the Author

Funkè Aladejebi is an assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on twentieth century oral history, Black Canadian women’s history, the history of Canadian education and transnationalism.

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