Police investigating after anti-Black racist graffiti found at Etobicoke school

Toronto police are investigating after racist, anti-Black graffiti was discovered at a high school in Etobicoke earlier this week.

The incidents happened at Etobicoke School of the Arts, near The Queensway and Royal York Road, on two separate occasions. The graffiti was found in three bathrooms over a 15-hour span.

School principal Grant Fawthrop told CityNews two students found the first instance of the graffiti on Tuesday evening during rehearsal for a Black History Month show.

He said more graffiti was found in a different bathroom after the bell rang for school on Wednesday morning. Fawthrop said they don’t believe the graffiti was there the day before.

“It’s extremely discouraging, hurtful, and people have been harmed,” the principal said.

Fawthrop said they reported the graffiti to police as a hateful incident.

“Police were notified immediately when it was discovered …police have been here and spent a large part of Wednesday at the school investigating.”

Const. Ed Parks said police were called to the school on Wednesday.

“It is difficult for us to say we’re going to be able to resolve this as quick as possible because it happened in a bathroom so there’s no cameras and we have limited information,” he said.

He said the school is conducting its own investigation in addition to what the police are doing.

Fawthrop believes the incidents occurred at the beginning of school hours but they are still investigating. It is not yet known if a student or students put up the graffiti.

“It’s just disgusting, devastating but it’s not surprising,” said one student who spoke with CityNews.

“It makes me feel hurt and not accepted. It makes me feel scared and I’m terrified,” said another student. “I was terrified to come to school, I’m terrified to be here at night. I’ve been terrified for a long time because things like this have been happening for a long time.

Officials at the school have brought in extra counselling resources for students.

“To have … such hate put up in our own school and our own community, it was a very sad day,” Fawthrop said.

The school also sent a letter to parents and students on Wednesday detailing what occurred and the next steps.

“We take issues like this, which make any member of our community feel unsafe or unwelcome, very seriously. Acts of anti-Black racism and all forms of discrimination will not be tolerated. TDSB staff have taken immediate steps to address this situation and remain committed to continuously reinforcing our commitment to equity, inclusion and respect,” the letter states.

The school has since removed the graffiti from the bathrooms. Fawthrop said the bathrooms were closed all day on Wednesday before they could be cleaned up and reopened for Thursday.

This is the second race-related incident in the past couple of weeks at Toronto District School Board schools. Officials at Toren Charles H. Best Middle School in North York are investigating two anti-Semitic incidents that occurred at the school last week. In one instance, students performed the Hitler salute in front of classmates.