Who can use the N-word? Who stands for O Canada? A young teacher’s woes over equity work

Things were already going south around Christmas last year for Louisa Julius when the young Toronto French teacher got a call at home on a Sunday evening.

It was the school principal. “You’re in violation of the human rights code,” the principal said. “You’re not to enter (Toronto District School Board) property and speak to any TDSB staff.”

A few days after that call, on Dec. 18, Julius, who had qualified as a teacher a year prior, was given an opportunity to respond at a meeting with Donna Cameron, principal of Bliss Carman Senior Public School, and vice-principal Jim Stamatopoulos, and to learn what had sparked this shutout.

Julius went with a union representative. The Star heard a recording of the meeting.

What follows is the tale of a teacher’s nascent career struggles, one that also throws light on a larger problem: that there are major inconsistencies in how teachers who engage in equity work are supported by principals in a board that is otherwise considered a national, if not continental, leader in anti-oppression work.

Julius is sharing this story for the first time.

At that December meeting, the principal raised five “concerns” including that Julius: allegedly told a Black student it was OK for Black students to use the N-word; sent out a tweet that mentioned toxic masculinity and sparked a complaint to their superiors; sent four tweets during instructional hours; had “numerous copies” of an article titled “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” beside their desk; and allegedly told students they don’t have to stand during O Canada.

A month later, Julius was found to have been in breach of the TDSB’s human rights code and its respectful working and learning environment policy and slapped with a three-day suspension from school without pay.

“Based on the information available, we believe the appropriate level of discipline was applied in this case,” TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird told the Star by email Tuesday. Principal Cameron did not respond to the Star’s requests for comment.

Julius is not alone in encountering difficulties around equity issues.

Alexis Dawson, an executive at the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators and chair of the TDSB’s Black Student Achievement Community Advisory Committee, said there is lack of clarity around what areas principals are required to support teachers on in terms of curriculum.

She said she receives many phone calls and emails from teachers facing roadblocks from principals in their attempts to provide anti-racism material in school. Meanwhile, she knows a teacher whose principal backed her use of the “White Privilege” essay. “The principal directly said, ‘It is my issue if we receive complaints about this. I support this work. I support you in doing it.’ That is the backing teachers need, otherwise there is fear.”

“It’s unfortunate there’s disparity among administrators (principals) there. They should all be speaking the same language. They have all received equity training,” Dawson said.

The TDSB is currently trying to get a handle on human rights-related complaints. Bird said the board’s human rights office “regularly receives complaints, primarily from employees” and is now compiling data for the education ministry. It is expected to be ready in two weeks, Bird said.

Julius, 24, who identifies as a queer South Asian person, was hired in August 2018 at Bliss Carman Senior Public School on Bellamy Road in Scarborough, and found a “supportive and mentorship-oriented” principal in Nicole Miller. Julius, who goes by the pronouns they/them, registered for a Leaders for Tomorrow program offered by the teachers’ union. The year-long program of leadership workshops within an anti-racist/anti-oppression framework required missing a total of 11 days of class, but Julius said Miller gave her blessing. “She believed I had great leadership capacity, and she thought I would benefit greatly from the program.”

About a month after starting at Bliss Carman, which serves Grades 7 and 8, Julius set up a Rainbow Alliance, “a gay-straight alliance safe space in my class for LGBTQ2+ and allies.”

Miller was transferred out of the school in February 2019 and a new principal, Donna Cameron, took the helm. Just before March break, Julius dropped by Cameron’s office where Cameron “turned to the side and pulled out a folder” of student report cards and Julius’s absence requests — including those for the leadership training program the previous principal had encouraged Julius to take.

“The principal implied that there was a direct correlation between my students’ lack of achievement and my attendance,” Julius said, something Julius disputes.

New teachers at the TDSB have to go through two successful evaluations to become permanent. Julius’s second evaluation in May 2019 read, “Had Julius been more present at school (the students) would have been able to apply their learning.”

By summer, Julius said, “my mental health degraded significantly to the point that I … required intervention from my partner, my doctor, a therapist, and I ended up needing to go on medication.”

Julius began to get anxious about returning to school in September and spent time in therapy establishing coping mechanisms. “One strategy was that I should attempt to engage with other anti-oppressive, queer-positive, and anti-racist educators online because I did not have such a community in my school.”

That’s when Julius began to get active on Twitter, tweeting about everything from homophobia to racism to equity issues.

Early in December, someone with the Twitter handle Mr. Parent started responding to Julius’s tweets. When Julius tweeted asking Toronto Police to “do better for our Black and brown kids,” Mr. Parent called it “anti-police rhetoric” and tagged Julius’s superintendent Shirley Chan as well as education director John Malloy.

