These Parents Want Their Biracial Kids To Feel Seen And Heard At Their Schools
When Heather Hamilton’s son was called the N-word at school this year, it wasn’t the first time.
As the white mother of three biracial boys, there had been at least four other racially charged incidents that the 46-year-old Toronto area mother had to address. Racism at her son’s school had become too common of an occurrence.
The painful and sensitive topic of race is of particular importance for parents like Hamilton who struggle to provide education, support, and advocacy for their biracial children who may be experiencing difficulties at school.
As often being one of very few – if any – visible minorities in class, these children’s feelings of isolation and being “othered” is palpable. “With very few other Black students [in the school], … my kids feel singled out or different,” Hamilton told HuffPost Canada.
WATCH: Black Canadians unpack the weight of the N-word. Story continues below video.
And although Black History Month is now celebrated in many schools each February, Hamilton and other parents feel there is still a long way to go.
“My experience has been that only select teachers do anything related to Black History Month,” she says. And when it’s done, it’s “usually when my kids are in the class. We have only three or four black families at school. The extent to which Black History is taught is really up to teacher discretion.”
For this mother, making sure that her children are seen and heard for not only Black History Month, but throughout the year, is a challenge.
Comprehensive Black History Month curriculum is needed in schools
Hamilton believes that a more comprehensive Black History Month curriculum needs to be implemented.
In her opinion, the status quo is not up to par. “I think that when my children have been in the class, [Black History Month] has been mentioned or touched on,” she says. “When they aren’t in the classes, I have doubts that it’s even acknowledged at all.”
I think that when my children have...
