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- March 28, 2006
Academic takes action
James speaks for disenfranchised
Professor sees gradual change
by Nicholas Keung
Immigration/Diversity Reporter
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Arriving
in Toronto in 1973 to study at York University, Antigua native Carl
James witnessed the profound "disconnect" many Caribbean youth felt
after coming to Canada.
"Many of their parents had left them with their relatives to come here
and become domestics. They were not familiar with their parents and
didn't know how to deal with the cultural and social differences here,"
recalls James, who went on to earn a doctorate in sociology and Latin
American and Caribbean studies. "There's a huge, significant adjustment
to the new social culture in an unfamiliar setting."
While still a student, James volunteered as a tutor and mentor with
newly arrived Caribbean youth in connection with the Black Education
Project in the Regent Park, St. James Town and Moss Park neighbourhoods.
Later, he turned that interest into an academic career.
Now an education professor at his alma mater, James draws on that
front-line experience in the research he does on systemic barriers faced
by marginalized groups in Canadian society — in turn providing a voice
for such groups in the world of academia.
"The disenfranchised communities do need a voice," explains James, who
will be honoured tomorrow with the 2006 New Pioneers community service
award.
"What is most rewarding for me is being able to engage people with
topics like equity, antiracism and healthy development of youth, so
discussions become actions."
It's been a long, sometimes frustrating journey, but changes do come
gradually. James observes that the public is finally coming to grips
with issues affecting minority youth such as racial profiling and the
proposal to fund black-oriented schools for some at-risk students.
As a volunteer member of the Toronto District School Board's advisory
committee on student achievement, James was glad to see trustees endorse
a plan to collect race-based data, hoping to figure out how to help
minority students survive and succeed in the city's schools.
As an instructor in urban education to student teachers, he says it's
gratifying to help inspire future educators to be part of the solution.
James is a prolific researcher, having written or edited 14 books and
more than 50 academic papers. His recent book Race in Play:
Understanding the Cultural Worlds of Student Athletes looks at the
relationship between athletic and academic success among
visible-minority students.
He has served on the boards of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, the
Regent Park Community Health Centre and Central Neighbourhood House, as
well as York University's Coalition for Advancement of Aboriginal
Studies and the United Way of Greater Toronto's allocations committee.
