The Daily UbuntuThread 03 · Racialized but Human · September 25, 2026
Being looked at differently at school
In 2011, Quebec's human rights commission documented the racial profiling experienced by young people, even in schools. Much remains to be done.
1 · The scene
A high school in Saint-Michel, at lunchtime. Three friends are laughing a little loudly near the lockers. A supervisor walks up, looks at them one by one, and asks only one of them to follow him to the office.
That evening, the French teacher calls the boy's mother. "I want you to know that your son hadn't done anything. And that I said so." On the other end of the line, a long silence, then: "Thank you for speaking up."
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
The Commission's report on racialized youth
On May 11, 2011, Quebec's Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse published its report on racial profiling and the systemic discrimination of racialized youth. At the end of a consultation launched in 2009, it examined three settings: public safety, school and youth protection. It made 93 recommendations, 34 of them aimed at schools: how codes of conduct and sanctions are applied, and students' success and pathways.
On October 21, 2020, the Commission published a review. Its finding: most of the recommendations had not been implemented, or only partially. At school, measures remain insufficient to end stereotyping, targeted surveillance and the disproportionate use of sanctions against racialized students.
This review is not a condemnation of teachers, many of whom fight every day for their students. It is a call to change the rules and habits that, without anyone wanting it, cause a child to be seen as a problem before being seen as a student.
3 · The voice
“Racial profiling and the systemic discrimination of racialized youth require systemic solutions.”
4 · The question
At your neighbourhood school, what would allow each child to be seen first for what they can become?
Sources
- CDPDJ, "Profilage racial et discrimination systémique des jeunes racisés," May 11, 2011 (in French). cdpdj.qc.ca
- CDPDJ, "Le profilage racial et la discrimination systémique des jeunes racisés exigent des solutions systémiques," October 21, 2020 (in French). www.cdpdj.qc.ca
- CDPDJ, review of the implementation of the recommendations, summary, 2020 (in French). www.cdpdj.qc.ca
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
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