Youth forum empowers students to raise voices against racism in schools

Educators and Winnipeg youth gathered Saturday to share experiences of racism in schools and discuss ways to keep all students comfortable and safe in classroom settings.

The “Youth Forum on Anti-Racism in Education” was held at Red River College’s Roundhouse Auditorium. It featured panel discussions and group interactions.

Young newcomers and racialized leaders shared their personal experiences of inequity and racial injustice.

“I think of this forum less as something that we’re doing for an audience and more something that we’re doing for ourselves,” said Yoanna Shalome, one of the speakers of the forum.

“I can count the few times where I’ve ever had an opportunity to speak in front of a crowd and feel like my opinion matters and my experiences matter.”

The Winnipegger says when she was in high school, she felt Black students weren’t being represented by the school division. That led her to create “An Evening of Black Excellence” at Seven Oaks School Division — an event to showcase the diversity and creativity of Black students in Winnipeg.

Shalome says it’s important for all students to be represented in the classroom.

“Having that experience before you leave school I think is really important,” she said. “This is such a nice venue. This is something that we’re going to forever remember, and I think that it’s important for students and newcomer children to feel like their voice matters in this country.

“I’m just hoping that by the end of today everyone feels happy that they spoke, happy that they came here and they put in this work.”

A few dozen students and teachers were present Saturday. The event was organized by the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba.

A study released last year by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found Black and Indigenous students in Winnipeg find schools unsafe because of racism — and that perpetrators face no consequences.

“I know this feeling. I faced racism in schools”

—Forum participant Fatima Homsy

Youth forum participant Fatima Homsy, originally from Syria, says people have commented on the way she dresses and on her Arabic accent.

“They’re not asking in a way that they want to learn,” Homsy told CityNews. “They’re asking in a way like they are mocking, and repeating the same words I’m saying. I always heard them saying words that I’m saying, in a bad way.

“It’s so important to me because I know this feeling. I faced racism in schools.”

Homsy says when students experience racism at school, they can often feel trapped and that they can’t escape it.

“I want every single student who faces racism every day in school to take action and I want to encourage them to do something about it,” she said. “Not to be silent. I want to encourage them to raise their voices.”

Homsy hopes more newcomer and BIPOC youth seek out community groups so they can learn to advocate for themselves and find support in each other.