Images in South Shore high school textbook called out as racist

Images from a textbook at Centennial Regional High School in Greenfield Park, Quebec have been called out as racist. The images were shared on social media this morning by federal lobbyist and civil rights advocate Joel DeBellefeuille, whose longtime friend is the parent of a teen who attends the school on Montreal’s South Shore. One of the textbook pages features illustrations of gangsters, both of them caricatures of people of colour.

“It is mind-blowing. In 2022, on the second day of Black History Month, a teacher decided this is the right thing to teach. Let alone the Minister of Education approving this type of curriculum is beyond me.

“I am bewildered that François Legault still believes systemic racism doesn’t exist in Quebec. This is a classic example of how racism persists and that it is systemic, and directly in the school curriculum in Quebec.”

—Joel DeBellefeuille

I still am bewildered that @francoislegault still believes systemic racism doesn't exist in #Quebec This is a classic example of how racism persists and that it is systemic, and directly in the school curriculum. @jfrobergeQc how can you approve a text book like this?

— Joel DeBellefeuille (@DealmakerJoel) February 2, 2022

Joel DeBellefeuille shared two more images from the same textbook with Cult MTL. One depicts a racialized man as the suspect in a crime novel, while the other features physical descriptions of two characters related to this section, the first a shady type described as “une silhouette sombre,” the other being “my brother” who has “peau blanche.”

The exercise in the Centennial Regional High School’s textbook comes from a workbook used in schools in France. The image below, in colour, comes from the French workbook.

This afternoon, DeBellefeuille’s organization Red Coalition, a non-profit focused on eliminating racial profiling and systemic racism in Canada, issued a statement condemning the illustrations and suggesting steps to deal with the issue, namely crisis counselling for any children or parents affected, race sensitivity training for the teacher and the removal of the document or workbook from the school.

“This is an example of what needs to be eradicated from our schools if we are to progress as a society.”

—Red Coalition

The Riverside School Board has not yet responded to our request for comment.

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