Mr. Parent read through earlier tweets by Julius and responded to one from October that would foreshadow some of Julius’s troubles. The tweet was a photo of two boys asleep on the carpet with their arms around each other. Their faces are not visible. The tweet reads, “Soft interruptions of toxic masculinity and the patriarchy — when our boys take a nap break in class. Rest up and let’s do more French in a few mins! #Equity #TDSB”

Mr. Parent again tagged Julius’s superiors and asked: “Is this an appropriate #TDSB tag? Do the parents know these students are in the picture? Are these students examples of toxic masculinity?”

In December, when Julius was accused of violating the board’s human rights code, Cameron raised this tweet as one of the concerns.

Julius defended the photo in the meeting, calling it “equity in a small moment in action.” “Seeing the boys comfortable enough to touch each other in a way that is positive and caring to each other, to even feel as comfortable as to close their eyes in a classroom with their peers around to me really points to a safe space,” Julius said. “It interrupts classic narratives of what it means to be a tough guy.” Julius hashtagged the school board believing this aligned with its equity work.

Of the concerns raised, Julius acknowledged engaging with Twitter during school hours, mostly during class transitions, and once while students were working on presentations. “I take responsibility for that,” Julius told the Star.

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In the meeting with the principal, Julius was questioned about the N-word: “It was told to us by (a middle-school Black student) that you told him he can use the N-word in class because he is Black. He reported that you told them if you were white you don’t want the N-word coming out of your mouth. When (the vice-principal) spoke to you about this allegation you confirmed that Black kids can use the N-word, but white kids can’t. How do you respond?”

Julius’s union rep told Cameron students bandied the word about in class and that Julius did not give permission to anyone to use it.

Julius, whose undergraduate thesis at the University of Toronto Scarborough was on the usage of the N-word, told the Star they had told students: “Unless you’re Black you shouldn’t be using the word. If you’re Black it’s not for me to tell you whether or not you can. You have to ask the elders around you.”

Julius was questioned about a seminal essay on white privilege written in 1988 by American feminist Peggy McIntosh. On a day Julius was off and the principal was trying to find day plans for the supply teacher, “we discovered numerous copies of an article titled ‘White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack’ right beside your desk. Can you tell us more about that?” Cameron asked. “It’s a great article but we wanted to know some more information about that,” she added.

Julius explained that the essay was used when stories of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Blackface dominated the news. “The students had brought it up. I removed a lot of content from it and narrowed it down to what applied to Grade 8. It all came from student questions.”

“We just shared a few points and had a really rich dialogue about the representation of Blackface in theatre and drama,” Julius told the Star.

And regarding the national anthem: “Students have informed us that you say they don’t have to stand for O Canada if they don’t want to because of Indigenous rights and the reconciliation situation with the government. Those are student words,” Cameron said.

“A student asked me why I don’t stand for the anthem,” Julius responded. “I explained why — because of the land and water issues for Indigenous people and Indigenous sovereignty. I explained that students can choose and that Indigenous people don’t always see standing as the only sign of respect. I have not prevented anyone from standing. Some do, some don’t but the expectation for that time is that they’re quiet and respectful.”

Julius received a letter from Cameron on Jan. 17.

“As a result of an investigation, the concerns regarding your use of inappropriate language, inappropriate conduct towards students and your inappropriate use of social media have been substantiated. These behaviours are unacceptable.”

Julius was told they violated the board’s human rights policy “as the statements you made make specific reference to race.” They were told they violated the Respectful Learning and Working Environment policy. The letter doesn’t explain how that policy was violated.

“Furthermore, your conduct has not met the TDSB’s expectation of providing a safe, nurturing and positive learning environment for students.”

The Star asked the TDSB to clarify how Julius had breached policy.

On the issue of the N-word, “the student’s parent was also upset with this lesson, as were a number of students in the class,” board spokesperson Bird said. While the board supports an informed discussion on the use of the N-word, “in this particular case, it was the manner in which it was discussed in the classroom that had a negative impact on a Black student and others,” he said.

“With regard to not standing for the national anthem,” Bird said, “it is our understanding that the teacher told students they were not required to stand for the anthem and again, did not provide the appropriate context as to why.”

Julius has the option to file a grievance against the principal’s decision, but to date has not done so, the TDSB said. A union official said on condition of anonymity that the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario is pursuing “other channels” at the board instead. An ETFO spokesperson said the union is “not aware of the TDSB investigation” and does not comment on personnel matters.

To non-educator eyes, the issues raised here could have easily been resolved with informal conversation, especially given the teacher was in their first job and unfamiliar with the system. For instance, at no point in the conversation the Star heard was Julius told a parent complaint had sparked the N-word discussion.

In Toronto schools, a principal can decide what they see as an infraction, whether a human rights violation or insubordination. The board doesn’t always ask the principal for proof. That’s where the union is supposed to come in, to clarify facts, establish context, bring in witnesses and so on. If all attempts at resolving grievances fail, both sides might agree to arbitration, which is in itself a long drawn-out process; there are a limited number of arbitrators in Ontario, which makes securing a time with them difficult.

In such a case as this, a teacher has little voice in the process that appears to be one where they are accused by the principal, investigated by the principal and having their fate decided on by the principal.