Anti-Racism

As music educators, we play an important role in our schools. As we know, music carries with it the culture, history, and traditions of its people. Over the past while, much information has come to light of which many music educators may have been unaware. We recognize that some of the music and teaching practices that have been used in our classrooms have contributed to the oppression of Black people, Indigenous people and other people of colour. Music may also have been presented as culturally authentic when in fact it was not. Or perhaps we were not presenting a repertoire that was reflective of the diversity of our nation. It is our moral imperative to be culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of our diverse student populations. As a board, we acknowledge that we need to examine our own biases, and be intentional in being responsive to the needs of our members and to the communities they support.

As the world continues to uncover and learn about the injustices that racialized people continue to endure, we at the Ontario Orff Chapter strive to be a vehicle for change. As always, we wish to co-learn with you, our members, about how we can all do better. On this portion of our website, we will be posting resources that will facilitate our learning on this vitally important topic.

If you have contributions, questions, or concerns, we invite you to contact us at info@ontarioorff.ca.

MUSIC

• AOSA - Song Selection Guidance - 1 page article - click here

• Google doc with lists and explanations compiled by Lauren McDougle - click here

• 12 Childhood Nursery Rhymes You Didn’t Realize Were Racist - click here to read this article

• List of Music from Musicplay (Denise Gagne) - click here for the article that includes the list of songs and explanations

• List of Music from Gameplan (Randy DeLelles & Jeff Kriske) - article; link to their site

WEBSITES

• Social Justice - Website with many resources - click here

• Decolonizing the Music Classroom Website - click here

• Helpful Decolonization Resources for Music Teachers - click here

• First Nations List of Resources compiled by Jennifer Stacey - click here

• First Nations - Woodland and Cultural Centre - Links - click here

ARTICLES

• The Music I Love Is a Racial Minefield - click here to read the article

• “You Might Be Left with Silence When You’re Done”: The White Fear of Taking Racist Songs Out of Music Education - click here to read this article from the National Assoication for Music Educators (NAfME)

• Dinah, Put Down Your Horn: Blackface Minstrel Songs Don’t Belong in Music Class - click here for the article; Click here for a response to the article.

• The Sounds of Silence: Talking Race in Music Education, by Deborah Bradley - click here (This is a long article, but very informative)

BOOKS

Music Education for Social Change: Constructing an Activist Music Education - available on amazon - click here

FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION

• How to be an Anti-Racist - book by Ibram X Kendi; Podcast talking about this book with Brené Brown

• So You Want to Talk About Race - book by Ijeoma Oluo