The Old White Boys Club: Part 3

See Part 1 of The Old White Boys Club

See Part 2 of The Old White Boys Club

 

My two honest friends, the Principals who had refused to testify against me, interestingly  lived to a ripe old age. One passed away in his late 80s. The other, who had told the board that there is nothing they could have offered him to testify against Max Nelson, is still alive and well and in his mid 80s. We are still friends to this day. In their bid to isolate me, the board had also offered promotions to the three black teachers I had employed, promising  promotions to Vice Principal and Consultant positions for their false testimony against me. They all refused to provide false testimony.

Old White Boys Club Rule #17: The Old White Boys Club can be defeated when black people, other people of colour, and white people unite against corruption, cronyism, nepotism, and inequality. 

 

During my many years as a Vice Principal there was one other black man working for the Durham Board in the same capacity. At the time I filed the complaint, he had been a Vice Principal for 7 years, and I, for 11. We had both been denied promotions for Principalships on several occasions and frequently expressed our frustration to each other. Shortly after the Human Rights Commission had set a date for my hearing, this Vice Principal was summoned to the Board office and offered an immediate promotion to Principal for which he had never applied. To my utter dismay, he accepted their offer and later testified at my hearing that there was “no racism” in the Durham Board of Education.

Old White Boys Club Rule #18: Just because someone looks like you, does not mean they are an ally. Those who should be obvious allies in your battles against The Old White Boys Club will sometimes disappoint or harm you through their lack of support, self-involved choices, or betrayals.

 

When I started my fight against the Durham Board of Education, I knew that my teaching career was essentially over. But after years of abuse, opportunities stolen, promotions denied, and progress thwarted, it was not a difficult decision to make. Across two decades, the mounting injustices and flagrant abuses of power of the Old White Boys Club had sent a clear message that they saw the board as a white man’s domain in which everyone else should be grateful to be included at all. But I won’t lie, starting over in a new career at the age of 49 with a family to support was not easy. Thus, I retired from the Durham Board and started working as an agent at North American Life.

As I had done my whole life, I worked hard to qualify by studying and passing the life insurance examination and the mutual funds license examination. By 1991, I was named rookie of the year. Manulife Financial subsequently bought North American Life and as a result I became a Manulife Advisor. That is the position I held until I retired in July 2023.

Old White Boys Club Rule #19: Fighting the Old White Boys Club is never easy and will take discipline, vision, resolve, and sacrifice, none of which is fair, but all of which are necessary due to the commonality of the deep-pockets, political connections, and institutional clout of many white men.

 

Shortly before I filed my human rights case, my close friend (another teacher) who had faced the same racial discrimination, jointly worked with me to produce a report for the Durham Board of Education based on research authorized by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Our research findings were truly alarming. Of the 3,000+ people working in all capacities for the Durham Board, fewer that 0.6 of 1% were BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of colour). It should be noted that I had employed or persuaded my Principals to employ, 7 black teachers into the treatment centre classes during my tenure. These were highly qualified teachers who just needed an opportunity. There was no black Principal. There was no black Superintendent. There were 2 black Vice Principals (I was one of them). The average white man was promoted to a Principalship after just three years as a Vice Principal. Women too were vastly underrepresented in the Vice Principal and Principal roles. There was only one female Superintendent. Finally, there had never been a woman Director, of any racial background.

Over the years, people have asked me, “if you had to do it all over again, would you?” My answer is an unequivocal, yes! I have no regrets. I sacrificed my job security and pension to fight for a better future for black people and other marginalized constituents. I paid a heavy price for fighting for people, many of whom will never know my name or hear my story, but it was worth it. Just look at the racial composition of the schools in the same board today. We now have a black, female Director of Education, black Superintendents, and numerous black Principals and Vice Principals. Powerfully, black children now have exceptional role models.

The current environment of equal access to employment opportunity and promotion which appears to be the board policy today did not come about because the Old White Boys suddenly found religion. The changes were forced upon them after I won my legal case because of the authority and oversight powers of the Human Rights Commission.

After my court case was decided in my favour, the commission ordered the Board to develop two plans: 1) to demonstrate equality of employment and (2) to show equality of access to promotion, neither of which had existed during my two decades at the board. The execution of both plans was monitored by the Human Rights Commission for 10 years!

Conclusion

While there are many lessons to be learned from my story, I implore you to understand the price I paid for doing what I knew to be right. In choosing to fight the board and their institutional racism, I was forced to walk away from my job because of the toxic work environment that had already existed and was only bound to increase in intensity. When I walked away and had to start anew, I had not only lost my career, but also my pension.

Old White Boys Club Rule #20: There is often a heavy price to pay for doing the right thing. But the pride and joy you get from knowing that you were unwavering in your principles and stood up for justice is incomparable.

 

Without question I am proud to have done the right thing! I succeeded in paving the way and literally clearing the path for the many women, and black, indigenous, and other people of colour who today work for the Durham District School Board. (By the way, I do not believe their name change was accidental!) The result of my sacrifice is blessedly obvious.

But while my story is about the board, my fellow black Canadians have stories about their trials and tribulations while working in the Canadian health sector, corporations, for the federal and other levels of government, academia, and other domains. It is our shared responsibility to force inequitable institutions to dismantle their exclusionary practices and policies that harm and disenfranchise black Canadians. It is also our shared responsibility to stop institutions like the Durham District School Board from ever going backwards!

In August of 2024, I was invited to a wonderful celebration at the board where I was honoured with the first ever Maxwell B. Nelson Leadership Award for vision, courage, and sacrifice. The award was spearhead by my daughter, Prof. Charmaine A. Nelson, who is the founder and editor-in-chief of Black Maple Magazine. In working with the board across months she educated them about my history and experiences and implored them to “give him his flowers while he is alive!” Twenty-five years after I was forced to retire, I was deeply moved to be welcomed back by the diverse leadership of the board to an event which they intend to hold annually, by bestowing this trophy that has been named for me on a deserving board employee each year.

Old White Boys Club Rule #21: Defeating the Old White Boys Club is absolutely possible if we work together for the greater good and a more equitable and just society.

 

See: Nelson vs Durham Board of Education

 

“All that’s necessary for evil to prevail, is for good people to say and do nothing…To see evil and do and say nothing, is the same as doing evil.” attributed to John Stuart Mill