An Ontario teacher is in the news for wearing blackface to school for Halloween.
On October 29, a Parkdale Collegiate Institute teacher walked into class with his face painted black and left students shocked. Some pupils took photos of the teacher — identified as Gorian Surlan by the Toronto Star — and reported the incident to the school's vice principal.
Parkdale Collegiate Institute Principal Julie Ardell sent out a letter to parents, guardians and students to provide details on what happened and expand on their course of action.
Courtesy of the Toronto District School Board
"We are writing to inform you about an incident of anti-Black racism that occurred at Parkdale CI yesterday," the letter reads. "As you know, many staff and students were dressed up for Halloween, but late in the morning, a number of students alerted the Vice Principal that a white staff member was in 'Blackface.' Caricatures of peoples' race or culture are not appropriate and are offensive and hurtful. Regardless of whether this was intended or not, it was racist and dehumanizing."
Principal Ardell further noted that as soon as the incident was brought to the administration's attention, immediate steps were taken to address it, "including having the staff member immediately wash their face as to not cause further harm."
Parents have come together to sign a petition against anti-Black racism at the school. The Change.org petition, created by improv mental health educator Cathy Gatlin, currently stands at over 1,000 signatures from "concerned parents and neighbours."
The petition alleges the teacher walked in wearing blackface at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Toronto Star spoke to a Parkdale CI student's parent, who said the teacher didn't take the makeup off until noon.
Narcity reached out to Parkdale Collegiate Insititute and Gatlin for comment but did not hear back before this article's time of publication.