It’s All Fun and Games, Its Okay!
Timeline: September 25, 2023
66.1 Therefore, it has been proven that Kevin Elzinga was aware of the student’s racist behavior and has acknowledged the Caucasian student yelled these racist insults towards a Black student in the back of the classroom. It is also very clear that he saw that there were at least two Black students participating along with the applicant who was witnessing the incident unfold.
66.2 So why did the Caucasian Kevin Elzinga not bother to “interrupt” and stop it? Why did Kevin Elzinga think that it was okay to allow this type of behavior to exist in his DSBN classroom?
66.3 Since Kevin Elzinga’s reasoning has never been explained to the applicant’s parents. It is logical to infer that he judged that the conversation was appropriate because two Black students were engaging and participating in it. Period!
66.4 Kevin Elzinga ought reasonably known that this racist behavior would be found to be unwelcome, offensive, cruel, discriminatory and incredibly upsetting for anyone to hear and observe in action.
66.5 How do you suppose the Black applicant felt as he witnessed this discriminatory behavior unfold in front of him for a couple of minutes while sitting just a few feet away the nearby Caucasian teacher named Kevin Elzinga did nothing to put a stop to it?
66.6 What type of message does it convey to a Black or any racialized student about the Organizational Whiteness DSBN?
66.7 Kevin Elzinga did not even have the decency, respect or the foresight to understand what was going to come of this situation, as he refused to shut that shit down immediately! Instead Kevin Elzinga allowed it to play out until the student felt it was time to end their conversation!
66.8 Kevin Elzinga and the DSBN are mandated and required to stop this type of behavior immediately and not to allow them to go on for extended periods of time.
66.9 It is clear that this Kevin Elzinga did not “interrupt” as the parents claimed in the email. Allowing the Caucasian student and is racist behavior to continue without fear because a Black student on the receiving end chooses not to address it.
66.10 It is incredible that in this day and age, a grown adult like Kevin Elzinga cannot comprehend or is afraid to confront a Caucasian student about his racist behavior. Why?
66.11 Did Kevin Elzinga not get the DSBN Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Community Advisory Committee memo that “DSBN is committed to identifying and eliminating all forms of discrimination and systemic barriers.”
66.12 Kevin Elzinga, a member of the DSBN personnel, should be fired for choosing to just sit back and do nothing and be complacent.
66.13 It is a good thing it happened and now the DSBN and Janice Sargeant used it as an excuse to now “included Equity Connections as part of our upcoming PD day on October 6th. Staff will also be participating in DSBN Equity Cafe Learning sessions.”
66.14 It is good to know that since the DSBN takes racism so seriously, that it was only after this racist incident that they choose to incorporate a “Cafe Learning sessions” on how to address racism in their classrooms!
66.15 The reality is that this DSBN Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Community Advisory Committee is just another way to pay a bunch of White Privileged DSBN Senior Leadership Team members;
66.16 More hard earned taxed dollars on the backs of the estimated 15.3% racialized population here in St. Catharines alone.
66.17 The DSBN and Warren Hoshizaki are continually acting as if they are actively working to eradicate racism inside their own Organizational Whiteness DSBN, and trying to persuade their racialized students, racialized families and the government as well!
66.18 However, the truth is that Kevin Elzinga is a PROFESSIONAL, who works for the DSBN and should have a solid understanding of what racism is and how it manifests itself. There is absolutely no justification for Kevin Elzinga or any DSBN employee to claim that they were unaware that it was not insulting or degrading to refer to any Black student as their slave, their Chocolate Timbit and threaten to whip them.
66.19 Seriously when are we as a society going to stop making excuses for people like Kevin Elzinga and hold them seriously accountable for their ignorance and lack of empathy for racialized individuals?
66.20 If the Black applicant would have stood up in that very same classroom and stated to a Trans person – Hey Faggot, Your my Bitch, Do my homework, or I going to punch you in the face!
66.21 I can assure you that the DSBN, the Caucasian Warren Hoshizaki, Mary Anne Gage and Janice Sargeant would have suspended the Black applicant without a second thought after the Caucasian Kevin Elzinga immediately intervened and sent him to the office to be dealt with!
66.22 But when something like this happens to a Black applicant, the Caucasian Kevin Elzinga just sits back and thinks, It’s All Fun and Games, Its Okay and decides not to respect the applicant’s inalienable right to a welcoming and secure learning environment. His absolute right to be provided a safe and inclusive learning environment.
66.23 And as we all know that Black rights have never been and are not the most prominent and popular issue in Canadian society or the Government. It is certainly obvious that Kevin Elzinga also does not consider racial justice enforcement to be a top concern in his classroom.
66.24 Kevin Elzinga knew it was extremely offensive and knew it was totally unacceptable behavior and still he made absolutely no effort to even address it. Why? Probably due to the DSBN’s and Warren Hoshizaki’s long-standing sexist, prejudiced, and discriminatory recruiting and promoting methods within the DSBN, which have spawned the DSBN organization’s current racist culture!