A bizarre trend has emerged in Canada and spreading like a virus throughout Canadian institutions.
According to Cheryl Thompson, an associate professor at the university, the “need” for racial segregation in Canada became “increasingly clear following the death of George Floyd”, which happened in the United States of America.
Toronto Metropolitan University officially launched its blacks only space for individuals who “self-identify as Black” last month.
“It’s a beautiful community to watch unfold,” said Eboni Morgan, a spokesperson for TMU’s lounge of the racially segregated space.
The lounge fits up to 25 black people at a time. There’s a mural hanging on the wall painted by a Black student artist. The lounge also has “other facilities” including the kitchen sink.
According to a 2020 “Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review Report” black students requested the racially segregated space.
In February BC Rise reported the “UBC Black Student Union” is demanding black only space that prohibits entry to other races. The University also hosted a series it called “Decolonial Dialogues” and not white people allowed.
In November 2022 it was reported Brock University in Ontario launched a “black, Indigenous or persons of colour (BIPOC)” space that’s managed by the university’s Learning Services.
York University — Canada’s second-largest — launched a lounge for Black students in January.
In the early 19th century Ontario and Nova Scotia created legally segregated common schools. In 1850, the Common Schools Act, was amended adding a Separate Schools Clause which allowed “separate schools for Catholics, Protestants and Black people.” Some school trustees took advantage of the clause to support the practice of racial segregation.
The Canadian Human Rights Act passed in 1977 which brought an end to the racially segregated schools. The last segregated school in Canada closed in 1983 just outside Halifax, in Lincolnville.