Colour Matters: Essays on the Experiences, Education, and Pursuits of Black Youth

by Carl E James

Based on research conducted in Black communities, along with over thirty years of teaching experience, Colour Matters presents a collection of essays that engages educators, youth workers, and policymakers to think about the ways in which race shapes the education, aspirations, and achievements of Black Canadians. Informed by the current socio-political Canadian landscape, Colour Matters covers topics relating to the lives of Black youth, with particular, though not exclusive, attention to young Black men in the Greater Toronto Area. The essays reflect the issues and concerns of the past thirty years, and question what has changed and what has remained the same. Each essay is accompanied by an insightful response from a scholar engaging with topics such as immigration, schooling, athletics, mentorship, and police surveillance. With the perspectives of scholars from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, Colour Matters provides provocative narratives of Black experiences that alert us to what more might be said, or said differently, about the social, cultural, educational, political, and occupational worlds of Black youth in Canada. This book probes the ongoing need to understand, in nuanced and complex ways, the marginalization and racialization of Black youth in a time of growing demands for a societal response to anti-Black racism.

390 pages, Paperback

Published March 11, 2021

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too often, we view racism in the sole lens of the United State's Black population while ignoring the cultural nuances which exist in other Westernized countries. In Colour Matters: Essays on the Experiences, Education, and Pursuits of Black Youth, Carl E. James presents a series of academic research and reflections written by Black Canadians and Americans, in order to better serve Canadian Black communities and education. As a teacher in the United States, it was incredibly valuable to see how racism persists in other countries, as well as other cultural nuances which exist elsewhere. At the end of the day, not only is this collection well-researched and convincing, it is absolutely necessary for educators to read and use to maintain high expectations for minoritized groups in the classroom.

The value of the research, which was usually in the form of evaluated interview data, created a compelling amount of data and case studies for readers to contemplate and cling onto. The concept of generational identity in Black-Caribbean communities was particularly interesting, as it focused on the immigrant stereotype while also recognizing the unique consequences (both positive and negative) that having a "dual identity" can at times have. The United States has a very different history involving their Black populations, so learning that many Black people were not able to enter Canada in a permanent sense until the late 1970s was interesting. The idea that many Black students are pressured to take Applied tracks in education and focus on sports so they can "go south" to the United States on athletics scholarships was particularly alarming. Despite realizing the damage that racial discrimination can have through their proximity to American and British history, Canadians also fall into the systemic trappings of a racist educational system.

The takeaways of this book are that educational institutions must have high expectations for Black students while also properly funding and promoting opportunities for Black students to feel community and support. Stereotyping and lack of teacher understanding are some of the biggest additional barriers Black students must overcome. There is also a great discussion about the lack of gifted identification for Black students, not because bright students do not exist, but because educators "don't know what to do with bright Black students". These are all takeaways which can be implemented in a United States educational model in order to better incorporate equity into the classroom. I would be interested to see Carl E Jame's discuss the importance of teaching Social Justice and Public Action as a part of the school curriculum, on top of the benefits that Black History and Cultural classes also bring.

I appreciated that the contributors of this collection were Black people, who focused their research on one topic for an incredibly long period of time. The research in this paper is completed over at times decades. The writings themselves are records of the racial challenges that Canada faces over the years. This is a lot for a book to cover in less than 400 pages, but Colour Matters is clear in its titular message.

[bohemianrhapsodyreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a nonfiction book that studies African-American boys in the Toronto area but it can also apply to intersectionality all over the world.

I just reviewed Colour Matters by Carl E. James. #ColourMatters #NetGalley

[Shannan Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of essays regarding the education of african american children in Canada. You can tell that there was an extensive amount of research done, and a lot of what was revealed happens in other countries, including the untied states. This book was very informative and interesting.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I particularly appreciate the Canadian focus of this book; oftentimes similar books on this topic are centred around the United States.